Africa and the Early Church: The Almost-Forgotten Roots of Catholic Christianity

I have been a big fan of Mike Aquilina's work, but _Africa and the Early Church_ is not a good representation of his skill as a researcher and writer. The work lacks an inner coherency. It is essentially a compilation of short vignettes/stories from three major geographic centers of African Christianity: North Africa, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Much of this is found in his other works on the Church Fathers (with the exception of the Ethiopia section). But there are a lot of long block quotes, with little explanation or context given. In particular, the final chapter on the "Prophetic Rooster" just ends-- with no explanation as to its significance or any helps to understanding how this relates to Christianity and the African Church.

The infant Jesus almost certainly took his first steps in Egypt, that most ancient of African civilizations, and left His footprints on its soil, this notwithstanding – some say three years, others one or two, others longer – how long the Holy Family may have remained in Egypt before returning to Nazareth.The early Apostles of the Faith would, of course, later retrace Christ’s footsteps back into Egypt, sowing the seeds of Christianity there, and nearly everywhere else across the greater African continent under Rome’s control, or engaged in its commerce.Africa, indeed, proved to be very fertile soil from which sprung some of Catholic Christianity’s greatest thinkers, theologians, developers of its doctrine, and defenders of its faith.Yet, Christians have little understanding to what extent Africa had a role and influence in shaping major tenets of Roman Catholic doctrine, theology, and of the Roman Catholic liturgy, for the Early Church, and right up to the present day.In this book, Mike Aquilina has cleared away the brambles from those ancient footpaths, and always fertile fields of the Catholic Faith. He then leads you on an easy walk back into Church History, and over what he calls, “the almost-forgotten roots of Catholic Christianity,” roots that can only be found in Africa.Renowned for his extensive study and knowledge of the Early Church Fathers, Aquilina is the perfect companion and guide back into “Africa, and the Early Church.”