The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. These are the sweet and reassuring words of the Psalmist (Ps 19:7). They are statements of a man who had tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord, a man who had rejoiced in the supreme sufficiency of the sovereign God.
One persistent objection raised against Christianity by ‘Pan-Africanists’ is that African Christians serve a foreign God, a white man’s Wanga. To them, Christianity is nothing more than a medium of residual cultural imperialism and neo-colonialism.
In a fast-paced world that survives on fact-packed news bytes, people easily satisfy their hunger for power, pomp, and prosperity by use of a little prediction. For people in a country like Uganda, someone who ‘taps’ into the spiritual realm comes in handy. And when our worlds spin faster than light, we have no time to pause, ponder, or even pray. We ‘receive’ whatsoever our apps bring, without stopping to deliberate and decide wisely.
Tertullian often called (and rightly so I believe) ‘Father of Latin Theology coined the term Romanitas to mock Roman-ness, implying his rejection of a Roman identity.[1]
… The African Identity of Lactantius, Augustine, and Tertullian (Part Four)
Having before discussed the contributions of Africa to global Christianity here, we come back to my main question. Did Lactantius, Augustine, and Tertullian, identify themselves as Africans? Or were they ‘merely Europeans in disguise’?
… The African Identity of Lactantius, Augustine, and Tertullian (Part Three)
It is morning here, and I am at church. I know I shouldn’t be checking my phone. But I did. Ninno Jack Junior has just sent me a WhatsApp message, one that I usually should not have opened. But I did. The text was short: “Nevender has passed on.”
If there is a text that has proved complex for Bible readers, both ‘Lay’ and ‘scholarly,’ it is 1 John 5:16-17. I have sought various viewpoints and interpretations. I have read the passage over and again. The text remains complex, and the sin that leads to death seems to stay elusive.
One benefit of learning biblical languages is that you get to read the Bible in the dialect it was written. This can be quite a remarkable experience as you capture those nuances that are hard to translate. But also, the joy that comes with discovering clarity of the text in the original language where the translated passage is not so clear is enormous.
I hope this is a convenient time to have a chat, to have a conversation that matters. I have earnestly followed the discussion on social media and watched your excitement about the ‘Men of God’ in town. I understand. I too have some people whose teachings excite me. After all, we were created for praise and made for worship.
Christianity has always been at home in Africa, right from when our Savior found residence in Egypt till now. The story of how early Christianity came to Africa varies, but it is not hard to imagine how seeds were sown. Northern and Eastern Africa have always been open to Jerusalem, and the thought is that there existed Hellenistic Jews as far as Libya even before Christ was born.[1]
… The African Identity of Lactantius, Augustine, and Tertullian (Part Two)
