A History of Christianity in Africa: From Antiquity to the Present

By Elizabeth Allo Isichei

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802808433
• ISBN13: 9780802808431
• Release Date: February 1995
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

A truly enormous story

Isichei conveys one of the most dramatic stories of recent history. It is a gigantic tale of passion and creativity, as African Christians claimed independence from colonial churches, launched a myriad of indiginized "new religions", and formed the largest movements of popular Christianity in the modern world.