Justification for the brutal realities of missionary intervention in Pre-Christian African countries?

Question

I believe in God but have a couple questions for Christians with extensive knowledge of the Bible...

As we know, Africans practiced pagan religions before the introduction of Christianity, in mose cases, by force.

European authority 'invaded' africa and offered the africans education, health and food facilities in exchange for african resources (oil, cocoa, gold).

European religion was more or less forced on the africans to gain control over them.

Slaves who were taken out of africa had their indigenous traditional religions taken from and many were baptized into the european religion (christianity) forcibly.

My question is: How is this (brutality and force) justified under Christian ideology? How is this the will of God?

And why is traditional African religions looked at as Satanic?

X-This isn't really a racial issue. Sorry if it seems that way. I was just speaking from what I knew. I wasn't aware of all the other cultures where this has happened to. Thanks for informing me, though.

Answer 1

Being an African American, I've asked this question as well. Christianity is not suppossed to be about brutality, but many of the Eurpean nations and the USA have engaged in it. The forcible moving of Indians in America to reservations. The outright annihilation of their race and culture. The conquest of the southwestern US by taking it from Mexico. These are things that many of our Christian leaders choose not to deal with. The best answer for all of this is that Christians are just as flawed as the other peoples, cultures, and religions of the world. Humanity is simply flawed. We can't say because of our belief in Christ that we behave better than others, oftentimes. It is only our belief in Christ that we are granted salvation. Because truthfully all of humanity is deserving of hell. God gave us Christ in order to pay the price for the many transgressions that human beings are responsible for.

Answer 2

The only problem with this question is that you are addressing only African countries' hardships. Have you ever thought about how all of Central and South America share the same religions (mainly)? Pretty much all countries went through a period of European invasion and control, Africa is no different from Mexico, Peru, or Bolivia. They all had their own religions at one time, then came a powerful European country to change their course of history. It's been going on for eons. And traditional African religions are looked at as Satanic because they generally involve the slaughtering of either a goat or chicken or other animal to complete the ritual, a ritual frowned upon by modern religions.

Answer 3

First you are all mixed up about what Christianity is. No true Christian ever forced anyone to salvation because it is a spiritual impossibility. The only person who can make a decision to become a Christian is the person making the decision. It is a personal thing between every individual and God.

If some religious group forced religion on someone it was not
nor could it ever have been truly Christian.

To be a Christian a person has to follow this pattern:

1. Realize they are a sinner and offensive to God.
2. Repent of their sin with a sincere heart and ask God to forgive them.
3. Receive forgiveness by faith that the blood Jesus Christ shed on Calvary will cleanse them of their sin.
4. Be thankful enough to love and serve the Lord as Master of their lives from that moment of salvation through the end of their life on earth and through all the vast ages of eternity.

Your question about justified under Christian idealogy has no true meaning because Christianity is not an "idealogy." When a person becomes a Christian it is a relationship that is established with God alone, and no two people are the same so their experience with God will vary according to their
circumstances and how God deals with them. The factor that is not changeable is that they acknowledge Christ as their Saviour and "Lord."

Every religion that doesn't confess Christ as Saviour and Lord could be called Satanic because the devil loves religion without Christ. It is Jesus name that the devil hates because He is the only one who can remove spiritual blindness and delusion from the heart and make us know spiritual truth.

I personally believe that religion is worse than prostitution, drug and alcohol addiction, murder, hatred, stealing and any other method of deception and sin the devil uses. It makes the person feel safe while believing a lie. It is Satan's master strategy to keep people away from acknowledging who Christ
really is and what He has done for them.

Answer 4

You are correct that many people in Africa practiced their religions that were introduced to them by force. This is because of the culture of slavery that existed long before Europeans came to Africa and started colonialism. A tribe would capture a village and force them to worship as they worshipped.

When you speak of force by the Colonialists it is important to understand that the force was not physical force but instead economic force in the practice of taxation which needed to be paid in cash which many Africans had little, which forced them into Western educations and religious culture. Your questions suggest that there was some kind of physical force for Africans to become Christian but there was, in fact, very little of these tactics used as they would have been ineffective. In most cases, being exposed to Christianity, they willingly converted as a way of conforming to Western culture which they were exposed.

The last question of why is Pagan African religions looked on as Satanic can be easily answered. It is because they are religions that separate humanity from their eternal destiny of eternal life which is Satan’s goal. Most of the indigenous religions in Africa are animist and deny God nor can they lead one to God. Missionary efforts are justified by Christ's great commission to His Church.

In Christ
Fr. Joseph

Answer 5

Roughrugged in on the right track.

More clearly though, humanity is riddled with brutalities and horrors throughout all of history, Christian or non-Christian. It goes to show that we cannot base our faith on the actions or non-action of men. They will disappoint, or worse, destroy you every time. The things you speak of with Africa should serve to point us to focus ourselves ever more deeply on the Faith. It is the Faith that is pure and perfect, not men. It is the Faith that loves, not people.

I don't know anything about African religion, so I can't say if it's Satanic or not. Our calling as Christians, however, is to show everyone the gospel and bring them to Jesus. We cannot all ourselves Christian if we do not.

The best way to witness is by example. St. Francis of Assisi said it best (paraphrasing): "Preach the gospel every minute of every day of your life, and when necessary, use words."

God bless.

Answer 6

curiously you gauge the huge-unfold of the rustic by using the variety of persons interior the church pews. To me it variety of feels that issues are no longer so undesirable: the crime value is down; standards of residing are very properly (a minimum of no one HAS to starve); people who elect to artwork could could desire to pass to a clean area, yet jobs are accessible; regardless of Katrina and a conflict, our economic gadget has chugged alongside; teenaged being pregnant is dropping; the homicide value has dropped; and expenditures of recent child abuse and ignore are lowering. for sure there are issues to enhance on: prognosis of stress & melancholy has bigger; hours spent working have bigger, alongside with a help in unfastened time; the branch between wealthy and undesirable is increasing; there remains too lots drug dependence; and the enrollment in universities of yank technology scholars is dropping. If Africans elect to deliver missionaries right here to recruit Christians, in an attempt to assist us stay as much as African standards of residing, then i desire they locate that there is lots right here that is going properly. united states of america of america does not choose saving; it desires tweeking.