A History of Christianity in Africa

From Antiquity to the Present

Elizabeth Isichei

• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Year: 1995
• ISBN:
  9781467420815
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: History of Christianity

This unprecedented work is the first one-volume study of the history of Christianity in Africa. Written by Elizabeth Isichei, a leading scholar in this field, A History of Christianity in Africa examines the origins and development of Christianity in Africa from the early story of Egyptian Christianity to the spectacular growth, vitality, and diversity of the churches in Africa today. Isichei opens with the brilliance of Christianity in Africa in antiquity and shows how Christian Egypt and North Africa produced some of the most influential intellects of the time. She then discusses the churches founded in the wake of early contacts with Europe, from the late fifteenth century on, and the unbroken Christian witness of Coptic Egypt and of Ethiopia. Isichei also examines the different types of Christianity in modern Africa and shows how social factors have influenced its development and expression. With the explosive growth of Christianity now taking place in Africa and the increasingly recognized significance of African Christianity, this much-needed book fills the void in scholarly works on that continent's Christian past, also foreshadowing Christian Africa's influential future.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• A Note on Terminology and Chapter Arrangement
• Prelude
• 1 North African Christianity in Antiquity
• 2 The Churches of the Middle Years, c. 1500 to c. 1800
• 3 Mission Renewed
• 4 Southern Africa to c. 1900
• 5 East and East Central Africa to c. 1900
• 6 West Africa to c. 1900
• 7 West Central Africa
• 8 Northern Africa
• 9 East and East Central Africa c. 1900 to c. 1960
• 10 West Africa c. 1900 to c. 1960
• 11 South Africa and Its Neighbors since 1900
• 12 Independent Black Africa since 1960: Church, State, and Society
• Notes
• References