ABSTRACT
Christianity in Africa has often been seen as a foreign religion and there is a sense in which this may be correct. Given that contemporary Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa is a product of Western Christian missions, it is possible to say that this form of Christianity is foreign, the protestations of influential scholars such as Andrew Walls and Kwame Bediako notwithstanding.1 However, Christianity has a longer history in the continent than its history in sub-Saharan Africa alone. Thus, a reflection on the place of Africa and Africans in the Bible will reveal that Christianity is, to a significant degree, a religion that has its roots in Africa and that Africa has a central place in the Christian story of salvation. The history of Christian thought in Africa should take into account the fact that Africa’s engagement with the Christian faith does not only begin with the history of Christianity but rather with ancient Israel itself.
