Abstract
Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa is the first of the ten volumes planned in the Edinburgh Companions to Global Christianity series. The second, Christianity in North Africa and West Asia, is scheduled for publication in 2018. When the series is completed, these “companions” will constitute a rich repository of a nuanced understanding of the Christian faith in each “continent or subcontinent.” The three editors possess the requisite academic expertise and research record for this monumental task. Ross is parish minister, Netherlorn Churches, Argyll, and honorary fellow in the University of Edinburgh’s School of Divinity in the United Kingdom. Asamoah-Gyadu, Baeta-Grau Professor of Contemporary African Christianity and Pentecostal Theology, directs the Centre for the Study of Christianity in Africa at Trinity Theological College, Legon, Ghana. Johnson is associate professor of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA, USA.
In the Series Preface the editors state that “each volume is devoted to a continent or subcontinent following the United Nations classifications” (ix). This choice may not convince all readers, especially in regards to “Sub-Saharan Africa.” This category raises a number of questions, such as: What are the factors used in determining the designation—geography? culture? history? What are the countries included in this subcontinent? In documenting Christianity “in each of the 51 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa” (xi), the volume includes an entry on Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Djibouti (144–56), countries generally not perceived to belong in this group. This anomaly may explain a remark by Mercy Amba Oduyoye in the concluding essay, “The Future of Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa”: “Although this volume restricts its enquiry to Africa south of the Sahara, it is necessary to acknowledge the influence of North Africa as a cradle of Christianity and the source of the highly important Ethiopian Orthodoxy” (461). One must not, however, evaluate the volume solely in light of the concern expressed here.
Overall, Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa offers readers a very useful documented account of the complex texture of the Christian faith in the continent. It will be highly beneficial to researchers in mission studies, especially those from Africa. The steep price, however, prohibits its purchase and ownership by most.