The Godfathers of Soul and Spirit
People who know me know that I love old school R&B, Funk, Jazz and a fusion of the three, which is its own category. One of my favorite music artist is James Brown; affectionately known as the godfather of soul. The first time I heard him and the JB’s was on the radio. WDAS FM in Philly played Doing it to Death. It did something to my spirit. I might have been in middle school at the time. When I heard it, my feet started tapping and I made the ugly face like when someone gets dunked on.
I listened to anything that was composed by or derived from James Brown that I could find. I started hearing the various samples used by countless rap artists of the day. Much of James Brown’s music was scattered throughout the music world. He was not only the godfather of soul, but the rhythmic foundation of rap music… George Clinton as well. In the same way Mr. Brown is the rhythmic foundation of rap, the theological stances of African theologians, illuminated by scripture, are the foundation of modern Christian theology.
How Sway?
There are folks who will question the validity of Christianity by targeting doctrines such as the trinity and the hypostatic union[1], citing that these aren’t based in a deity. They’ll argue that a White man or White men created such doctrines to establish and/or maintain power over peoples they believed to be inferior; dark skinned peoples in particular. What these folks may or may not realize is that these doctrines are biblically based and they were articulated by African theologians.
These theologians not only articulated what the scriptures laid out, but they also had a hand in the shaping of church history down through the centuries. The tradition of their scholarship continues to be the cornerstones of our faith… and these brothers were Black. Now consider… some of the names: Athanasius, Augustine or Cyril… these names don’t look African; this is true. Many of those brothers had Greek and Roman names. Before we get into the foundations these men laid down, let’s talk history and geography.
The historical wool was or was attempted to be pulled over our eyes. When we saw Greek and Roman names, we assume they were attributed to men who were either Greek or Roman. Scholars who propagated this tactic did so in the name of supporting notions of White supremacy. Thomas Oden calls this Western imperialistic prejudice; that is the Romanization of African Christian Thinkers.
However, we cannot make the mistake of assuming one to be Greek or Roman simply because of their name — the same way we cannot make that mistake in today’s dispensation. Members of the African diaspora in the West may have English and Spanish names, but their dark skin indicates their African heritage.
Same as in the West, the lands along the southern border of the Mediterranean Sea were conquered by Europeans; namely the Greeks (Alexander the Macedonian) and the Romans (the Caesars). Northern Africa was under Greek control and influence before the birth of Christ and under Roman control and influence during the life of Christ and for centuries after his death. The Greeks were conquered by the Romans, who adopted Greek culture as their own and ruled the entire Mediterranean.
There was an amalgamation of cultures. For example, John Mark, author of the first gospel (chronologically speaking), was an Hebrew African, who communicated in Greek and was a Roman citizen. The name John Mark, without study, will not inform you of that information. Likewise, neither will the names of the theological fathers by themselves tell you of their ethnic origins. Before we get to the African theological fathers, let’s take a quick look into Africa’s influence as a whole.
Thomas Oden’s text, How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity, is a treasure chest of information regarding the influence Africa had on Christianity and the West. Oden mentions seven areas in which Africa shaped the Christian mind.[2] I’ll explore some of these areas here.
We often think of the European university as the seat of intellectualism. However, the library of Alexandria was unrivaled the world over. It was the model for university libraries all over Europe.[3]
“The history of the first medieval universities such as Padua (Italy), Paris (France), Salamanca (Spain) and Oxford (England) followed methods of text examination, circular patterns and philosophical imperatives that were refined in second century African Christianity as early as Pantaenus and Clement of Alexandria. Clément’s writing, the Stromateis, and Paedaogus reveal much of the method and content of education that became normative in the medieval university.”[4]
Alexandria was the birthplace and academic center of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship was exported throughout the empires of Europe; both in the East (Byzantium) and the West (Rome).[5] Not only did Africa contribute the university & Christian scholarship, but she also contributed Christian dogma, methods for interpreting scripture, Bibles (Greek and Latin) prior to Jerome, Neoplatoism[6], the monastic model as well.[7]
“The active practice of monasticism began deep in Africa. It flowered less on the coast of Africa than on the inland deserts and rugged mountains, and in the salt flats of Nitria, and further south in the Theban desert wastes where the required solitude for contemplation could be found. The monks went far into the desert precisely to find places where they would not be distracted.”[8]
Africa also provided the West with the model setup of ecumenical councils. The Council of Nicaea was heavily attended by African church fathers and theologians. They were comfortable with the setup because that was custom in Africa.
