Recently, I found myself in a bit of a debate about Christianity and its origin story. There are some who believe that Christianity started with colonization, and fail to understand its ancient African and Middle Eastern origins. So, when I talk openly about my faith, I am misunderstood as rejecting my African heritage. To address some of these perspectives, I created a short video that gives a general idea of why I feel that Christianity is connected to my African heritage. I do not believe that Christianity is the only faith of the Motherland, but it is one of many that has its origins on the continent. I simply do not see Christianity as a White man’s religion or the religion of the colonizer. Instead, I see those who used Christianity to justify slavery and racism as creating a distorted faith that has nothing to do with the faith that I have. Africa has birthed so much into humanity, including Christianity and when we reject this notion, we underestimate how much has grown out of this Cradle of Civilization. I get really passionate in this video because this is a topic that is so important to me. So many people could be rejecting a faith that could bring them joy, because of the many false narratives surrounding it. My purpose in sharing this video is not to try and convert anyone, but to at least share some new perspectives to consider, because no matter which faith path we choose, we all deserve to base those decisions on truth.
I have also created this video to address how history and Biblical history is taught in Christian schools. There is a tendency to teach history as if it started in the West, but according to the Bible that is actually incorrect. Human history did not begin in Greece, Rome or anywhere in Europe. There were several powerful empires that existed before Greece and Rome, and those empires shaped future civilizations. Human civilizations form a distinct timeline and they build upon one another. We can’t fully understand human history without knowing about Africa and the Middle East and how their contributions shaped Greece, Rome and eventually the World (even America). As believers that claim to trust in the God of truth, why do we keep teaching Bible and human history through the lens of a false narrative? What are we really trying to preserve? May the truth set us all free. If we teach the truth, we won’t diminish the importance of our own ancestors, but we will come to see how we all have played an important role in the story of humanity.
Dr. Anika T. Prather 