Democracy can flourish in sub-Saharan Africa if church remains true to gospel

CHRISTIANITY’S centre of gravity has shifted from North to South.

- NICOLA DE JAGER

In the 20th century, the majority of Christians lived in Europe. Over time, this shifted to the Americas, and by 2050 most Christians are expected to live in Africa. As the Ghanian theologian Kwame Bediako noted, it was unexpected that Africa would become the ‘heartland of Christianity’ again.

Christianity in Africa is ancient. Despite the claim of Christianity being the religion of the West, it was first North African before it was European. Indeed, Christianity is now perhaps the most salient force on the continent but this time in sub-Saharan Africa.

It has been argued that Christianity - as a source of norms and beliefs - shifted the culture and, in turn, the political structures of Western civilisation. Samuel Huntington, Harvard professor of political science, maintained that modern democracy developed first and most vigorously in Christian countries. He also claimed that the expansion of Christianity would encourage the wider distribution of democracy.

Scholars generally agree that the history of the West is deeply entwined with Christianity; that it is perhaps less a history of Western civilisation than it is the history of Christianity as a purveyor of norms and values into the region, which created fertile ground for the development of constitutional democracy. Christianity ushered in two core values foundational to constitutional democracy: the fallibility of the ruler and the inherent value of every person.