Learn all about Christianity in Africa, here

Learn all about Christianity in Africa, here

The establishment of Christian belief in the African continent was a total odyssey that ancient generations had to go through so that today this is one of the continents with the highest percentage of Christians in the world, discover here the terrible history of Christianity in Africa, what death, destruction and chaos are like on a day-to-day basis in that country.

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There are many bibliographical references that indicate that Christianity in Africa began to have its strongest beginnings at the end of the eighteenth century after Christ, this means that it developed around the year 1770 and at the end of the year 1800.

However, there are indications in the texts of the Bible that indicate that the belief of Christianity in Africa is older than we thought, it did spread over the continent in greater numbers many years after Christ, but these biblical data show that the Christianity was not made known during the time of colonization, slavery and oppression by Europeans, but at the same time of the apostolic period or the time of the twelve apostles mentioned in the bible.

History of Christianity in Africa

In the second part of the Christian Bible are the history of the life and crucifixion of the son of the father “God” better known as Jesus of Nazareth and how Christianity began in the times of his life as well as continued to expand after his death. death.

In this part of the bible we can find how Christianity in Africa, which is a belief that originated due to the teachings and doctrines provided by Jesus, was in contact with Africa because throughout the life of Jesus there were situations such as, for example, when Mary was pregnant an angel appears to Joseph and warns him to flee with the holy family to Egypt where they took refuge while passing the danger. (Learn which is the largest evangelical church in the world and how it earned that position)

Egypt is located on the African continent, that is, the contact of Christianity in Africa dates back to the very times of Jesus, another fact that is reported in the Bible in the books of Matthew, Luke and Mark is that when Jesus carried the cross , a man named Simon helps him carry it to Golgotha, this man was from Cyrene, this was a city located in North Africa.

Likewise, as I have named the two previous cases of how Christianity has been present on the African continent and has dealt with people from Africa since the time of Jesus, there are many more stories in the Bible and due to these facts it is that since those times Christianity spread throughout Egypt and all of North Africa.

The historical background of Christianity in Africa begins to take flight after the death of Jesus Christ and later, after his restoration, he advises his devotees, the 12 disciples to preach to the world about salvation, so the devotees begin their journey and Christianity develops in Israel and later in Egypt. (See: what are God’s promises for the family )

With the entry of the Roman Empire and the seizure of the Holy Lands by the kingdom, which at that time made ruthless abuse towards Christians, Christianity was forced to seek new natural spaces in which to confidently hold its meetings without being killed for it.

History reveals to us that after the Edict of Milan of the Roman Empire, led by Constantine I emperor of Rome, Christians stopped being abused, at least by the Romans and at that time, Christianity began to spread throughout the world.

Christianity took over important places in the Roman Empire, which could later herald the Christian religion as the head and authority of the Roman Empire. In this line, whatever land was defeated by the Romans, its occupants became Christians or were skeptical.

This is the way by which Christianity arrived in Egypt and with it came the burden of the Roman Empire in Egypt, despite having a very large number of individuals who had confidence in the Christian God, they had different convictions, in Egypt they had faith in other non-Christian divine beings. (See: the prayer to bless money )

At the time the Romans arrived and with them the Christians, there was a conflict of societies, because in Egypt there was also the Library of Alexandria, which at that time was the source of learning or the largest database in the world. .

At the time when Christians spread throughout the world with the help of the Roman Empire, they put up numerous horrendous deeds that today live with that dark past. Among the Christians, there was a first class of soldiers, they were assassins who did their work in the name of God.

The occupants of Alexandria crashed against the Christian swarms that always destroyed their sanctuaries and ruined their sacred areas since they considered them as pagans. This provoked a warlike confrontation between the Egyptians and the Christians.

The native military of Alexandria came to battle and the people took refuge in the library, which was taken over by the Christians and burned, the fire consuming what it could of any source of learning undermining Christian standards numerous works by old scholars were they lost there.

