Stoned-Campbell

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Friday, July 2, 2010

Africa, Scripture ... and Christian History

Posted on 10:53 AM by Unknown
"As a historian of the ancient world, I find that many New Testament scholars are confined by tunnel vision to the immediate text, with little awareness of its broader background" (Edwin Yamauchi, Africa and the Bible, p. 161)

Over the last month I have been reading and studying three books that converge on Scripture, Christian history, and Africa. A couple of reasons moved me in this direction for reading: 1) I have had a long interest in the historical setting of Scripture and early Christianity, and 2) because I have been so woefully ignorant of the matter. I have drawn attention to Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian Eunuch, Moses' wife, etc in years past but my recent reading has shown me how much I do not know. But the shadow of Africa looms large and Thomas Oden's How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind; Keith Augustus Burton's The Blessing of Africa; and Edwin Yamauchi's Africa and the Bible have enriched and corrected my vision.

A number of points that these authors make we all already know but they are sort of hidden in plain view. Africa has played a pivotal role not only in biblical history but in the history of Christianity. Scenes from Scripture: the children of Abraham in Africa; Joseph in Africa; Moses in Africa; and Mary, Joseph and Jesus in Africa. According to tradition Mark in Africa, Perpetua in Africa, Tertullian in Africa, Clement in Africa, Athanasius in Africa, and Augustine in Africa.



Perhaps Oden's work, How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity, arrested me the most. Oden, a repentant Bultmanian, has been editing the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture for many years. He writes that his views have changed not from some European historical genius (which he calls "European chauvinism" p.23, see pp. 140f) but by wading through the writings of the Church Fathers. His thesis is that Africa defined the Christian mind in the first 500 years or so. As he says, repeatedly, that the flow of thought went from South to North. From Africa to Europe and not the reverse. Just where do we see the legacy of Africa:

+ That the western university was formed in Africa (and Christian scholarship)

+ Christian exegesis was first nurtured in Africa

+ Africa was the setting for the shaping of early Christian dogma

+ that ecumenical decisions of the later church were first shaped in Africa

+ most of the Spiritual disciplines were first practiced in Africa especially through the rise of monasticism

+ neoplatonic philosophy moved from Africa to Europe

+ literary and rhetoric were refined in Africa

African Christians in Byzacena, Carthage, Numidia and Mauretania had been reaching agreement on on many important matters a century prior to the Council of Nicaea. One of these for all intents and purposes gave us our "canon" of the New Testament. Oden's book deserves to be read and digested. Oden believes that contemporary North American and European views on Africa are radically different than those of Ancient Christians. He finds the root of the change in the scholarship of Adolf von Harnack and Walter Bauer. Oden ends his book with a challenge to younger scholars (including African ones) to test his thesis. To learn the languages of Ancient Africa because so much is neglected and untranslated into modern tongues. It is important both to Europeans and Africans that Christianity is not "white" but is in fact a "traditional African religion" with a 2000 year history.



Keith Augustus Burton's The Blessing of Africa: The Bible and African Christianity is broad in scope which is both its strength and weakness. Burton surveys how the "sons of Ham" are seen in Scripture (and he argues that son of Ham is not synonymous with "black"). He then surveys the growth Christianity in the "lands of Ham" which is much broader than simply modern Africa. One particularly rich section in this work is the Islam and Christianity wrestling in Africa.



Finally Edwin Yamauchi's Africa and the Bible is justly deserving its 2005 Christianity Today Book Award. Yamauchi, a Japanese-American, is an amazing scholar and has earned a reputation since the 1960s as being a person who knows the ancient world better than most of us know our own neighborhood. The bibliography of this book is 45 pages long!! This is THE book on Africa and the Bible. Yamauchi writes as a historian and not simply a biblical scholar (though he is that). He lavishly integrates archeology, ancient sources of all kinds, biblical exegesis and contemporary scholarship. The book is richly illustrated too (a bonus for those that like pictures!). He examines the "Curse of Ham" in its ancient setting and how it became the seedbed of racism. Most interesting to me, because I knew nothing of it, is the chapter on "Rome and Meroe." This is of course important for understanding Acts 8. This valuable work ends with a survey and critique of "Afrocentric Biblical Interpretation" to which Yamauchi sees vital contributions as well as serious flaws.

