Introductory Chapter
Introductory Chapter
The African continent has relentlessly journeyed in its quest for absolute religious,
political, sociocultural, and economic freedom. This arduous expedition commenced a few
decades after the unforgettable Scramble for Africa that was launch between 1884-1885
during the Berlin Conference.1 It is not an overstatement to claim that the inception and
contorted Africa's identity. Malesela Edward Montle aptly posits, “The colonialists
revolutionized the cultural backdrop of Africa and imposed European values upon African
natives. This affected the social, economic, and political identities in Africa. Today, the
The European imperialists thrived on Africa’s identity crisis through the coercion of
Eurocentrism in all the colonies. Colonialism enforced intolerable, inhumane, and monstrous
conditions of life among Africans. For instance, they instigated the oppressive system of
Apartheid3 in South Africa. Through the abhorrent law of Apartheid, native South Africans
were segregated and deprived of their human rights. During mid-twentieth century, such
systems became so unbearable that all African colonies struggled for freedom against the
European nations that had subjugated them since the inception of the Scramble for Africa.
1
For more about the Berlin Conference and Scramble for Africa, see Mieke van der Linden, “The
Acquisition of Africa (1870–1914),” 2016. "Brill | Nijhoff" p.5-7 https://brill.com/display/title/33020 New
World Encyclopedia URL https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Berlin_Conference_of_1884-
85#The_General_Act
2
Montle, Malesela Edward. 2021. “The Genesis African-Identity-Crisis through Wole Soyinka’s Death
and King’s Horseman”. NOBEL: Journal of Literature and Language Teaching 12 (2):158-67. URL
https://doi.org/10.15642/NOBEL.2021.12.2.158-167
3
For more details about the South African Apartheid state, see Luiz, John M. "The Evolution and Fall
of the South African Apartheid State: A Political Economy Perspective." Ufahamu: A Journal of African
Studies 26, no. 2-3 (1998). p. https://doi.org/10.5070/F7262-3016619
African’s vision during the struggle against colonialism, was to see Africa being
emancipated in all facets of life. However, Africa's post-colonial life is still not consistent
with what Africans envisioned during the struggle for freedom. This is because European
colonizers imposed deep-rooted systems4 and policies that would perennially oppress Africa.
The Berlin conference was Africa’s undoing in many ways than one. The colonial
While there is universal declaration that all African countries are independent, these political
policies are alive and well in Africa. Therefore, Africans wholeheartedly believe that their
political, sociocultural, religious, and economic lives are shaped by the imposed European
colonial systems.
of imperialism against Africans. Dr. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, a Kenya prolific author averred,
“Colonial education has another aim: to produce a native elite which has absorbed the culture
of imperialism, and through who imperialism, in its neo-colonialism stages, can continue
looting and plundering the wealth of the country.”6 In the contemporary era, Africans suffer
4
Apartheid, Britain’s “Divide and Rule,” and France’s “Assimilation and Associations” are just a few
of the colonial systems that still oppress Africa today. For more details, see Ocheni, Stephen, and Basil C.
Nwankwo. "Analysis of colonialism and its impact in Africa." Cross-Cultural Communication 8, no. 3 (2012):
53 URL http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.ccc.1923670020120803.1189 Liya Palagashvili African chiefs:comparative
governance under colonial rule. Public Choice 174, 277–300 (2018). URL https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-018-
0499-3
5
Ogunbado, Ahamad Faosiy. “Impacts of Colonialism on Religions: An Experience of Southwestern
Nigeria.” IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 5 (2012): 51-57. URL https://doi.org/10.9790/0837-
0565157
6
Wa Thiong'o, Ngugi. "Education for a national culture." Barrel of a Pen: Resistance to Repression in
Neo-Colonial Kenya. Trenton, NJ: Africa of the World P 100 (1983). p.29 https://doi.org/10.5070/F7122017159
neocolonialism because of the consistent consumption of this colonial education which has
profoundly perverted their dignity and identity. It is therefore not incorrect to postulate that
this colonial education system in Africa is fully functional as it achieves its purpose.
The European colonialists were obsessed with imperialism that they also used
Christianity for the exploitation of Africa’s resources and the perversion of culture. Christian
missionaries partnered with their colonial governments for civilization by the enforcement of
was to reconstruct African culture. Secondly it was used as a vehicle to import and
modernity and civilization. It was used to spread western social, cultural, and
In the modern Africa, a White Wedding ceremony is the most preeminent and widely
preferred. The African indigenous wedding ceremonies has great phased in Africa.
colonialism. Nkomazana aptly asserts that “Although the task of missionaries was to
evangelize the people, Christianity was unnecessarily turned into an ideology which was used
to lay the ground for white domination. Religion was used to legitimize, sustain and even
7
Fidelis Nkomazana and Senzokuhle Doreen Setume. “Missionary Colonial Mentality and the Expansion of
Christianity in Bechuanaland Protectorate, 1800 to 1900.” Journal for the Study of Religion 29, no. 2 (2016): 30.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/24902913
8
For a few changes that European missionaries brought in Africa, see Emily Lyons,, and Chicoine
Luke. "The Long-Term Effects of Christian Missions on Family Formation in sub-Saharan Africa." (2019).
https://www.bates.edu/?s=The+Long-Term+Effects+of+Christian+Missions+on+Family+Formation+in+sub-
Saharan+Africa&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bates.edu%2F
promote political oppression (Bourdillon 1960:269).”9 The Christianity that was imposed by
European missionaries, contorted almost all key facets of life in Africa. For instance,
missionaries of the London Missionary society used the Bible to colonize Batswana
consequently advanced colonial agendas as they were preaching the gospel in Africa.
