Christianity and Colonialism
Christianity has been present in Africa for centuries and is widespread in Africa today. The Ethiopian Coptic Church is an indigenous African Christian church that dates to the fourth century ce, when King Ezana I of Axum converted to Christianity.
As a result, northeast Africa, particularly Ethiopia and Eritrea, has a Christian history that extends back nearly two millennia. However, Christianity did not become widespread outside of North and Northeast Africa until much more recently. In fact, much of African Christianity today is the result of missionary efforts and European imperialism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Missionary movements and proselytizing often went hand in hand with imperialism, and almost all of Africa was colonized by European powers—primarily Britain, France, and Portugal. Ethiopia is a notable exception.The colonial powers sent missionaries to convert Africans to Christianity, and the Christian Bible was translated into numerous African languages. Often, the process of converting Africans included cultural indoctrination. African people were taught not only that their indigenous religions were false but also that their cultures were inferior to Western ways of life. Therefore, when Africans became Christians, they sometimes left behind their own cultural practices and cultural identities. Often, the new Christians were incorporated into the colonial bureaucracies as government officials. African Christians were also sometimes put in charge of missions and were charged with furthering European aims by converting their own people?3
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