I am a better Bible student with a deeper awareness of "our" African roots for reading these books. But I think if I were going to spend money on these books again to give away I would begin with Oden and Yamauchi. In fact I believe that works like these can help us see vast new vistas ... even where (and when!) we may disagree. Africa has indeed played a larger role in our heritage than I was ever aware of. Its like getting a new pair of glasses.

Tolle lege,
Bobby V
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in Africa, Bible, Black History, Books, Church History, Hebrew Bible, Race Relations | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • What the "Assembly" is "About in the Psalms: Special Attention to Ps 95
    In Scripture a Spiritually minded worshiper comes to the assembly (i.e. gathering) of the People of God desiring five things: 1) The worshi...
  • Old Gospel Advocate Message Board Exchange (By Request): Crux Discussion
    Last night (Oct 27, 2010) I received an inquiry about a discussion that took place ages ago on the Old Gospel Advocate Message Board (in 200...
  • K. C. Moser: Student of the Word
    Alister McGrath in his recent outstanding study Christianity's Dangerous Idea asserts Protestantism gift to Christianity was the belief...
  • President Barack Obama
    Thoughts on President Barack Obama: A Historic Election Well it is, thankfully, finally over! We can all collectively exhale at least for a ...
  • Prayer in the Apocrypha 3: Judith's Psalm of Praise
    " Therefore this is a fine, good, holy, useful book, well worth reading by us Christians. For the words spoken by the persons in it s...
  • Barton W. Stone & the Debate Culture
    I grew up in a "debating culture" or perhaps it was a "sub-culture."  If the minister did not like what was going on a m...
  • So You're a Minister ... Leaves from a Journal Spanning 20 Years
    What does it mean to be a "minister?"  I believe this is a critical question for both congregations and those who are "minist...
  • The "Enjoyment" of Scripture
    Writing on the Ancestry of the King James Version has stimulated my mind in some fresh and new directions ... I grew up in a Bible believing...
  • Reflections on the Weekend
    What a holiday weekend! I have had Rachael and Talya all weekend long. We cooked Big Bird together (an 18lbs Turkey!!). We made home made ...
  • Bill Hybels & Bono 1
    If you are over the age of 50 the name "Bono" or "U2" may have no meaning to you at all. But I am fairly sure that those...

Categories

  • 1 Corinthians (3)
  • 1 Thessalonians (1)
  • 1 Timothy (1)
  • A Gathered People (3)
  • Abraham (1)
  • Acts (2)
  • Africa (1)
  • Alexander Campbell (23)
  • American Empire (1)
  • Amos (5)
  • Apocrypha (24)
  • Apologetics (1)
  • Baptism (10)
  • Barack Obama (1)
  • Barton W. Stone (3)
  • Benjamin Banneker (1)
  • Bible (107)
  • Black History (17)
  • Bobby's World (187)
  • Books (66)
  • C. S. Lewis (1)
  • Carl Ketherside (1)
  • Christian hope (57)
  • Christmas (14)
  • Christology (1)
  • Church (53)
  • Church History (84)
  • Clay Parkinson (1)
  • Colossians (7)
  • Contemporary Ethics (56)
  • Cool Stuff (2)
  • Culture (3)
  • Daniel (2)
  • David Lipscomb (6)
  • Deuteronomy (6)
  • Didache (1)
  • Discipleship (29)
  • Doug Doser (1)
  • Easter (3)
  • Ecclesiastes (3)
  • Environment (1)
  • Ephesians (4)
  • eschatology (25)
  • Esther (1)
  • Exegesis (149)
  • Exodus (2)
  • Faith (11)
  • Family (24)
  • Famiy (1)
  • Football (1)
  • Forgiveness (1)
  • Frederick Douglass (1)
  • Galileo (1)
  • Genesis (1)
  • Gnosticism (1)
  • Gordon Fee (1)
  • Gospel of John (1)
  • Gospel of Judas (1)
  • Grace (46)
  • Habakkuk (2)
  • Hanukkah (1)
  • Harriet Beecher Stowe (1)
  • Heaven (6)
  • Hebrew Bible (97)
  • Hebrews (2)
  • Hermeneutics (113)
  • Holding On (2)
  • Holy Kiss (1)
  • Holy Spirit (12)
  • Humor (7)
  • J. W. McGarvey (3)
  • J.N. Armstrong (1)
  • James (2)
  • James A. Harding (5)
  • James Challen (1)
  • Jeremiah (3)
  • Jerry Rushford (1)
  • Jesus (79)
  • Jewish Backgrounds (19)
  • John Lennon (1)
  • John Newton (1)
  • John Waddey (1)
  • John Wyclif (1)
  • Jonah (10)
  • Jonathan Edwards (2)
  • Journey (8)
  • Jude (1)
  • Judith (2)
  • K. C. Moser (6)
  • King David (1)
  • King James Version (23)
  • Kingdom (118)
  • Kingdom Come (4)
  • Lectures (10)
  • Lord's Supper (4)
  • Love (4)
  • Luke (2)
  • Mark (1)
  • Marriage (2)
  • Martin Luther (1)
  • Martin Luther King (3)
  • Matthew (1)
  • Milwaukee (6)
  • Ministry (175)
  • Mission (43)
  • Monroe Hawley (1)
  • Moses Lard (1)
  • Movies (1)
  • Music (62)
  • N.T. Wright (5)
  • Nahum (2)
  • New Mexico (1)
  • Numbers (1)
  • Pardee Butler (1)
  • Patternism (4)
  • Paul (2)
  • Personal (11)
  • Philippians (1)
  • Politics (4)
  • Prayer (46)
  • Preaching (152)
  • Psalms (15)
  • R. C. Bell (1)
  • R. H. Boll (1)
  • Race Relations (21)
  • Reading (2)
  • Restoration History (77)
  • resurrection (2)
  • Revelation (1)
  • Richard Oster (1)
  • Romans (3)
  • S. R. Cassius (1)
  • Sabbath (2)
  • Salvation (2)
  • Sectarianism (8)
  • Septuagint (1)
  • Sexuality (2)
  • Sirach (1)
  • Slavery (2)
  • Song of Songs (4)
  • Spiritual Disciplines (50)
  • Suffering (11)
  • Tags (7)
  • Theodicy (2)
  • Tobit (3)
  • Tucson (22)
  • Uncle Tom's Cabin (2)
  • Unity (35)
  • Veggie Tales (1)
  • Walter Scott (1)
  • War -Peace (8)
  • Wisdom of Solomon (2)
  • Women (7)
  • Worship (43)

