There is an old line from Heraclitus that says, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”<\/p>\n
The invitation that Thomas Oden makes in How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind<\/em>, is for the reader to come to the water’s edge and look at the river of Christian faith and history in a new way. \u00a0He invites the Western Christian in particular, to see that the rushing river is not the same as we might have previously seen it. \u00a0Not only is the history and development of Christian thought and practice tied up more closely with the African continent, cultures and peoples than is generally known, but as we begin a learning journey about the uniquely African contributions to the faith, the reader can be transformed as well.<\/p>\n Oden builds his case with both large claims and minute details. \u00a0He writes, “my purpose is to seek out the core of the African legacy to Christianity. \u00a0How did Africa shape the Christian mind?” (42) \u00a0He then goes on to line out a variety of ways that Christian thought and practice were developed in the African context from the earliest days. \u00a0These include the idea of the university, growing out of the great library at Alexandria, Egypt, and the practice of exegesis from Origen of Alexandria and Augustine of Hippo (which is in modern day Libya). \u00a0Oden digs deep to show the way that Cyprian and the bishops in northern Africa developed practices for debating and resolving doctrinal disputes and theological questions. \u00a0The patterns that these early African leaders mastered were largely followed by the later ecumenical councils of the church.<\/p>\n Oden also shows the way that monasticism was first practiced in the deserts of North Africa and how it pointed the way toward a future European varietal. \u00a0It is clear in his writing that Odeon has a deep passion for his subject and a clear purpose to bring out the real history of contributions that Africans made in the early centuries of Christian faith development.<\/p>\n One of the challenging aspects of reading this book is that there is at times, almost a polemical tone to his writing. \u00a0Here is an impassioned scholar who wants to communicate his life’s work, but even to the most receptive reader, there is a sense that he is upset with someone (and it might be us!). \u00a0He writes, “These are bold assertions. \u00a0They remain to many European intellectuals largely ignorable… Is it because the intelligentsia and refined historians have intuitively assumed the mental superiority of north to south?” As readers, we are stepping into a stream that has been flowing, and even if we didn’t know it, there are lively debates afoot.<\/p>\n Another of the challenges in reading this book probably comes from my own Western eyes and ears. \u00a0Most of the examples given of the early Christian influence and contributions come from Northern Africa in general and Egypt in particular. \u00a0To the Western or American mind, “Africa” is usually equated with sub-Saharan Africa, where racial categories seem more clear-cut. \u00a0The region where most of the work that Oden is studying takes place is one that has significant cross-currents of influence. \u00a0These include the Mediterranean or “Greco-Roman” world of that time, but also the deep influence of Arabic culture and Islam, which arrived in the 7th century. \u00a0The clear challenge that Oden wants to make to Western Christian readers is to remember that Coptic Christianity had thrived there long before Islam arrived. \u00a0But because of the current make-up of Northern Africa (largely Arab and Muslim), it is not surprising that readers don’t naturally equate this region with its Christian past.<\/p>\n Oden wants to work to bridge this divide between the regions of Africa. \u00a0He writes,\u00a0“reconnecting black Africa to the historic center of Coptic Christianity is crucial…” (98). It is indeed crucial to the overall argument that he wants to make, which is that “Africa” can be viewed as a whole, and should not be picked apart piecemeal (especially by those of European descent), because this would work to diminish the real contributions of Africa to the world Christian movement.<\/p>\n Even holding onto some of the challenges of reading this book, and some of the legitimate critiques, I am still really glad to be engaging with it. \u00a0My reflection is that it’s an important work and one that many Western Christians (myself included) need to read. \u00a0Oden uses the image of the river valleys that helped formed the Christian faith, the Medjerda and the Nile. \u00a0Those walking outside of these verdant areas were living in the desert. \u00a0It seems that for us who have yet to fully learn what the riverbed of African Christianity has to teach, we have also been out in a dry and parched land. \u00a0One can survive for a while walking that way, but to truly be refreshed and to flourish, it takes a trip to the river.<\/p>\n For me personally, this is a great book to begin with as we start our studies. \u00a0It’s a return to a river that I have been to before, and yet, what I already sense is that it’s not quite the same as I knew it. \u00a0This is a time for new learning and growing. \u00a0To step into this river means learning the language of scholarship, to engage the questions that are present, and also to be swept up with the larger purposes and possibilities ahead. \u00a0I am open to what Oden wants to teach in his book, and I am seeking to find the kind of person I will become because I am stepping into the river.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is an old line from Heraclitus that says, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” The invitation that Thomas Oden makes in How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind, is for the reader to come to the water’s edge and look […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"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-13924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-oden","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13924","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\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13924"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13941,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13924\/revisions\/13941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}