THE INTERACTION BETWEEN FAITH AND CULTURE IN NORTH AFRICA: LESSONS

Abstract

This piece makes an enquiry into the experience of the North African church as regards how she was evangelized, precisely, the interaction between faith and culture in the process of evangelization. From this enquiry, the researcher arrives at the understanding that there was a peripheral interaction between the Christian faith and the culture of the North African people, accounting for the loss of faith during the Islamic invasion. The researcher proposes that the church in Africa must indigenize quickly if she is to survive. The churches in Africa must be truly African, reflecting the people’s particular culture. This would make the African Christian see the Christian faith as his own and not a white man’s religion. If the African does not worship God in his own way, there would erupt a crisis of faith, a crisis that hinges on the fact that the African does not find satisfaction and meaning in his expression of faith.