African cultures and the propagation of colonialism. Musa W Dube avers, “The Bible was
brought into contact with Latin American, African and Asian cultures in a setting where
accompanied colonial expansion and participated with ease in the suppression of other
cultures.12 Dube adds that modern colonial (or civilizing) missions were characterized by
cultural collision, which often placed the Bible on the side of the colonizer’s cultures and
functioned as a tool for the subjugation of the other.13 Therefore, Christian missionaries
altered the African lifestyle by condemning and suppressing African cultures through the
actions and even derogatory remarks that missionaries made against Africans. For instance,
John Mackenzie and Robert Moffat are a few of the missionaries who participated in the
Christianization, civilization and colonization of Africa. Moffat asserted that African culture
was full of degradation, barbarism, ignorance and darkness. Mackenzie also affirmed that
Africans must be secluded from their home habits, customs and occupations because they
9
Nkomazana and Setume. 30
10
Nkomazana and Setume.40
11
For instance, missionaries from the London Missionary Society (David Livingstone, Charles
Mackenzie etc.) see, Our History, “The Missionaries Who Invaded Africa” Our History (Documentary about
Missionaries) Feb 15, 2022, accessed February 26, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ggxt7LZHIU.
12
Dube, Musa W. "Intercultural biblical interpretations." Svensk Missionstidskrift 98 (2010): 364-365.
https://www.academia.edu/25138182/Intercultural_Biblical_Interpretations
13
Ibid.365.
may imbibe that love of a life among their flocks and herds.14 It is pathetic that missionaries
could utter such reprehensible remarks against people whom God had send them to.
With this terrible attitude, missionaries enforced Christianity through various ways
such as churches, crusades and schools. The missionaries’ strategy was crucial to the spread
of European Christianity that even the post-colonial era bears witness to the impact that is
made by their approach. As of February 15, 2023, a statistics agency estimated that there are
about 658 million Christians in Sub-Sahara Africa, and that Among all countries in Africa,
Zambia has high percentage (95.5%) of Christians.15 The Christian religion is the most
influential in Africa. Certainly, European Christianity still affect Africa’s religious, political,
cultural and economic activities as did in the colonial era. Like the colonial education,
Africa’s quest for absolute freedom in critical areas such as religious, cultural and political
issues. This is because it has shaped Africa to what it is today. The missionaries’ attitudes,
and actions such as the enforcement of colonial education, western civilization and the
Christianity in Africa. Mastobane J. Manala writes, “Christianity led to the demise of the
African customs, which it viewed as pagan and evil; the religion also led to the
implementation of apartheid (to which it gave its theological support), and undermined the
leadership role of women. Finally, Christianity has bedeviled race relations in Africa
14
Nkomazana and Setume 38
15
Stastica, “African countries with the highest share of Christians as of 2023” Stastica.com accessed
February 25, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1239389/share-of-christian-population-in-africa-by-
country/
generally.”16 Therefore, some African elites such as Joshua Maponga17 hold that Christianity
questions the legitimacy of the true biblical Christianity. Just as it has been proven, the
Christianity has negatively affected the social, political, economic, and religious lives of
Africans.18
Based on the negative effects of Christianity in Africa, radical African elites such as Joshua
Maponga,19 hold that this religion is a scam against Africa. Therefore, Maponga advocates
for the or at decolonization hypothesis for Africa to attain her freedom and development in all
facets of life as other continents. Joshua Maponga is just an example of the spectrum of
Africans20 who hold such notions against Christianity especially during the 21st Century.
colonialization of Africa when the tenets of Christianity were used to justify Eurocentrism in
Africa. Hence the critical objection: is Christianity a European system for the incessant
16
Matsobane Manala J. "The impact of Christianity on sub-Saharan Africa." Studia Historiae
Ecclesiasticae 39, no. 2 (2013): 285-302. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1017-
04992013000200016
17
Joshua Maponga is a Zimbabwean theologian, philosopher, and a former Bishop of the Seventh Day
Adventist Church. For details about his criticism against European Christianity, see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_0g0Ay7Q_4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLa-E6XCrOY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULW7sHGNAvM
18
For more, see Mastobane J. Manala http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?
script=sci_arttext&pid=S1017-04992013000200016
19
Joshua Maponga, for more about his decolonizing Christianity hypothesis, see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAXTo5bxgQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As48G-M4sd4
20
For more criticisms against Christianity in Africa, see https://www.africaw.com/religion-in-africa-
and-the-harmful-effects Elijah Adjei Boakye https://www.modernghana.com/news/1104819/religion-has-
had-95-negative-influence-on-africa.html