{"id":13052,"date":"2017-06-01T13:54:47","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T20:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=13052"},"modified":"2017-06-01T13:54:47","modified_gmt":"2017-06-01T20:54:47","slug":"the-wind-of-the-spirit-is-moving-northward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-wind-of-the-spirit-is-moving-northward\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wind of the Spirit is Moving Northward!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Africa is the second largest continent in the world with 54 countries and over 1 billion inhabitants. Of those 1 billion inhabitants approximated 460 million are Christians and yet I know very little about Africa and its Christian history.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t believe that I am alone and Odeon would agree that much of the story of Christianity is Africa has not been told. For Odeon, \u201cthe remedy is better historical inquiry, not slipshod history or the ideologically charged tweaking of historical evidence.\u201d1 I for one want to hear the story and found it in\u00a0How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind.<\/i>\u00a0As I began to read\u00a0<\/i>I was immediately informed and deeply intrigued but Odeon\u2019s thesis. He argues that Christian thought didn\u2019t recently travel from Europe and the north to Africa. On the contrary, in its early years of development, much of the Christian thought came from Africa and has since informed the development of the whole of Christian thought and theology, even into the western world.<\/p>\n

Among other things, Odeon attributes the western concept of the\u00a0university, the way in which scripture is exegeted, early Christian doctrine, the form of decision making based on a council of leaders, as some of the influence of African culture on early Christianity. He tells a story that is not often told but one that needs to be told. Though I can sense that the purpose of the book it to encourage a younger generation of Africans to learn about and study their rich Christian history, the book has informed me\u2014from a bit of a more mature generation\u2014and caused me to consider how Africa may have shaped the way in which I think about, live and practice my faith.<\/p>\n

Application:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking about the way I practice Christianity, many scholars, including Anderson, have noted that Pentecostalism continues to rapidly grow in Africa and is \u201cbecoming one of the most significant expressions of Christianity on the continent, especially in Africa\u2019s cities.\u201d2 I might add that African Christians are bringing their Pentecostal faith with them wherever they travel, including to Europe.\u00a0Odeon acknowledges this growth as well and in an ever so slightly critical tone suggests that Pentecostalism lacks the intellectual rigor needed to \u201csustain African Christians\u201d against for instance the challenge of Islam. He says, \u201cThe rising charismatic and pentecostal energies in Africa are stronger emotively than intellectually.\u201d 3<\/p>\n

On one hand I have to agree with Odeon, Pentecostalism does have a strong experiential component that can lead to an emotionalism that is unbalanced. However, there are times when experience goes deeper than intellect, and were a purely intellectual assent to Christian doctrine can be as troubling as emotionalism gone too far. Odeon seems to take the position that emotion and intellect are diametrically opposing forces; that is, you can’t have both. However, it seems that both are important and even biblical\u2014you can find both emotional and intellectual expressions of faith through out the Scriptures. \u00a0The African Christians who focus on real transformation, empowerment and a faith experience within a culture and context where they are often powerless are those who are shaping Pentecostalism not only in Africa but around the world. I would say that African expressions of faith and worship, transformation and empowerment are a fresh wind blowing northward that captures both the heart and the mind. This too is African influence\u00a0on Christianity.<\/p>\n

What a fascinating and informative book. I began with knowing very little about Africa and it\u2019s Christian heritage. How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind <\/i>has informed me of the richness and depth of Africa\u2019s Christian heritage and has challenged me to look further than I\u2019ve looked before to find the foot prints of Christ in all the world. I\u2019m looking forward to visiting Africa soon!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Thomas C. Odeon.\u00a0How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity<\/i>. IVP Academic, 2010, 11.<\/li>\n
  2. Allan Anderson. \u201cEvangelism and the Growth of Pentecostalism in Africa.\u201d http:\/\/www.artsweb.bham.ac.uk\/aanderson\/publications\/evangelism_and_the_growth_of_pen.htm (accessed May 31, 2017).<\/li>\n
  3. Odeon, 99.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Summary: Africa is the second largest continent in the world with 54 countries and over 1 billion inhabitants. Of those 1 billion inhabitants approximated 460 million are Christians and yet I know very little about Africa and its Christian history. I don\u2019t believe that I am alone and Odeon would agree that much of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[953],"class_list":["post-13052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-oden","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13052"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13053,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13052\/revisions\/13053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}