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (23)
    • ►  August (8)
    • ►  July (2)
    • ►  June (5)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  March (1)
    • ►  February (3)
    • ►  January (2)
  • ►  2012 (33)
    • ►  December (4)
    • ►  November (4)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  August (2)
    • ►  July (1)
    • ►  June (4)
    • ►  May (3)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  February (4)
    • ►  January (5)
  • ►  2011 (58)
    • ►  December (7)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  October (3)
    • ►  September (4)
    • ►  August (9)
    • ►  July (6)
    • ►  June (7)
    • ►  May (6)
    • ►  April (5)
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  January (6)
  • ▼  2010 (49)
    • ►  December (4)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  October (6)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  August (8)
    • ▼  July (7)
      • Jonah #4: God's Heart & His Struggle with Israel &...
      • Jonah #3: God's Heart & His Struggle with Israel &...
      • Jonah #2: God's Heart & His Struggle with Israel a...
      • Jonah #1: God's Heart & His Struggle with Israel a...
      • What Happened to the Land? An Exercise in Biblica...
      • Things I Do NOT Believe
      • Africa, Scripture ... and Christian History
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  May (7)
    • ►  April (2)
    • ►  March (5)
    • ►  February (4)
    • ►  January (2)
  • ►  2009 (61)
    • ►  December (9)
    • ►  October (4)
    • ►  September (4)
    • ►  July (1)
    • ►  May (10)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (5)
    • ►  February (17)
    • ►  January (8)
  • ►  2008 (131)
    • ►  December (12)
    • ►  November (10)
    • ►  October (13)
    • ►  September (19)
    • ►  August (13)
    • ►  July (13)
    • ►  May (15)
    • ►  April (13)
    • ►  March (11)
    • ►  February (7)
    • ►  January (5)
  • ►  2007 (115)
    • ►  December (5)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  October (7)
    • ►  September (9)
    • ►  August (9)
    • ►  July (11)
    • ►  June (7)
    • ►  May (17)
    • ►  April (15)
    • ►  March (12)
    • ►  February (11)
    • ►  January (10)
  • ►  2006 (30)
    • ►  December (11)
    • ►  November (6)
    • ►  October (10)
    • ►  September (3)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

Unknown
View my complete profile