How Africa Shaped The Christian Mind by Thomas C. Oden

This book makes the assertion that not only did Western Christianity derive most of its leading theological ideas from Africa, but that European scholars have purposefully obscured this fact in the modern era. Why? Although Oden puts it in relatively generous terms, where I come from we call it good old-fashion racism. That said, this is not the central theme of the book. Oden takes the time to explain the geography of the early church on the African continent and the apostolic connections between Alexandria and the Nile Valley, Ethiopia, and the Maghreb (Tunisia, Libya, Algeria). These were hot-beds of Christianity and quite influential in the development of orthodoxy and theological inquiry prior to the Islamic conquests of the 8th Century. Oden builds an extremely good case that the Christianity that is exploding today on the continent of Africa needs to recognize that it didn't come from Europe as an import two centuries ago, but rather came from the Apostles to Africa which in turn went to Europe and then came back to them. The reader is also reminded that some of the great luminaries of the Church such as Augustine, Athanasius, and Origen, were not Hellenized Romans who just happened to live on the continent, but were actually of the indigenous peoples of Africa and retained viewpoints very much in keeping with their cultural identity. While the book may be provocative to some, it is a potent reminder that Christianity is not a European religion but a worldwide religion and always has been.