ABSTRACT
Africans have articulated two perspectives about Christianity that have historical groundings. The first view is that Christianity is an African religion because Christianity was established in North Africa before it went to Europe and other parts of the world. The second view is that Christianity is a colonial project because modern Christianity came to Africa through extensive and intensive contacts between Africa and Europe. In this chapter, we will concern ourselves with the first viewpoint: Christianity is an African religion because its roots in North Africa go back to apostolic times. North Africa was a cosmopolitan region that drew people from the Medi-
terranean region. What we call North Africa spanned all the way from Egypt in the East to Mauritania in the West. North Africa was a rich source of food, wines, olive oil, and wheat that supplied food for the imperial society. Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and Hellenised it and many Greeks settled in Alexandria, named by Ptolemy in honor of Alexander the Conqueror. Roman incursion and domination started in 36 BC and North Africa became a Roman Province in 30 BC. Greek continued to be a dominant language but in Egypt locals spoke the Coptic language and, throughout the region, the Berbers spoke their own language. Both colonial powers, the Greeks and later the Romans, traded in food and medicine. North Africa boasted an early civilization in Carthage that ended in 146 BC but Carthage was later revived and became an important ecclesiastical
see at the time of Cyprian. The evangelist Mark is believed to have established the church in North Africa about 62 CE. Alexandria was a thriving intellectual center. The city grew to house important and intellectual institutions of the region including the Catechetical School of Alexandria founded by Pantaenus in 180. John Baur argues that the first leader of the church in Alexandria was Demetrius (189-231). The church grew under his leadership and, at its height, there were some 100 bishops associated with that Patriarchate.2 North Africa would produce several ecclesiastical, theological leaders including Pope Victor and Emperor Septimius Severus.3