The people who still needed to continue living in harmony in that land should claim to be devoted to God, to be a Christian, and to acknowledge Jesus as their savior, otherwise they would be executed. Christianity, which had just been built in Egypt, began to spread through more areas until it reached Ethiopia and flourished under the rulers of the kingdom of Axum. These rulers professed to be immediate relatives of King Solomon.

After this is when the persecution of Christians in Africa began, it is recorded through history that at the end of the third century and the beginning of the fourth century, the Egyptians persecuted and killed a large number of Christians and everyone who preached on Jesus in North Africa as they were only supposed to worship and serve the Egyptian gods.

Islam gained ground and has spread throughout North Africa since the 7th century unopposed without going beyond Ethiopia which owns the entire northern part of Africa to the Sahara and extends along the two Atlantic coasts and India and much more. over the African continent.

Throughout the Medieval Age, the entrance to the spread of the Christian religion in Africa is totally hindered, where only 4 kinds of small networks remain separated in the horn of Africa “Ethiopia”. Since the beginning of the thirteenth century the Christian Catholic Church tried without any progress to carry out a mission of discipleship in the north of the continent.

As Carthage, which was the last Christian stronghold in North Africa, fell to an Arab assault in 697, King Mercury established his power in Nubia by building a Christian kingdom that stretched from Aswan to the Blue Nile.

By the time this kingdom surrendered to Islamist assaults in 1270, there was a resurrection of the Ethiopian Church, officially 900 years since its founding, there was a thriving Christian culture in the mountains of Ethiopia, like that of the European medieval, until much of it was devastated in the war of Islam in 1527.

From this date there was at that time another ruler who confidently led Christianity in Africa and that was Nzinga Mbemba, lord of the Congo, the main Christian in central Africa and for a long time, he worked energetically to create a Christian kingdom, and In 1526, together with his son, Bishop Henry, he organized a proselytizing program to take him to all areas of his kingdom so that everyone would know about Christianity and make it their main belief and religion. (See the article The Power of Prayer )

During the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries after Christ hundreds of years in the Canary Islands, they were colonized in 1402, the Franciscan preachers work to secure the privileges of the Guanches and it is said that in 1476 the four notable islands had changed to Christianity for the evangelization of the catholic church.

And in the year 1484 is where a rapid and spectacular transformation to Christian Catholicism begins due to the colonization of Europeans, the evangelization that took place in the Congo was followed by a rapid and superficial evangelism of the places on the east coast of Africa particularly Mozambique and Madagascar.

In 1493, Alexander VI gave the lords of Spain and Portugal direct support over the missions in African territories and in the 20th and 21st Centuries is the era of the complete and definitive redesign of the missions in Africa and the creation of specific social orders for ministers, and it was designed to help Africans too.

The slave trade diminishes until it almost disappears on the Atlantic coast, however, it develops in a gigantic way on the east coast, and the evangelists and pioneers advance towards the interior of the Continent. You may also be interested in knowing what the cross means for evangelicals ?

In 1868, the Fathers of the Holy Spirit made in Bagamoyo (now Tanzania) the main mission in East Africa, after ten years, the White Fathers and the Jesuits stay there, they go to Uganda, where there was an evangelizing mission for four years : from 1885 to 1889.

The Holy See is making biblical vicariates and supporting social orders of teachers and attempts to support missions that are the spread of the Faith and Christianity throughout Africa. You may be interested in learning about praying to Jesus for work.

In 1900, Africa has sixty-one ecclesiastical regions and a large part of a million Catholics, the widespread enactment of France and the First World War devastated the mission of Christian evangelization in Africa.

A Catholic priest in 1930 in Ethiopia was blessed and in 1939 two African ministers were sanctified in Uganda and Madagascar; four new African diocesans in 1952 and at the opening of the Second Vatican Council, will now have 58 African Christian evangelizers and their number is rising faster and faster, by the end of 1969 there are 135 African ministers in Africa out of a total of 325, 32 ecclesiastical supervisors of a sum of 46 and five cardinals.

