African Response to Christianity: A Case Study of the Agikuyu of Central Kenya

Abstract

This article explores the religious, cultural, and political dynamics of the Agikuyu response to Christianity from 1900–1950. The article is divided into five sections. In the first section the author briefly traces the theological ideas which prevailed in Europe in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and how these ideas led to the rise of the Evangelical Missionary Movement. The second section deals with the initial contact made by Europeans and missionaries with the Agikuyu. The third section explores the nature of the Agikuyu religion and culture and the missionary response to that religion and culture. The fourth section discusses the Agikuyu response to missionary reaction to their beliefs and practices with particular reference to the Agikuyu initiation rite which was central to their belief system. The Agikuyu response led to the development of independent churches and schools. These churches and schools were later utilized to politicize the African masses on the evils of missionary Christianity and colonialism. In the fifth section the author briefly analyzes the three groups which emerged out of this Christian response. He concludes that the Karing'a group can be considered as a good case study of how churches in Africa can develop a new theology which encompasses African ontological understanding of God, man, and the universe.