Africa's First Christians

Hello everyone. Today's video is a Patreon request. If you'd like to make a video request of your own, you can do so by becoming a Patron. The link to this can be found below. Hello everyone, happy holidays! During this magical time of year, Christmas is by far one of the most celebrated holidays in the entire world, so this Patreon request could not have come at a better time. Whether you're a Christian or not, Christmas is a holiday that brings Christmas, of course, is a Christian holiday, and Christianity is one of the world's oldest and most enduring religions in the world. Its principles form the basis of many of the world's governments, and as such, laws, holidays, and judicial systems are heavily based on Christian values. However, when discussing the history of this religion, we tend to place a sharp focus on Europe and the Near East, but little to none on Africa. Before we do that, let's go ahead and give a brief preface on the initial spread of Christianity. After the death of Jesus Christ in the early decades of the first century AD, Christianity began to spread throughout the Mediterranean world after initially being adopted by a small group of Jews who pledged to be followers of Christ. In 312 AD, it was eventually adopted by the Roman Empire, which at the time was the largest and probably the most influential empire in the world. However, it did not end there. It continued on well outside of the Eurasian continent and into Africa along the Mediterranean coast and down the Nile Valley, all the way to the lands of Nubia and Ethiopia. As far as Abrahamic religions go, Islam became the dominant religion in Africa throughout much of the Middle Ages, and even today, nearly half of its inhabitants are Muslims. With that said, not much focus is put on the history of Christianity in Africa. Today I will not attempt to cover the entire history of Christianity in the African continent, but I will give a brief overview of it collectively. Contrary to popular belief, Christianity has been present on the African continent for just as long as it was in Europe and in some cases, even longer, depending on the specific region in question. Christianity first arrived in North Africa in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, making these communities among the earliest Christian converts in the world. According to legend, Christianity was brought to Egypt in 60 AD by Mark, one of the four evangelists. From there, Christianity spread westward across the Mediterranean coast and down the Nile Valley, reaching as far as Ethiopia, which at the time was controlled by the Great Kingdom of Aksum. Once it reached Aksum, it was quickly adopted as a state religion by Azana the Great, sometime around 330 AD. And just for comparison's sake, the Roman Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as a state religion of the Roman Empire around the same time, in the year 312 AD. During this time, the Nubian Kingdom of Nobatia was also conquered by the Kingdom of Aksum. Despite this, however, Nobatia remained pagan until the reign of King Soko in the 6th century. Also around this same time, Makuria, another Nubian kingdom to the south, also converted to Christianity, with the earliest known church excavated in the region dating back between the years of 535 and 537 AD. This church very clearly demonstrated a serious conversion to Christianity, as it was formerly a temple dedicated to the worship of the goddess Isis, an Egyptian and Nubian deity that was known and worshipped even throughout the Greco-Roman world. Another testament to the dedication to Christianity among the Nubians comes after the birth of Islam. In its earliest days, Islam seemed like an unstoppable force. In the year 654, just two decades after Prophet Muhammad's death, a vast empire controlled the whole of the Arabian Peninsula and other parts of the Near East, Egypt, and much of the North African coast, the latter two being primarily Christian or pagan prior to this. This empire, known as the Rashidun Caliphate, then moved further down the Nile River in a bold attempt to conquer the Nubian Kingdom of Makuria. Despite their success in conquering Egypt in the year 640, Makuria proved to have a much more formidable army. Its long-standing tradition of skilled archers made Makuria a force to be reckoned, so much so that even ancient Egyptians referred to the lands as Ta-Sedi, or Land of the Bow. Just one year after the conquest of Egypt, the Rashidun army advanced south down the Nile Valley and laid siege on the city of Dongola, Makuria's capital. Despite completely outnumbering the Makurian army, the skilled cavalry and archers proved just too much for this force of Islamic warriors, whom prior to this battle were virtually unstoppable. Ten years later, another attempt was made to subjugate the Kingdom of Makuria, this time with a catapult. Despite their best efforts, the Islamic forces had to withdraw after yet another defeat or a possible stalemate. In any regard, after this battle was fought, the Egyptian Muslims and the Makurian Christians subsequently signed a treaty known as the Bacht. This treaty would become one of the longest lasting peace treaties in world history. Moving to the southeast, we find one of the Christian nations not just in Africa, but the world. As mentioned earlier, the Kingdom of Aksum situated in what is now Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Yemen officially converted to Christianity around the year 330 AD. To present day, Ethiopia debatably remains the world's oldest Christian nation only beaten by Armenia, which officially converted to Christianity in 301 AD. Recent archaeological evidence of a church excavated just north of the modern day city of Aksum corroborates this, as it dates to the 4th century AD. This Christian tradition remained strong and firmly planted within Ethiopia, even in the midst of the Muslim Crusades which swept across North Africa, converting all in their path and effectively isolating Ethiopians from the rest of the Christian world. During this time, Christianity began to be superficially associated with Europe, while Islam was associated with Africa and the Near East. This isolation of Ethiopia from the rest of the Christian world led to the gradual divergence of the two, with European Christianity evolving into the Catholic Church, while Ethiopian Christianity evolved into the Tawahado Church. The prominence and importance of the religion to their state was so great that in the 12th and 13th centuries, a massive project was undertaken in the city of Lalibela, where several churches were carved directly out of the solid rock. This was done primarily as a means of making a holy city locally for pilgrims, since Jerusalem was relatively inaccessible. Aside from a few small pockets of Christian communities, Ethiopia remained the only large state in Africa to practice the religion for several centuries until Europeans began exploring the continent in the 15th century. In the year 1483, a Portuguese exploratory mission led by Diogo Cao entered the Congo River and encountered numerous Congo villages and towns. Little did he know, these small villages were part of a sophisticated kingdom, which he'd later find out as he approached the capital further up the river. Some nobles from the kingdom voluntarily traveled back to Portugal in the year 1485 and embraced Portuguese religion and ways of life. In just one year prior to Christopher Columbus' famous voyage to the Americas, Congo ruler Nzinga Atenkuu willingly chose to convert to Christianity when he asked to be baptized by the Portuguese. At this point, he adopted the Christian name Joao I, and this made his kingdom into the first African state to convert to Christianity in several centuries. Him and his noblemen all converted to this alien religion peacefully, with both the European and African parties involved being very very pleased with the decision. The Kingdom of Congo was also the first African state to convert to the Catholic sect of Christianity, and even had bishops appointed by the Pope throughout the next century. One might assume that European goods and technology may have prompted this conversion, and that may have possibly had an influence. However, it's important to note that the Portuguese had encountered other powerful kingdoms prior to Congo along the African coast, including the states of the Senegambia such as the Jollof Empire, as well as the Kingdom of Benin, and even what was left of the Mali Empire. Despite this, Christianity didn't really take as firm of a hold in any of these regions until the 19th century, and was largely a byproduct of colonialism when many traditions associated with African religions were banned. Today, roughly 40% of the African population is Christian, with another 40% being Muslim, with the former primarily dominating the southern half of the continent. Abrahamic religions have absorbed many traditional African religions, and continue to do so today. Or, as Professor Jacob Olupona at the Harvard Divinity School put it, The success of Christianity and Islam on the African continent in the last 100 years has been extraordinary, but it has been, unfortunately, at the expense of African indigenous religions. I really hope everyone enjoyed this brief breakdown of the history of Christianity in Africa, and as per usual, this topic is much more complex than what can be realistically covered in such a short video, but nevertheless, I really hope you enjoyed. Happy Holidays, and always remember, we don't come from nothing.