Question: "How can you accept Christianity when the fact is it was NOT and is NOT the "Religion" nor Spiritual Base of our Ancestors, and was actually forced upon our Ancestors at Gun Point?"

Answer: This is absolutely not a fact and cannot be demonstrated to be so under close scrutiny. Upon close examination, historical evidence shows that Africa had Christianity earlier, parts of Africa preserved it longer, and church attendance is currently higher in most countries of Africa than in nearly any country of continental Europe.[1]

Christianity in Africa
"Christianity in Africa is so old that it can be rightly described as an indigenous, traditional and African religion," says Dr. John Mbiti, author of the Early Church and Africa. The Egyptian Coptic Church in the Sudan and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church still exist today. The Copts played a leading role in the development of the early Christian church. They made their most important contribution to Christianity from the late A.D. 200's to the mid-300's, when a Copt, Anthony of Thebes, founded the early Christian monastic movement. [2]

Though persecuted, both of these churches presence is testimony to the historicity of Christianity in Africa.[3]

Authentic Christians?
The idea that Christianity is a White or European religion is a myth fostered by the narrow memories of White racists, who do not distinguish between:

- cultural adherence to a religious doctrine
- and full-hearted commitment to Christ as rightful Lord of one's life.

The extent of one's "Christian" heritage is irrelevant in a faith that demands that each listener must personally accept Christ. Biblical Christianity teaches that Jesus is relevant to all peoples and not bound to Western cultural forms.[4]

Forced Religion
The idea that Christianity was forced by "gun point" on Africans gives a false impression to the casual reader. I don't deny that there was an obvious robbing/removal/suppression of our African ancestors from their cultural and religious practices (as well as tribal affiliations), but this does not preclude that slaveowners as a whole relished the idea that they become Christians. The influence and proliferation of Christianity among the slaves in this country was varied and more complex than you make it seem. How exactly was Christianity forced? Were the slaves taught to read so that they could understand the bible for themselves, or were they simply told whatever the slave owners wanted to convey concerning the scriptures? There is a difference.

One of the main reasons why masters did not want their slaves to become Christians involved the Bible. They feared that slaves might interpret the teachings of Jesus Christ as being in favour of equality. This was one of the main reasons why most plantation owners did what they could to stop their slaves from learning to read.[5]

Additionally, there was heated resistance to evangelizing among slaves. Black scholar C. Eric Lincoln tells us there were three principal reasons for this: "(1) the hearing of the gospel required time that could be economically productive; (2) slaves gathered together in a religious assembly might become conscious of their own strength and plot insurrections under cover of religious instruction; (3) there was an English tradition of long standing that once a slave became a Christian he could no longer be held a slave."[6]

  1. Keener, Craig & Usry, Glenn Black Man's Religion Downers Grove, IL Intervarsity Press: 1996, p. 26.
  2. World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia (Copts heading) ©2001, World Book, Inc.
  3. John S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (London: Heinemann, 1969), p.229, as cited in The Early Church and Africa, John P. Kealy and David W. Shenk, Nairobi Oxford University Press, 1975, p.1.
  4. Ischei, Elizabeth A History of Christianity in Africa from Antiquity to the Present Lawrenceville, N.J. Africa World Press: Grand Rapids, Mich: 1995 Eerdmans.
  5. The Slave Trade (Religion and Slavery) taken from:Spartacus Internet Encyclopedia
  6. C. Eric Lincoln, "The Development of Black Religion in America," Review and Expositor 70 (Summer 1973):302. As quoted in the article: Black Theology, Black Power, and the Black Experience

    Other articles of interest
    Which Roots?
    The Truth About Jesus
    Who was the Real Slave Master?

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