The root of many of Africa’s challenges and troubles can be traced, in part, to the history of the White/European “so-called” Christian church. Kenyan lawyer and activist Professor Patrick Lock Otieno (PLO) Lumumba spoke on this topic to a large group of theologians.
He was speaking at the inaugural gathering of Kenya’s Association for Christian Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA), held in Nairobi.
Though Lumumba’s remarks were made in 2023, his analysis and insights shed light on the long history of Western imperialism, colonialism, and religion, and their impact on the continent.
“I believe that God is not a Christian. Christianity, from my theological (outlook), is a human construct created long after the birth of Christ,” Lumumba told the audience.
He was invited to Nairobi to address the theologians’ General Assembly and to deliver the keynote address. Professor PLO Lumumba is the former director of Kenya’s School of Law and is a well-known Pan-Africanist. He prefaced his remarks by saying he was asked to speak on “the problems bedeviling Africa.”
Professor Lumumba, though not a theologian, is well-versed in the tenets of Christianity, and he framed and themed his hour-long remarks to the gathering as the “decolonizing of theology.”
Photo: Facebook.com
He quoted the book of Matthew 24:24, in the Bible, which states, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
White Europeans used the Bible to enslave, manipulate and enforce their colonial rule on African nations and their people.
As an example, Professor Lumumba said that the same Bible was used in South Africa by the Dutch Reformed Church and by the Roman Catholic Church. “We must never forget that the Roman Catholic Church was involved in slavery,” Professor Lumumba said.
According to The Equal Justice Initiative on its website, eli.org, “In 1548, Pope Paul III used his ‘apostolic authority’ to declare the slave trade legal in the eyes of the church, which empowered the religious monarchies in European nations to continue to engage in Transatlantic trafficking.”
Professor Lumumba also called out the Church of England for its involvement in the slave trade. “We must never forget that the Church of England was (also) involved in slavery,” he added.
There is plenty of documentation and historical data that delves deeply into the history of White Europeans using Christianity and the Bible to take advantage of Black Africans. In the article, “Revealed: How Church of England’s ties to chattel slavery went to top of hierarchy,” published in the UK publication, “The Guadian,” it states,
“The papers are among a cache of documents found in the archives of Lambeth Palace Library which detail the direct links between the Church of England and chattel slavery on plantations owned by its missionary arm, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.”
According to Professor Lumumba, the deliberate misuse of the biblical verse in Ephesians 6:5, which says in part, “slaves obey your master, just as if you obey Christ,” was used by Whites to subjugate and rule Blacks in Africa.
“So, when we talk about theology and ‘African problems,’ you must remember that the effects of slavery are alive and with us today,” Lumumba told the audience of theologians.
However, after the dismantling of chattel slavery, White European imperialism continued. At the Berlin Conference held in 1884-1885, the strategy for dominance transitioned to colonization.
“As I speak to you,” said Professor Lumumba, “Europeans sat in Berlin in 1884 and 1885 and divided Africa into spheres of influence. Africa became a hunting ground divided among the British, the Italians, the Dutch, the French, the Belgians, and the Germans.”
During his message, he also shared how Africa has transitioned from colonialism to the latest iteration of imperialism, which was called neocolonialism by the late revolutionary and first president of an independent Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah.
“Today, we are in this assembly using the English language, which was imposed on us. And those of you who come from English-speaking countries, you are referred to as ‘Anglophone.’
And you who are from French-speaking countries are referred to as ‘Francophone.’ And those who are from Portuguese countries are referred to as ‘Lusophone,’” said Lumumba.
He explained that Africans communicate in the language of their former colonizers, even in business, referring to English, French, and Portuguese, which were spoken at the ACTEA gathering in 2023 through translators.
“There is no Kwa Swahili, there is only French and Portuguese and English translators. Part of the African problem (is) we are confused,” he said. The history of colonialism and imperialism was and is a dehumanizing and humiliating process, he continued.
“And religion and theology was at the heart of it,” Lumumba continued. He said Africans used to be told by European colonizers that the European flag “followed the cross.”
That is why when White European Christian theology came, brothers and sisters in Africa were told that in order to be a “good Christian, you needed a European name like John or Joseph,” Lumumba said.
“Whose theology is that, that said in order to be a Christian, you have to be named John? That is jaundiced theology. That is racist theology. Because when you want to change a person, you give him or her your name.” Follow Jehron Muhammad @africawatchfcn on X