Christianity as a movement according to the Bible was founded by and should be attributed to Africans. This in no way negates the fact that Jesus Christ is and remain the central figure of Christianity. The movement whose adherents were later called Christians was well established and had taken roots before the Apostles who were originally trained by Jesus of Nazareth heard about it.
Joseph of Cyprus ( aka Barnabas) was sent to investigate the movement which originated in the city of Antioch of Syria and he on arrival in the city of Antioch gave validity to the movement. Barnabas is believed to have been personally trained by Jesus of Nazareth although he was not one of the twelve Apostles. According to the Bible Barnabas introduced the brilliant scholar, Saul of Tarsus to the movement which was already well established and Saul of Tarsus spent the rest of his life propagating the movement. (Saul of Tarsus aka Paul the Apostle).
As the New Testament is read it becomes obvious that there were two versions of the good news about Jesus of Nazareth. At the front of one movement was the Apostle Peter and he focused on spreading the message of Jesus of Nazareth to the Jews. The other movement was the one began by the Africans among the Greeks in the city of Antioch with Barnabas (Barnabas was a Jew) giving leadership.
A careful reading and understanding of the first missionary journey of Paul the Apostle will show that although Paul was the one doing the talking, it was Barnabas that was the recognized leader.
The mention of Africans in the Bible is not a strange phenomena. "Can the Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Jeremiah 13:23). The Sabeans were also from Africa and were reputed to be in excess of 12ft tall.
Africa is introduced into the New Testament when Simon of Cyrene (Mark 15:21) was forced to assist Jesus of Nazareth with his cross while on his way to be crucified. This Simon of Cyrene had two sons Rufus and Alexander who were well known and active in the early church. Cyrene can be found in present day Libya. Simon of Cyrene was not necessarily a black man because Jews had scattered and were living throughout the known world. There is also the mention in the New Testament of an Ethiopian eunuch in the Book of Acts. It should be noted that all Jews were required to present themselves before the Lord God at the temple in Jerusalem three times each year. Both Simon of Cyrene and the Ethiopian eunuch could have been Jews who had traveled to Jerusalem for one of the required festival.
According to the Bible it were men from Cyrene who introduced the message of Jesus of Nazareth to the gentiles Greeks. The Greek believed the message about Jesus of Nazareth and soon there were so many Greek believers that the Apostles in Jerusalem took note. This was unique in that these Greeks became followers of Jesus of Nazareth without converting to Jewish customs and beliefs. This was to later cause controversy because some Jews later contended that these Greek believers should convert to Jewish beliefs and customs. A council meeting was held and the general consensus was that non-Jewish believers in Jesus of Nazareth should not be forced to covert to Jewish customs and practices.
There was another influential African later in the church, Cyprian the Bishop of Carthage.
The present day church came out the movement that began in the ancient city of Antioch in Cyria whether Protestant or Roman Catholic.
The trans-Atlantic slave trade began with the Spanish at the suggestion of a Dominican priest Bartolome De Las Casas. The church never accepted culpability for the slave trade and it will never be known how many Africans died or were killed as a result of four hundred years of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It is ironic that the very movement that were began by Africans were to later regard Africans as less than humans and use the Bible to support its actions.
The enslavement and ill treatment of African have forced the church and Europeans to reinterpret the Bible. Preachers in the church and Christianity present Paul the Apostle as the greatest Christian but will not say that according to the Bible the Christian movement began of Africans or had prominent Africans in its early leadership. The church will not accept Africa as the cradle of civilization.
There are many persons of African descent who presently reject the Bible, the church and Christianity under the pretense that the Bible was used by Europeans to keep Africans in subjugation. The reality is that when Christianity was well established in Ethiopia the countries of Europe and America were still uncivilized. The time has come for Africans to once again claim what rightfully belong to Africans.
The church and Christianity was not founded by Europeans. The Bible was not written by Europeans to keep Africans in subjugation as many ignoramus claim. Paul the Apostle did not begin the christian movement.
There are many persons of African descent who are ridiculously contending that Africa need a black god and a black messiah when it does not really matter if the men from Cyrene who originally shared the message about Jesus of Nazareth with the Greeks in the city of Antioch were black or some other color, the important thing is that they shared the message and they were from Africa. The Ethiopian eunuch was from Africa and he too would have taken the message about Jesus of Nazareth to Africa. On the Day of Pentecost recorded in the Book of Acts there were Africans among the people gathered to hear the message preached by the Apostle Peter and they too would have taken the message about Jesus of Nazareth back to Africa.
Like so many things that belong to Africa Christianity was hijacked by Europeans and Europeans continue pretending that they have an access to God that Africans don't have. It is time for African to reclaim what truly belong to Africans. Europeans continue claiming they are sending missionaries and preachers to Africa to proclaim what was first begun by Africans when it is time for African to once again take the message about Jesus of Nazareth to the Europeans..
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