Going by the title, God loves Africa has already struck some readers almost like one of those racially charged barbs, or that stubborn imperial diatribe of the 20th Century that attempted to justify apartheid or slave trade. To some readers as well, the title comes as news. But all this is wrong. The book indeed is about the broadly sourced, widely varied theme of how God has placed Africa at the centre of religious engagement right from scripture to what we see.
In effect it comes through as a simple, modest and easily accessible response to the view that Christianity is foreign to Africa. Often questions regarding Christianity and its advent to this continent have been asked; where are the black persons in the Bible? This has put the African Christian in a much challenged position.
Does God love Africa? The land of pestilence, war and corruption; the land of Cush, Aksum, Ethiopia, Egypt, Carthage, Dahomey, Mali, Zulu and Bantu? Many would say no; He does not. Gillam sets about making a rather earlier quite unknown case
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Book: God Loves Africa Author: Stephen J. Gillam Volume: 182 Pages Publisher: Fountain Publishers, Kampala Price: Ush 15000 Reviewer: Allan Mwesiga |
There is need: “encouraging  African Christiansâ€. There is, also, misconception: “…the belief that the involvement of Africans or African nations in the Bible is no more than minor or inconsequential.†A need for a radical re-thinking that can be met with an undemanding and unpretentious presentation of the facts.Â
Christian apologetics are in a unique or challenging position to meet the post colonial perspective and trade insights on its assumptions about the Christian faith and its sometimes plaid association with African peoples and history. The popular description of Christianity’s association with Africa has its influence, at least in East Africa, following Arab facilitated trade and being followed by the ‘colonial enterprise’.
This makes any attempt for any Christian addressing the issue suspect to the burdens brought about by the coincidences of history and the interests of those parties involved.
Gillam sets about making a slightly unfashionable case from a rather put upon perspective: A perspective that has endured some exacting debate and continues to face new challenges today. One that has not been without widely held misapprehension but, still, one that provides a well founded argument for God’s love for Africa and the, sometimes pivotal, role the continent has played in the biblical narrative
Joseph sold into slavery in Egypt. Jacob’s family moving to Goshen in Egypt. The various Pharaohs mentioned in the biblical narrative. Joseph and Mary and the child Jesus fleeing Herod’s persecution; going to Egypt. Simon of Cyrene bearing Christ’s cross. These are some of the more well known incidents that show an association with Africa in the biblical narrative.
Gillam goes further examining the arguments advanced by a number of commentators including; Ugandans like the journalist Timothy Kalyegira and the History Professor Mwambutsya Ndebesa, David Kayumba and Peter Asiimwe; African Scholars like Nana Banchie Darkwah, Adeyemo Tokumboh, John S. Mbiti, and Jean-Philippe Omotunde not to mention the Greek historian Herodotus and Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. Add to this list contemporary evangelicals like John Hagee and various online sources and you have a comprehensive scope of commentary covering the ancient, the modern, and the contemporary.
At times the book comes across as unflinching. On slave trade the author does not shy away from the complicity of the Church of England that “voted against the abolition of the slave trade in the House of Lords.â€; the Bishop of Exeter, Rev. Henry Philpotts who with three partners “owned 665 slaves†and the argument that “the favourable trade winds from Africa to the Americas were evidence of a providential design.†This is done without neglecting the role of the Quakers and The Clapham Sect, and the roles of William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson( who with Granville Sharp and Josiah Wedgwood formed the Committee for the Abolition of the African Slave Trade in 1787) and the, then, Bishop of London Dr Beilby Porteus. The author also mentions the public apology of the Church of England for its role in the slave trade.
Remarkably, the book is uncluttered in its presentation and unburdened with technical terms. It is, instead, relevant with comments on current events, what light the Bible casts them in and with suggested lessons Christians can take from history. More importantly it is honest about previous Christian involvement in evils like slave trade without being blind to the entire world of good Africans have done and continue to do in our world today.
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