Christianity in Africa

Christianity planted itself in Africa 2,000 years ago through the work of the Apostle Mark who created a vibrant center for Christianity in Alexandria, Egypt. The Pax Romana in North Africa enabled Christianity to spread across North Africa. With the coming of Islam in the 7th century, Christianity was almost wiped out in those regions, barely being able to survive through the liturgy and worship of the Egyptian Coptic Church and monastic influence. It was from there that Christianity spread into Nubia informally through the trade routes. The Ethiopian Church, which had independent origins has always been considered an authentic expression of true African Christianity. No effort was made to spread Christianity into Sub-Saharan Africa. Some missionary work was done along the western coasts by the Jesuits and Dominican Catholics in the 15th century, but focused mainly on the Europeans in the area, such that little mission work was done among the natives. After the abolition of the slave trade mission work was largely spearhead by Protestant Christians. Next came the colonial period which lasted from around 1870 to 1960 A.D. Great gains were made to Christianity during this period which enjoyed the patronage of the colonial administrators. The colonial period brought many economic, social, and religious benefits to Sub-Saharan Africa. Some of these benefits were positive and some negative. Indeed, the missionaries made some mistakes by downgrading everything in African culture, but today many Africans are finding the freedom to express themselves as Christians in a truly African way.