The Church in Africa today and the development of Christianity in Africa has been abundant in half a million Catholics in 1900 now converted to Christianity the 30 million Africans.

In general, the educational work in Africa on Christianity has been massive, educating and advancing from African culture to European culture, sowing the thoughts of equity and society and that all are children of one Father are thoughts that have driven the freedom of African states.

For the Christians to infiltrate deep into Africa, they did not have it so easy, as West Africa was isolated from Greece and Rome due to the Sahara desert, while East Africa was separated by mountains and huge swamps.

At the time the primary route courses were built to reach Africa with the rest of the human advance, there was an incredible explosion in the exchange of myrrh and ivory these exchange courses were of imperative importance for the advancement of African development and for that Christianity managed to reach the deepest part of Africa.

On the other hand, the Christians found small villages of local clans in Africa, who were shown Christianity and changed to Christianity. The contact of Africans with the rest of the world also implied their fierce subjugation.

As Christianity developed in different parts of Africa due to the corporate explosion that happened in different parts of Africa, the Muslims were also continuously growing and oppressing those Christians.

The Christians living in Ethiopia endure, however in reality the whole of Ethiopia was surrounded by Muslim powers who continually attacked the Christian trust and regions of Ethiopia. On the other hand, in different districts, the Christians were mistreated by the Muslims. You can also read about  Miraculous Prayers to Heal Illnesses

Christians burned in Africa

Africa is one of the continents where the highest percentage of Christians is found compared to other countries, however there is also another large percentage of armed people who believe in Islam and these are the oppressors of Christian society.

That Christians are mistreated mercilessly is not something of today, considering that the abuse of them began hundreds of years after the death of Jesus Christ and after his revival, when his followers discussed the kingdom of God and his fairness.

Be that as it may, when the Christians came to Africa, they experienced incredible afflictions: the obstacles of interposing deserts and jungles and on top of that the constant development of Muslims in the African lands of Ethiopia.

The Christians would not have it simple, however their central objective was increasingly important, they were eager to give their lives to satisfy what had been asked of them and in fact, the Christians reached the core of Africa and obtained new individuals, however Muslims killed every Christian they found in their path.

In recent years they have perpetrated numerous deaths on the African continent simply for being Christians and in the most common method that they use to sow terror is by burning and not only do they burn people regardless of whether it is a child but also they decapitate, shoot and bomb them.

On January 31, 1885, Makko Kakumba, Yusuf Rugarama and Nuwa Sserwanga, Christians from the Anglican community, were beheaded and consumed in flames in the Ugandan city of Busega Natete, at the request of King Mwanga I with this fact was the beginning of the abuse against the Christians these were Anglicans and Catholics, who endured two years of persecution and this king ended the lives of forty-five of them.

The rest of those executed was the Catholic Jean-Marie Muzeeyi, who gave his spirit to the Lord Jesus when he was guillotined on January 27, 1887, of each of them, the Catholic saints were exalted by Benedict XV on June 6, 1920 and Consecrated by Paul VI on October 18, 1964.

Since then there have been different types of terrorist attacks that have killed many Christians in different ways and today these types of crimes against Christians are said to be perpetrated by Christianophobes.

Despite the fact that the Christian religion is one of the most rehearsed on the planet, there are numerous nations where they are not highly respected and are mistreated until they are sacrificed or removed from their regions.

Christianophobia

In Africa, the Muslim parties provide hostility to Christianity, who exercise various kinds of brutality against Christians, from the burning of churches to the burning of entire villages, assault of minors and ladies to whom they perform a wide range of torments.

Morocco

The Moroccan church is not consistently recognized by the authorities, however, the émigré-framed places of worship are, although certain rules are forced on them as well as conventional Catholic people groups. The constitution guarantees the opportunity of religion, but there are functional limitations in practicing this opportunity and in reality, Christian conferences are not allowed.

