African Christianity
This North African country, home to Alexandria, became one of the earliest Christian centers in Africa.
What is Egypt?
The abolition of this transatlantic practice in the early 19th century helped open Africa to new waves of missionary activity.
What is the slave trade?
The spread of this new faith in the 7th century CE contributed to the decline of Christianity in North Africa.
What is Islam?
This Ethiopian king made Christianity the state religion of Aksum in the 4th century CE.
Who is King Ezana?
Christian missions established schools that taught reading, writing, and practical trades, giving rise to a new African elite defined by this skill.
What is literacy?
This Germanic group invaded North Africa and temporarily suppressed Christianity in some regions.
Who were the Vandals?
This famous North African city produced many early Christian thinkers, including Augustine.
What is Carthage?
Translating the Bible into indigenous African languages like Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa helped make Christianity more what?
What is accessible (or localized)?
Despite the decline of Christianity elsewhere, this region’s rugged geography helped preserve the faith.
What are the Ethiopian highlands?
Christianity spread to Africa largely through this empire’s influence and trade networks.
What is the Roman Empire?
Some African rulers supported missionaries because they believed Christian alliances would help them acquire these.
What are weapons (or political advantages)?
The fusion of Christian beliefs with local African customs and symbols is known by this term.
What is syncretism?
This ancient Christian church, isolated for centuries, survived in the Ethiopian highlands.
What is the Ethiopian Orthodox Church? (Coptic Church)
Missionary education and religion produced a new social group that connected traditional communities with colonial administrations.
Who were the African Christian elites (or mission-educated Africans)?
The early African Christian debates about purity and authority reflected this broader question.
What is “Who has the right to define true Christianity?”