Bookshelf :African Christianity has distinctive viewpoints

IN recent decades, a significant number of Africans have come to live in Britain, bringing with them their own kind of Christianity. ‘African Christianity in Britain - Diaspora, Doctrines and Dialogue' by Chigor Chike is the first significant study to be published on the nature of the faith of African Christians living in Britain. It shows how the Christian beliefs of these Africans are often nuanced with their African traditional worldview and distinguishes their faith from the kind of Christianity found in the West.

The book identifies what "African Christianity" is and describes the particular
way African Christians use the Bible. Much of the book is devoted to describing how African Christians understand God, Jesus Christ and Salvation. African Christianity in Britain also shows how the faith of African Christians gradually changes the longer they live in Britain.

Revd Chigor Chike is a curate at St Luke's church in Victoria Docks, Newham. He said: "I wrote the book based on knowledge I gained from living for many years in both Africa and Britain African Christianity in Britain would help people in the West to gain a better understanding of where African Christians are coming from."

In his foreword to the book, Rt Revd David Hawkins, Bishop of Barking, writes: "Chigor rehearses the powerful place of Bible teaching and preaching in African Christianity. He speaks of the ease at which
Africans weave their personal stories into the biblical narratives so that the Bible embraces the totality of their existence...

"This is a reason why a predominantly liberal and western interpretation of the Bible is causing offence for many African Christians over the issue of sexual morality."

African Christianity in Britain - price £8.99
or £8.09 from the Resources Centre
(resources@chelmsford.anglican.org 01245 294424).

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