Expert: Dean Gade - 9/16/2007

Question
Hello Dean Gabe, I hope you are having an awesome Saturday! My question is when did Christianity come to African American Slaves? Was it not the faith of White Americans slave masters or was it already reaching the slaves prior to coming to America?
Thank you for your time,

Philippa.

Answer
It was an awesome Saturday and Sunday....and also a very busy one.  Thanks for asking, but I'm sorry for the delay in answering.

The facts about African slaves are not well documented in history.   The Portuguese plantation owners along the western coast of Africa did bring Christianity to Africa about the same time as the discovery of the Americas.  But most of natives stayed with tribal religions.  The Muslim religion was brought to northern Africa several hundred years before that along with  Muslim slave trading and the piracy for ransom around Mediterranean Sea.

From what was written at the time, most slaves from Africa who were sold to the Europeans and Americans first met with the teachings of Christ during their years as slaves.  It does not sound like the American slave owners were eager to teach of Christianity to their slaves because of its teaching of God freeing His people with Moses and the whole emphasis of freedom in the Bible.

An English statesman, William Wiber-force with a very strong faith in the Lord, was the champion of having all slaves freed by law in England long before our Civil War in America.