Egypt

In recent times the tranquility has weakened to the point that a group of Christian people have become the focus of Islamic radicalism, however there is a small number of Muslims who have changed to Christianity, they have managed to flee persecution without However, a large part of the abuse is received by their relatives if they are not found.

Somalia

It is one of the nations where Christians are generally highly harmed and abused by numerous radical Islamic groups acting against Christian minorities, repressing the number of them.

Kenya

One of the places with the best radicalization in the Muslim population is the coastal and northern regions of Kenya, Al-Shabaab raids killed 28 Christians in a transport from Mandera on November 22, 2014 and another 36 Christians from Mandera who worked in a quarry died in an assault on December 2, 2014, and was repeated on July 7, 2015 when another 14 workers were killed in the same way.

The massacre at Garissa University on April 2, 2015 is also recorded. 147 Christian substitutes were killed. Most of these murders were executed and explicitly targeted Christians, isolating them from Muslims.

Nigeria

Nigeria is one of the nations where Christians are most mistreated, they have suffered a progression of ruthless assaults in recent times, where, by chance, when they are discovered trying Christianity, they are killed. In 2015, a story turned the world upside down when some Christians were burned alive.

As of 2014, the criminal gravity of the radical armies of the Islamic state of Boko Haram has been universal news. The director of the World Watch List unit, Frans Veerman, clarifies that even without counting Boko Haram equally, there would be ministers of the Hausa-Fulani ethnic group who normally carry out barbarities against the Christian ranchers of the neighborhood in the belt of Nigeria. 

Of the approximately 4,000 Christians killed in Nigeria, 2,500 were killed by Boko Haram and more than 1,500 by Fulani ministers. In Taraba province alone, some 30,000 Christians have been savagely forced to take refuge in safer regions.

These are the consequences of examining the realities on the ground, however, the specialists consider that their information only covers half of the abuses that occurred. He also learns the Prayer to the Holy Spirit before reading the Bible

Persecution

We estimate that in the top 50 nations on the global persecution list alone, 245 million Christians face terror, detention, or even disappearance for their trust in Jesus. Of those top 50 nations, the top 50 nations are on the African continent.

Christians are mistreated in numerous places around the world, as you will see in the guide above (the World Persecution List), Asia and Africa stand out for the number of nations that are listed on the World Persecution List and in fact 1 out of every 3 Christians in Asia experience abuse at a high or outrageous level, while in Africa it is around 1 in 6.

Of the 50 LMP nations, 14 are on the African continent and 4 of them are in the Top 10, as we can see the abuse in Africa is not smooth.

The truth of oppression in Africa is so monstrous, in a land mass with a territory of more than 30,000,000 km² and with 54 nations, it is difficult to build a general principle that characterizes them in the type of mistreatment that Christians receive throughout the world. continent, however, due to the worldwide reduction of oppression, we can establish specific bases that happen in the nations of Africa where there are abuses.

The abusers in Africa are a wide variety, in nations like Eritrea, the oppression is perpetuated by its own president in fact this has caused many individuals to flee the nation. In the nation’s remotest territories, Christians struggle with recognition of Christianity among cultures where they worship other conventional African gods or lesser divine beings. However there is a leading oppressor in the persecution of Christians in Africa and that is “Islamic Oppression”.

The more traditional Islamism accommodates numerous problems with different religions, in the nations where the circumstance is more scandalous, for example, Libya or Somalia, all laws are represented by Sharia, which is a progression of statutes and sets of rules accepted that, taken to the extraordinary, reject the opportunity and the human privileges of the residents.

We can imagine that in the Sharia nation, one lives safely, but the truth is unique, when it is not the legislature, the government itself is the one that legitimately causes abuse in demonstrations and attacks Christians for their faith terribly without committing any crime.

As proof of this, we have Boko Haram, an Islamic fundamentalist fanatic group that carries out demonstrations in nations such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger or Mali, one of its main destinations is the execution of Christians in Islamic nations where they have not yet are fully up to date.

