Table Of ContentAncient African Christianity
An Introduction to a Unique
Context and Tradition
Christianity spread across North Africa early, and it remained there as a
powerful force much longer than anticipated. While this African form of
Christianity largely shared the Latin language and Roman culture of the
wider empire, it also represented a unique tradition that was shaped by its
context. Ancient African Christianity attempts to tell the story of Christian-
ity in Africa from its inception to its eventual disappearance. Well-known
writers such as Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine are studied in light
of their African identity, and this tradition is explored in all its various
expressions.
This book is ideal for all students of African Christianity and also a key
introduction for anyone wanting to know more about the history, reli-
gion, and philosophy of these early influential Christians whose impact has
extended far beyond the African landscape.
David E. Wilhite is currently Professor of Theology at Baylor University’s
George W. Truett Theological Seminary, USA.
Ancient African Christianity
An Introduction to a Unique
Context and Tradition
David E. Wilhite
First published 2017
by Routledge
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Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
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© 2017 David E. Wilhite
The right of David E. Wilhite to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Wilhite, David E., author.
Title: Ancient African Christianity: an introduction to a unique
context and tradition / David E. Wilhite.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2017. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016056770 | ISBN 9780415643757 (hardback) |
ISBN 9780415643771 (pbk.) | ISBN 9780203075678 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Church history—Primitive and early church,
ca. 30–600. | Africa, North—Church history. | Africa, North—
History—To 647. | Africa, North—History—647–1517.
Classification: LCC BR190. W55 2017 | DDC 276.101—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016056770
ISBN: 978-0-415-64375-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-64377-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-07567-8 (eBook)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Preface ix
1 Introduction 1
Preliminary concerns 1
Question 1: what is meant by “ancient African
Christianity”? 2
Question 2: why study ancient African Christianity? 3
Question 3: what makes African Christians unique? 5
Question 4: what is the purpose of this book? 10
Introducing ancient African Christians: an overview 10
Pre-Christian Africa 11
The beginnings of Christian Africa 15
Christian Africa in the fourth century 19
The last days of ancient African Christianity 22
History and ancient African Christians 29
2 Backgrounds to early African Christianity 45
Romanization: from culture to ethnicity to identity 45
African (identity) politics 49
African languages 52
African art 56
African religions 59
African appearance 63
3 The earliest evidence of African Christianity 79
Tertullian on the earliest African Christians 80
African Christian origins 82
The Scillitan martyrs 85
Perpetua, Felicity, and their fellow martyrs 87
vi Contents
African Christianity in the late second and early third
century 89
Legacies and later trajectories 96
4 Tertullian 108
Tertullian’s life 108
Tertullian the legalist 109
Tertullian the fideist 110
Tertullian the priest 111
Tertullian the Montanist 112
Tertullian the misogynist 114
Tertullian the Roman 115
Tertullian the African 116
Works and teachings 116
Tertullian the African 122
Legacy and later trajectories 126
5 Cyprian and the later third century 136
Minucius Felix 136
Cyprian 141
Persecution 142
Controversies 144
His works and teachings 146
Cyprian the African 147
That Idols Are Not Gods (Quod idola dii non sint) 154
Commodian 155
Late third-century martyrdoms 158
6 The early fourth century in Africa 170
Christian records from the early fourth century 171
Arnobius of Sicca 176
Arnobian theology 177
What was African about Arnobius? 178
Lactantius 181
Works and teachings 182
What was African about Lactantius? 183
7 The Donatist controversy 195
Identifying Donatists 195
The beginning of the schism 196
Appeals to Constantine 199
Contents vii
Escalation of violence and persecution 201
Donatist diversity and decline 203
The end of Donatism? 210
Reassessing Donatist characteristics 214
What was African about the Donatists? 217
Donatists and the Punic language 218
Donatists and African identity 220
Donatists and conflict with Romans 221
Conclusions and caveats 225
8 Augustine the African 240
Augustine’s life and legacy 240
Augustine’s works and teachings 244
What was African about Augustine? 250
Augustine’s African background 250
Accusations about Augustine’s identity 251
Self-identifying as an African 253
9 The Vandal era of African Christianity 264
The Vandal invasion of Africa 264
Vandals, Catholics, and Donatists 266
Vandal expansion of power 272
The end of the Vandal kingdom 276
10 The late Byzantine era in Africa 287
Justinian’s reconquest of Africa 287
The African Three Chapters controversy 295
Gregory the Great 301
Maximus the Confessor 308
Conclusions about Byzantine Africa 311
11 The Arab conquests in Africa 321
Understanding the sources and background 321
History of the conquest 325
Survival of evidence and evidence of survival 330
Characteristics of late African Christianity 335
Reasons for African Christianity’s disappearance 338
Political power theory 340
Christian exodus theory 341
Decapitation theory 342
House divided theory 343
viii Contents
Cultural gap theory 344
Theological syncretism theory 345
Political pragmatism theory 347
Tentative conclusions on African Christianity’s end 348
12 Conclusion: What was African about ancient
African Christianity? 357
Summary of findings 357
Elements found in the “African School” 360
Further considerations 360
Potential implications 362
Bibliography 366
Abbreviations 366
Ancient sources cited 366
Secondary sources 375
Subject Index 405
Ancient Source Index 418
Scripture Index 425
Preface
In this work I attempt to retell the story of Christianity in North Africa
from its inception to its disappearance. In doing so, my primary aim is to
treat this history as one, unique tradition. My intended audience is all stu-
dents of African Christianity, be they experts or not. Therefore, while I have
attempted to make a contribution to this field of study, I made an effort to
do so in a way that makes this history accessible to non-specialists. I have
consulted the critical editions for all sources used here, but provided trans-
lations for all them, using those already published where possible (see the
section on primary texts in the bibliography) and providing my own where
needed (indicated as such in the notes). Furthermore, I have attempted to
give credit to the secondary literature and point the reader to further studies,
even though the documentation of scholarly debates has been kept to a min-
imum and relegated to footnotes wherever possible. Of course, finding the
proper balance in this area has not been easy, and so I must beg forgiveness
where others would judge that more or less citation of secondary literature
is needed. Whatever success I have had in this area is to be credited to the
many colleagues and friends who read drafts and/or chapters of this work.
In particular I wish to thank the following for offering feedback that helped
improve this project: Ian Balfour, Charles Bobertz, Frédéric Chapot, Jona-
than Conant, Anthony Dupont, Eric Fournier, Sean Hannan, Erika Her-
manowicz, Jesse Hoover, Matthew McCarty, Beth DePalma Digeser, Edwina
Murphy, Éric Rebillard, James Rives, Kiran Sebastian, Michael Simmons,
Jonathan Young, and the anonymous reviewers enlisted by Routledge Press.
I should also express my indebtedness to the participants in the “Contextu-
alizing North African Christianity” unit of the Society of Biblical Literature,
whose interaction with my work – both formally and informally – has done
much to shape my thinking. I also thank them in particular because much of
what follows is indebted to their research. Of course, none of these are to be
blamed for any problems or mistakes remaining in this work.
I also wish to thank Baylor University, and in particular Baylor’s Tru-
ett Theological Seminary. My deans and colleagues have supported me in
various ways, including sabbaticals and travel funding that allowed me to
carry out various parts of research and writing that have finally come to
Description:Christianity spread across North Africa early, and it remained there as a powerful force much longer than anticipated. While this African form of Christianity largely shared the Latin language and Roman culture of the wider empire, it also represented a unique tradition that was shaped by its contex
