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National Anglican Identity Formation: An African Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2009

Michael O. Fape
Affiliation:
michaelfape@yahoo.co.uk

Abstract

Africa played a prominent role in the formation of earliest Christianity not least in the persons of Cyprian of Carthage and Augustine of Hippo. The Anglican heritage is considered through the experience of the Yoruba people in south-west Nigeria through whom christian faith came to the rest of Nigeria. The Anglicanism which came to the Yoruba was evangelical through the Church Missionary Society, though a key role was played by liberated slaves from Sierra Leone. Contexts in which the gospel is proclaimed and the way it is expressed may change, yet the contents of the gospel do not. A contextualized curriculum thus includes key courses such as biblical studies and systematic theology. It also includes contextual subjects such as African traditional religions and Islam and Christianity. The Church of Nigeria has thus undertaken a thorough review of the curriculum to adequately represent this kind of contextualized theology.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © SAGE Publications (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore) and The Journal of Anglican Studies Trust 2008

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References

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2. Fape, M.O., Where Are the Anglican Youths? Towards the Restoration of the Anglican Evangelical Heritage (Ibadan: Golden Wallet Press, 1999)Google Scholar. A detailed account of the advent of the Anglican Church is contained in Chapter 1 on pp. 1–20.

3. The history of the Anglican Church is shrouded in great complexities. See Neil, Stephen, Anglicanism (London: Mowbrays, 1977), p. 397.Google Scholar

4. The Instruments of Unity are: the Anglican Consultative Council, the Lambeth Conference, the Primates' Meeting and the Archbishop of Canterbury is now designated as a Focus of Unity.

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17. This is the first of the 1888 Chicago Lambeth Quadrilateral Statement; and Article 6 of the 39 Articles of Religion in the Book of Common Prayer.

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19. This is the sense in which Tucker, Sarah entitled her book, Abbeokuta: Or Sunrise Within the TropicsGoogle Scholar to show the significant role played by Abeokuta in the spread of Christianity among the Yoruba. See n. 8 above.

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21. This article acknowledges the fact of inclusive language in theological debates. However, the Church of Nigeria does not ordain women in the present circumstance, hence the use of ‘men’.

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23. Apart from these three Colleges, others serving the Anglican Church in Nigeria include: St Francis of Assisi, Wusasa, Zaria; St Paul's University College, Awka; Trinity College, Umuahia and Bishop Crowther College of Theology, Okene.

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26. These other denominations include African Independent Churches such as the African Church, Christ Apostolic Church, Eternal Order of Cherubim and Seraphim Church, just to mention a few.

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