For this they use ferocious activities, for example, assaults on popular centers, murders or kidnappings, their “main” targets are Christians, kidnappings like Shibaru Leah, a young Christian who was kidnapped from her school with 100 different colleagues a year ago. is in captivity, of each of them, Leah is the only one who has not been released due to her refusal to reverse her religious belief.

Savagery is not only used by Boko Haram, in specific places where Islamic closeness is strong, it is simply indigenous networks that offer oppression to Christians. In regions such as the central belt of Nigeria (focal zone), reside Islamic clans that have intensified for a considerable period of time terrible assaults with brutality.

What were initially small stick fights have led to bloody raids as clans use weapons against their targets. An increasing number of radicals are gathering, that has been the reason for the attacks where even pregnant women or children are not excused. A year ago, the Fulani clan’s casualties were higher than those of Boko Haram.

Affected by the most fundamentalist and radical Islamism, numerous nations in Africa are ending up in war, where Christians cannot exercise their most important rights and in certain nations their security is not guaranteed.

Much of this originates from the inherent idea of ​​similarity that the 2 gospels of different religions have, Christians act deeply from the heart and survive through the Essence of God, which allows the gospel to be shared here and there or in On the other hand, as if it were a living word, this, together with the intensity of freedom and change that each individual has when they act in Christianity, is something that both the government and those of the Islamic continent want to stop.

Faced with the possibility that the Christian gospel is not shared, they persecute and kill Christians with the aim that fewer and fewer people know the uplifting news of Christians. This methodology, while successful for the most part, has never eliminated 100% of the Christian population of a place, there have always been a few of them who survive. (See article: Prayer of protection for children )

And because of the help it receives, it does an excellent job of offering interpretation of the Bible in indigenous dialects, preparing Christians to face mistreatment for their faith.

Muslim radicalism has been the reason for the incredible catastrophes presented against Christians in Africa, this does not imply that all Muslim individuals are that way, however it is surprising how these radicals have annoyed Christians to such an extent that they were killed in their own places of worship.

Percentage of Christians in Africa

In 2012, Christianity had become the main religion in Africa, above Islam with a total percentage of forty-two percent of the population of the African continent, this was demonstrated in an evaluation presented during a congress composed by the Center of Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) at the University of El Jadida, in Morocco.

Christians addressed 46.53% of the African population in 2012, as opposed to 40.46% of Muslims and 11.8% of individuals seeking traditional African religions.

31% of African nations have a dominant Christian part in contrast to 21% that are Islamic and six in which conventional religions prevail, in addition, it reflects that while in 1900 Christians in Africa were ten million, in 2012 they reached the figure of 500 million and that when in 1900 Africans were 2% of the world’s Christians, today they are 20%.

Today there are more Africans teaching Christians than Europeans. In the long term, this will change the African continent, however, all of Christianity, as John Paul II commented “A certain Islamic ultra-fundamentalism considers it scandalous the way in which there are a greater number of Christians than Muslims in Africa, so that Christians they are mistreated and killed in nations like Nigeria, Mali, Somalia, Kenya.”

The rising tide of Christianity in Africa has not been diminished by the encroachment of Islamic fanatic gatherings against it, actually for these gatherings it seems that by executing 100 Christians, 1000 of them show up, that’s what it figures. (See Article: who wrote Psalm 121 of the Bible )

And as indicated by a report by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston, United States, Africa surpasses Latin America in terms of the number of Christians, something that has never happened.

The number of Christian followers in Africa is estimated to be 631 million people, while the figure in Latin America was outdated with 601 million Christian people, implying that in contrast to the previous year, the number of devotees to Africa was 50 million, while that of Latin America was 10 million individuals.

The African nations with the highest number of Christians are: Zambia, with 95.5% of the occupants Christian; Republic of the Seychelles, with 95.7% of the Christian population; Lastly, Rwanda, with 93.6% of the Christian population, regardless of these figures, only 45% of the entire African population is Christian.

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