Early African Church History
This eleven-lecture series surveys the events, people, locations and situations of life specific to Africa, or about Africans, that have shaped western Christian thought and institutions, as we know it today. The first lecture surveys what Galatians 4:4-5 describes as the “set time had fully come” for the birth of Jesus. Thereafter, ten lectures will cover over five hundred years of faithful African men, women, teenagers and children, as well as scholarly work by African Christians. The final lecture of the series expounds on the disappearance of Christianity in certain parts of North Africa, and the rise of Islam.
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Episode 1: Preparation for the Birth of Christ
This lecture begins with a discussion about the challenges to piecing together ancient history. It will also explain why the Church needs to know about Africa’s contributions to Church History. Finally, it details the divine and human preparation, from the 9th through the 1st centuries B.C., fo...
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Episode 2: What the Bible Reveals About Early African Missionaries
This lecture describes the logistical preparation before the birth of Jesus that made travel much easier between Africa and around Jerusalem during the 1st century A.D., particularly for the African Hebrew communities around Jerusalem. It dives into the biblical references to African Hebrews who ...
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Episode 3: Dispersion of African Messianic Hebrews throughout Africa
This lecture describes the general characteristics of the Messianic Hebrew faith community known as The Way. Their esteem for Jesus, higher than any earthly authority, often clashed with the agenda of the Roman Emperor. In the survey book that accompanies the lecture series, is Jesus' prophecy i...
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Episode 4: From the Upper Room to the Underground
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Episode 5: Defending Beliefs in an Organized and Scholarly Manner
In this lecture, the indigeniois Egyptian believers of The Way were an outlawed religion surrounded by Roman officials, non-messianic Hebrews and a host of pagan religions of the culture. Being outnumbered, physically and philosophically attacked by non-believers, they fought back using spiritual...
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Episode 6: Unyielding Faith of Berber People of NW Africa
In this lecture, the Roman Empire attempts to repair the ills from its crisis. It was also during this period that Christians throughout the Roman Empire experienced their worst persecution, than under any other emperor.
