_Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit._
_THE VOICE OF TRINITY - TERTULLIAN OF CARTHAGE_
God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is not foreign to Africans. The corruption of knowledge that seeks to promote African traditional religion is what made it look like Christianity never existed until colonialism.
Whenever I hear some Africans talking about going back to their religious roots instead of White man's religion, what I hear speaking loudly is ignorance not knowledge.
The word "Trinity" that we use today to describe God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit — was not first coined in Rome or America. It was first coined in Africa by an African theologian, Tertullian of Carthage (AD 155-220), in present-day Tunisia.
Tertullian gave the church theological vocabulary: Trinity, Sacrament, Substance. He defended the faith against heresies and was the first to produce Christian theology in Latin. An African mind helped the world understand who God is.
Before Tertullian, Christians believed in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but they did not have a clear word to explain it. Tertullian, a trained lawyer from Carthage, used his legal mind to define it: One Substance, Three Persons. One God, not three gods. Three Persons, not one Person acting in three ways.
That definition still stands today. Every time you say "Trinity" in church, in Sunday School, in Bible study, you are speaking African theology.
Tertullian also stood boldly for the faith when Rome was persecuting Christians. He wrote: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." He told the Roman governors that killing Christians would not stop Christianity, it would multiply it. And he was right.
*Africa has not just received theology; Africa has given theology to the world*.
If Tertullian, an African, could give the world the language to understand God, what is stopping you from studying the Word enough to defend and define truth for your generation? The colour of your skin is not a limitation.
Are you studying the Word enough to defend and define truth for your generation?
Lord, raise in Africa thinkers and defenders of the faith again. Give me understanding of Your Word and boldness to speak it clearly. Amen.