Instructor(s)

Examination of the factors underlying the emergence of the Christian religious understanding and practices of African-descended peoples worldwide and their response. The aim of the course is to investigate whether the church among African descended people worldwide, has been able to address the various circumstances from which they emerged. The course focuses on historic and contemporary experiences of Africans (present inhabitants of the African continent) and African-descended peoples in the Americas, particularly the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

The course will discuss the factors behind the emergence of the Christian church on the African continent and in the African diaspora and how the church has responded in these various socio-theological contexts. We will give attention to the influence of slavery on Christianity in the Americas, the influence of apartheid on Christianity in South Africa and the influence of colonialism on Christianity in Africa. The course will explore their religious understanding and practices, including music, mode of worship, art, preaching, among others, in order to appreciate the factors that gave birth to their ―theologies and spirituality.

Discussions will also include the emergence of black theology in south Africa where the main concern was liberation from apartheid while African theology developed in other parts of the African continent. Mention will be made of the African’s desire for liberation from malevolent spiritual forces evident in their films, music, prayers, proverbs, maxims and sayings.