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  • Many lived in Egypt and North Africa.
  • "gnosis" meaning knowledge
  • No original sin.
  • This world was evil and only secret knowledge could ensure salvation.
  • Jesus' human form was evil.
  • Rejected church hierarchy.
  • Recognized a female component within the Divine.
  • Gnosticism the earliest challenge to orthodox Christian thought.
  • The Monastic Movement
  • Arius
  • Constantine
  • The council of Nicea, 325 C.E.
  • The Donatist

Africa and the Early Christian World

Debunking the Myth

The Decline of African Christianity

Christianity was introduced to Africa in the nineteenth century.

Africa is/was a heathen land in need of Western salvation.

Africans did not play a substantial role in the development of Christian religion.

The expansion of Islam throughout the Middle East and across N.A.

Justification for slavery

African Contributions to Early Christian Thought

Christianity Spread in Africa

  • Many lived in Egypt and North Africa
  • "gnosis" meaning knowledge
  • No original sin
  • This world was evil and only secret knowledge could ensure salvation
  • Jesus' human form was evil
  • Rejected church hierarchy
  • Recognized a feminine component within the Divine

Jesus' message of salvation

Communal focus

Means of resistance

Geographical proximity to Palestine

Presence of minority of Jews

  • Scholars argue Christianity incorporated elements from ancient African Religion.
  • Whether or not is hard to find. But similarities can account for the appeal of Christianity to Africans

North Africa

Upper Nile Valley & Ethiopian Highlands

Are Christian Concepts Egyptian Concepts?

  • Rapid spread by second and third century C.E. in Egypt and N.A.
  • Spread less than 150 years after Jesus' death
  • Popular in urban areas and among poor and politically oppressed
  • Egyptian peasants distinguished from Roman and Jewish elite.
  • Coptic Church
  • Martyrdom
  • Slower spread of Christianity
  • Beyond Roman Empire borders
  • Trade links along the Nile by way of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
  • King Ezana & Aksum
  • Zagwe dynasty and Lalibela
  • Solomonid dynasty
  • Nubia
  • Missionaries from Jerusalem to Jews in Alexandria.
  • The Didascalia
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