Understanding Religious Change in Africa and Europe: Crossing Latitudes

The Christianization of Jukun of Nigeria and Celtic Irish in Early Medieval Europe

Nathan Irmiya Elawa

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9783030421793
• eBook ISBN:
  9783030421809
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Comparative Religion

This book examines and compares the religious experience of an African group with a European one. It offers an ethnographical investigation of the Jukun of north central Nigeria. The author also organically weaves into the narrative the Christianization of the Irish in a comparative fashion. Throughout, he makes the case for an African Christianity connected to a Celtic Irish Christianity and vice-versa -- as different threads in a tapestry.

This work is a product of a synthesis of archival research in three continents, interviews with surviving first-generation Christians who were active practitioners of the Jukun indigenous religion, and with former missionaries to the Jukun. On the Irish side, it draws from extant primary sources and interviews with scholars in Celtic Irish studies. In addition, pictures, diagrams, and excerpts from British colonial and missionary journals provide a rich contextual understanding of Jukun religious life and practices.

The author is among the emerging voices in the study of World Christianity who advocate for the reality of "poly-centres" for Christianity. This perspective recognizes voices from the Global South in the expansion of Christianity. This book serves as a valuable resource for historians, anthropologists, theologians, and those interested in missions studies, both scholars and lay readers seeking to deepen their understanding of World Christianity.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Religious Change Across the Latitudes
• 2. Methodologies Adopted in the Study of Religion
• 3. Jukun History and Society
• 4. The Cultural Context of Early Ireland
• 5. The Jukun Concept of Personhood
• 6. The Impact of Christianity on the Jukun Kinship System
• 7. The Past in the Present: Evidence from Early Christian Ireland
• 8. Religious Change Across the Latitudes: Inculturation and Acculturation
• 9. Conclusion
• Back Matter