Catholicism is an apostolic faith. This means we base what the church teaches on the practices of the early Christian Church, which gives us our liturgy, and the teachings of the apostles, which give us our theology. Any version of Christianity that conflicts with the teaching of the apostles, which came to them from Christ, cannot be considered “Christian” in the truest sense. One cannot contradict apostolic teaching and still consider oneself a “Christian.”
Last week, we saw how Christianity, when it arrived in Northern and Eastern Africa during the first century, was based on the apostolic teaching of two apostles. These two apostles were Philip and Mark. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles mentions the Ethiopian eunuch, who asks Philip to explain the scriptures to him and then asks to be baptized. Ethiopian Orthodoxy traces its tradition back to that encounter mentioned in the Book of Acts. Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia today believe that the eunuch, whom Philip instructed, spread Philip’s apostolic teachings throughout Eastern Africa 400 years before it became the dominant religion in that region.

Similarly, tradition has it that Mark traveled into Northern Africa, following well-established trade routes, to bring Christianity to the city of Alexandria, where he founded a church in 42 AD. Alexandria was a center of Greek learning in Northern Africa, which had a significant Jewish population. It was also part of the Roman Empire. The confluence of Greek wisdom, Jewish mysticism, and Roman legalism was essential to the development of Christianity.

Early Christian communities in this Hellenistic region were typically small and centered around house churches. The apostolic faith resonated with diaspora Jews and God-fearing Gentiles attracted to monotheism. Alexandria's flourishing Hellenistic intellectual environment produced early Patristic Fathers of the universal Church, such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen.

All of this points to two important facts the should correct common misconceptions about Christianity in Africa: First, contrary to popular misconceptions, Christianity first appeared on the African continent during the First Century AD and not later, with the introduction of European colonialism in the 19th Century. Second, contrary to popular belief, Northern Africa played a significant role in shaping theology for the entire universal Church. They were not passive recipients of something that was handed to them from Europe. Christianity emerged amid the crosscurrents of Mediteranean cultural influences.

With these points in mind, one might consider these questions: What are other misconceptions about the history of Christianity in Africa, and why do these misconceptions persist? What are the implications of this history for understanding the nature of cultural exchange in the birth and early development of Christianity? How can the history of Christianity in Eastern and Northern Africa, with its confluence of cultures, refute the idea that Christianity is, strictly speaking, a “European” religion “imposed” on Africa and the rest of the world?