A Multitude of All Peoples: Engaging Ancient Christianity’s Global Identity (Missiological Engagements)

by Vince L. Bantu

Publisher:

IVP Academic

, 2020

Overview

Christianity is not becoming a global religion. It has always been a global religion. The early Christian movement spread from Jerusalem in every direction, taking on local cultural expression all around the ancient world. So why do so many people see Christianity as a primarily Western, white religion?

In A Multitude of All Peoples, Vince Bantu surveys the geographic range of the early church's history, revealing an alternate, more accurate narrative to that of Christianity as a product of the Western world. He begins by investigating the historical roots of the Western cultural captivity of the church, from the conversion of Constantine to the rise of European Christian empires. He then shifts focus to the too-often-forgotten concurrent development of diverse expressions of Christianity across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

In the process, Bantu removes obstacles to contemporary missiological efforts. Focusing on the necessity for contextualization and indigenous leadership in effective Christian mission, he draws out practical lessons for intercultural communication of the gospel. Healing the wounds of racism, imperialism, and colonialism will be possible only with renewed attention to the marginalized voices of the historic global church. The full story of early Christianity makes clear that, as the apostle Peter said, “God does not show favoritism, but accepts those from every people who fear him and do what is right.”

Key Features

• Surveys the geographic range of the early church’s history
• Provides an alternate, more accurate narrative to that of Christianity as a product of the Western world
• Focuses on the necessity for contextualization and indigenous leadership in effective Christian mission

Contents

• Introduction
• The Roots of Western Christian Identity Politics
• The First Christians of Africa
• The Early Church in the Middle East
• The Beginning of Missions Along the Silk Road
• Conclusion
• Timeline

Top Highlights

“The ‘typical’ Christian of the twenty-first century is not a white man but an African woman.” (Page 2)

“Many people in the modern world understand the concept of ‘orthodoxy’—especially Christian orthodoxy rooted in Scripture—as a facet of white supremacy and Western hegemony. However, as evidenced in the theology of Benjamin, the practice of contending for orthodox belief based on the authority of Scripture is a long-held tradition among African Christians and is by no means an innovation of Western Christians.” (Page 82)

“Culture has been commonly understood as the ‘system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning.’” (Page 5)

“Before the fourth century, Christian and Roman identity were not synonymous. In the Persian Empire, Christians were differentiated along ethnic lines and had separate churches: the Roman refugees were referred to in Syriac as krestyānē (Christians) while the native Persian Christians were called naṣrāyē (Nazarenes).⁵¹ It is clear, therefore, that the category of ‘Christian’ did not equate with ‘Roman’ until after the time of Constantine.” (Page 24)

“These ascetic Ethiopians—Stephanites—challenged the heightened authority of the Ethiopian king in church affairs, the veneration of Mary, and the elevation of any church documents in addition to Scripture.¹⁰⁴ Therefore, over a century before Martin Luther nailed up the Ninety-Five Theses in Wittenberg, Ethiopia was experiencing its own Reformation that addressed many of the same theological concerns that were raised in Europe.” (Page 108)

A Multitude of All Peoples rewrites the narrative of early Christian history. Rather than focusing on Christianity’s growth in the classical Greek and Roman world, Bantu positions what have traditionally been considered the margins of ancient Christianity (Asia and Africa) at the center. A much-needed addition to field.

—Caroline Schroeder, professor of classics and letters at the University of Oklahoma

There are very few books we can legitimately call game-changers in the publishing world, that can revolutionize a field of study and transform our ongoing engagement on a topic. Dr. Vince Bantu has written a game-changer of a book that will rework our engagement with church history, global Christianity, missiology, evangelism, and multicultural ministry. Thoroughly researched while comprehensive in scope, all future discussion on the history of the church and its implication for the future of the church must now go through this book.

—Soong-Chan Rah, Milton B. Engebretson Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary, author of The Next Evangelicalism and Prophetic Lament

Product Details

• Title: A Multitude of All Peoples: Engaging Ancient Christianity’s Global Identity
• Author: Vince L. Bantu
• Series: Missiological Engagements
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2020
• Pages: 265
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Topic: Missiology

About Vince L. Bantu

Vince L. Bantu (PhD, The Catholic University of America) is assistant professor of church history and Black church studies at Fuller Theological Seminary and is the Ohene of the Meachum School of Haymanot.

Sample Pages from A Multitude of All Peoples: Engaging Ancient Christianity’s Global Identity (Missiological Engagements)