“The most influential ecumenical debates first occurred largely in the great African cities of Carthage, Hippo, Milevis, and Alexandria. Arianism, Sabellianism, Gnosticism and Pelagianism were debated and largely decided in Africa before they were debated elsewhere… At Nicaea again the spotlight fell on previous African debates about the plausibility of Arian arguments on the created nature of the Son.”[9]
There are numerous African theologians that contributed to Christianity and Christian thought in the West, as well as in the East. While there are many, however, for the purposes of brevity (as I already have written more than anticipated), I’ll focus on the following: Tertullian, Origen, Athanasius and Augustine.
Tertullian is from Carthage in Tunisia and is of Berber origin. He’s often called the father of Latin Theology and implored African Christians to not forfeit their African identity and trade it for a Roman one. Tertullian rejected Roman-ness. Of his many contributions, Tertullian coined the term trinitas to describe the Godhead and adapted other Latin terms to explain that God eternally exists as one “substance” (substantia) in three distinct “persons” (personae).
Origen is from Alexandria in Egypt. He can be credited, with others, for making Alexandria the academic center of Christian thought and scholarship. He wrote extensive biblical commentaries and also contributed to the development of the doctrine of the Trinity. Origen also gave scholars the rules and methods for how to properly interpret scripture.[10]
Athanasius is also from Alexandria. He was indeed African; his enemies (and he had plenty of them) called him the “Black Dwarf.” He was the secretary to the Bishop of Alexandria, Alexander. Not only did Athanasius affirm Origen’s teaching on the Trinity, but he also affirmed and defended the doctrine of the hypostatic union; that Christ was both fully human and fully divine. Athanasius argued that if this was not true, Christ would have been unable to redeem humanity. It was Athanasius’ faithfulness to this truth that he endured five exiles to ensure it became a doctrine of the church. He was one of our greatest church apologists. His writing helped to convert many pagans, including our next listed theologian.
Augustine was from Hippo located in Algeria. Unlike the previously mentioned theologians, Augustine was not born into the faith. He converted as an adult. Augustine’s writings were cited more often in the Western church than anyone else.
What is fascinating is that there are two fronts to the war against the Black Christian psyche. First is the front fighting the traditional battles of Christianity as the “White Man’s Religion.” Second is the front where some Whites continue to espouse that Christianity and Christian thought is European — in the name of White supremacy and Black inferiority. However, these unlikely allies of the same argument are fighting a losing war.
There is just absolutely too much evidence that refutes their respective intellectual positions. Those historians and theologians true to the history, as well as the faith, have researched and shown the African influence on Christianity, Christian thought, Western thought and Western institutions such as the monastery and the university. Theologically, the western churches (and Eastern Orthodoxy) can trace much of its foundations back to Northern Africa. That’s the history… that’s the truth. Prayerfully, folks on the opposing are ready to receive it.
For more information on African theological fathers of the church, you can visit the Center for Early African Christianity where you can learn of other fathers not named here.
[1] The hypostatic union is the combination of divine and human natures in the single person of Jesus the Christ.
[2] Those seven areas mentioned by Oden are Academia, Exegesis, Dogmatics, Ecumenics, Monastic Communities, Philosophy, and Dialectics.
[3] Thomas Oden, How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity (2010).
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] For more on Neoplatoism, visit https://www.iep.utm.edu/neoplato/#H1
[7] Thomas Oden, How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity (2010).
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
