Glory to God! I trust you’re well and denying yourself, taking up your cross and following the Lord Jesus Christ.
Of late, the Spirit of God has laid a few things on my mind that I thought I should share with you. They have to do with the history of our Faith. Coincidentally, it’s heritage month in South Africa.
However, what I’m about to share with you has nothing to do with the celebrations of this world but rather what the Spirit wills at this hour.
It is believed that European missionaries introduced Christianity to the African continent, which means, it is believed that Africans had no concept of the God of the Bible before the missionaries arrived on our shores.
As a result, African nationalists are quick to berate us for our Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ since they believe Christianity to be the white man’s religion as they usually put it.
Let’s see what the Bible has to say about this.
When the Spirit of God was poured out on the Day of Pentecost, there were those who were assembled from different parts of the world and had come to Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Pentecost.
The Bible lists the different geographies where they were from. Acts 2:10 says, ‘Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in EGYPT, and in the parts of LIBYA about CYRENE, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes.’
Amongst those gathered that day were believers from Egypt, and Libya around Cyrene. At the time, the Arabs had not yet conquered north Africa, as a result, the inhabitants of Libya and Egypt were not Arab muslims but Africans.
These Africans from Egypt and Libya already knew about the One True God, that’s why they were in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. They were there in response to God’s Word that this Feast ought to be celebrated by His People.
We don’t know how many from Africa believed and were baptised at the preaching of Peter, however, it is important to note that some Africans were already at this time in human history aware of the God of the Bible.
Please note that there was a man from Cyrene, which is in Libya, who helped the Lord Jesus Christ carry His Cross to Calvary. Matthew 27:32 says, ‘And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.’ Simon of Cyrene, an African, was forced by Europeans to carry the Lord’s Cross.
These Europeans were Romans, from where the Roman Catholic Church eventually came. Before Rome repented, an African from Libya in Cyrene was already on the side of good.
Acts 8:27 says, ‘And he arose and went: and, behold a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem to worship.’
This is the same eunuch who later in verse 38 was baptised by Philip because he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. When Philip found this Ethiopian eunuch, the eunuch was reading Isaiah 53 and wanted to understand who the Prophet was referring to, himself or the Christ.
This goes to show that Ethiopians were not heathens. We know this because the Ethiopian eunuch was in Jerusalem, not on a business trip, but on a spiritual pilgrimage to worship God. Which means, he already knew the God of the Bible.
Secondly, he had a copy of the Holy Scriptures. He was not an illiterate African whom Europeans had to teach how to read and write. This is important.
Thirdly, he received the Gospel directly from Jerusalem through someone ordained by the Twelve. In other words, he didn’t receive the Gospel from European missionaries. He didn’t receive the Gospel from Europe but directly from Jerusalem in Israel.
According to Church history, the reason the eunuch knew the God of the Bible is because of the Queen of Sheba who had also heard of the wisdom of Solomon and visited with him in Jerusalem. And this is how the Faith of the Israelites travelled to Ethiopia. Furthermore, it is also recorded that after his encounter with Philip, the eunuch went back to Ethiopia and the current Ethiopian Orthodox Church came to life.
Both accounts of the Libyans and Egyptians in Acts 2, and that of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 occurred before the Gospel went to Europe through Paul.
The Spirit was poured out in AD33 and Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch met around AD35 in the 1st century. Paul’s first missionary journey to Europe happened around AD51. By then Africans had already heard about the Lord Jesus Christ.
By the time European missionaries evangelised certain parts of Africa in the 15th century, the Gospel had already been on the continent for 14 centuries.
It’s therefore erroneous to conclude that Europeans introduced Africans to Christianity. Long before there was a Roman Catholic Church, or even the Protestant reformation which spawned the likes of the Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists and later Pentecostals, Charismatics and others; the Gospel had already been in Africa and there was the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Just like Europe received its first deposit of the Gospel from an Israelite, so did Africa. Europeans therefore don’t have a higher claim when it comes to the Gospel. If anything, Africa can boast in the Lord for having received the Gospel before Europe.
Glory to God.