The article examines the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of modern Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa. It is concluded that the process of religious division of the continent has been completed and the growth of adherents of Christianity, as well as Islam, correlates with the growth of the population already professing a particular religion. The modern success of the continent's Christianization is primarily due to the postcolonial policy of "Africanization" of Christianity, which has led to such trends in modern Christianity as dualism and syncretism. The peculiarities of the religiosity of the population of the sub-Saharan region indicate the dominance of the religious worldview in consciousness, therefore, there is a high probability of potential Christian-Islamic conflicts in the future, since religious tolerance is an integral part of the secular worldview.

Keywords: Christianity, sub-Saharan Africa, Christian denominations, dynamics, Christian religiosity, dual faith, syncretism, religious conflict.

The history of Christianity in Africa dates back two thousand years - its spread began in the second century AD with Egypt and Ethiopia. In the fifth century AD, monophysite emerged there-

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sky church (from other-Greek. - "one, only" + - "nature, nature"), the main postulate of which was the position of only one Divine nature (nature) in Jesus Christ. The next stage of Christianization begins in the 15th century with the colonial expansion of the Portuguese Catholics, but its results were very small. In fact, only since the mid-nineteenth century, when Western countries began to take over vast territories in Africa, can we talk about the mass Christianization of the local population. At the same time, the religious affiliation of the colonizing country was automatically transferred to the controlled territory in the form of an attempt to Christianize the population. Thus, the contours of the Protestant and Catholic regions of modern Africa were predetermined by the colonizing countries. After the collapse of colonialism in the mid-twentieth century, a new stage of Christianization began, characterized by a policy of adaptation to local characteristics, proclaiming the equality of all Christians, regardless of race. This stage is characterized primarily by syncretism - the fusion of some elements of local religions with Christianity, and in the socio-political sphere-a call for social harmony, political and social responsibility of local elites. The consequences of this policy led to an explosive increase in the number of Christians in the region, which ranked third in the world in terms of the number of Christians.

To analyze the statistical characteristics of Christianity, the article uses data from The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life [http://www.pewfbrum.org <url> is a project for monitoring religious life at The Pew Research Center, which specializes in public opinion polls, demographic research, media content analysis, and other empirical research. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life project is currently one of the best world-class sociological projects in the field of studying religious life. Based on data published in December 2011. [http://www.pewforum. org/Christian/Global-Christianity-africa. aspx] there are 516,470,000 Christians in 51 countries in the region at the end of 2010, representing about 24% of the global population.

Among the countries of the sub-Saharan region, we can distinguish 10 States with the largest number of Christians. These are Nigeria-85,510,000 Christians, 50.8% of the total population and 3.7% of the global Christian population: the Democratic Republic of the Congo - 63,150,000, 95.7% and 2.9%, respectively; Ethiopia - 52,580,000, 63.4% and 2.4%; South Africa - 40,560,000. 80.9% and 1.9%; Kenya-34,340,000, 84.8% and 1.6%; Uganda-28,970,000, 86.7% and 1.3%; Tanzania-26,740,000, 59.6% and 1.2%; Ghana-18,260,000, 74.9% and 0.8%; Angola - 16,820,000 people, 88.2% and 0.8%; Madagascar-15,430,000 people, 74.5% and 0.7%. Thus, a total of 377,360,000 Christians live in these 10 countries, representing 68.9% of the sub-Saharan Christians and 17.3% of the global population. The remaining 41 countries in the region are home to 139,110,000 Christians - 12.6% of the region's Christians and 6.4% of the global population.

Analysis of the quantitative composition of adherents of various Christian confessions and denominations shows that the leading position as of the end of 2010 is confidently occupied by Protestant denominations - 295,510,000 people, which is 57.2% of the total number of Christians in the region. Quantitatively, half of all African Protestants come from two countries - South Africa (365,500,000 people). and 72.9% of the country's population) and Nigeria (59,680,000 and 37.7%).

In terms of the number of Protestants in the share of the population, Liberia leads (3,040,000 people and 76% of the total population), followed by Zambia (8,870,000 people).

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and 67.8%), Zimbabwe (8,400,000 and 66.8%), Ghana (14,830,000 and 60.8%), Kenya (241,600,000 and 59.6%), Malawi (8,200,000 and 55%), Democratic Republic of the Congo (31,700,000 and 48.1%Uganda (14,830,000 people and 44.4%), Madagascar (8,100,000 people and 39.2%), Angola (5,840,000 people and 30.6%), Tanzania (12,250,000 people and 27.3%), etc.

Among the Protestant denominations, the first to appear in the mid-17th century in the south of the continent were the Dutch Reformed, who, however, practically did not engage in missionary activity for a century and a half. Since the early nineteenth century, Anglicans and Methodists have emerged, and since the mid-nineteenth century, missionaries of the German Lutheran Church have been present on the continent, as well as representatives of numerous American Protestant denominations. The main work was carried out through missionary organizations and representative offices.

The success of Protestantism in Africa can be explained by the fact that Protestant denominations initially used more flexible methods of work in their missionary activities, taking into account local characteristics and traditions of the population, paid great attention to social issues, but most importantly-Protestantism has a clear dogma and a simple cult, which allowed it to successfully adapt to local religious traditions. The main emphasis was placed on the growth of independent Protestant churches, in many of them there is syncretism, the connection of Christian ideas and symbols with ethnic religious ideas and cults, the desire to perceive Christianity in African terms, to combine the Biblical teaching with their own religious experience, prophecies, healings, protection from evil spirits (Yablokov, 1994, p. 158)..

The second largest number of adherents is the Roman Catholic Church - 176,040,000 people (31.4%). Most Catholics live in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (31,180,000), Tanzania (14,250,000), Uganda (14,100,000) and Angola (10,850,000).

In terms of the number of Catholics in the total population, Equatorial Guinea leads the way - 570,000 people (80.7% of the total population), followed by Burundi-6,190,000 people (73.9%), Angola-10,850,000 people (56.8%), Gabon-810,000 people (53.5%), Rwanda-5 260.000 people (49.5%), Democratic Republic of the Congo-31,180,000 people (47.3%), Lesotho-990,000 people (45.7%), Uganda-14,100,000 people (42.2%), South Sudan - 4,280,000 people (39.7%), Cameroon-7,570,000 people. (38.6%), Madagascar-7,260,000 (35%), Tanzania-14,250,000 (31.8%), Central African Republic-1,260,000 (28.5%), Mozambique-6,640,000 (28.4%), Malawi-3,900,000 (26.2Ivory Coast - 4,230,000 (21.4%), Kenya - 8,970,000 (22.1%) and beyond.

The success of Catholicism in Africa is a consequence of both population growth and the changing policies of the Vatican in the post-colonial era. The beginning of the new course was laid down in the papal encyclicals. In 1951, the encyclical of Pius XII "Evangelii Praecones" ("Evangelical Proclamation") appeared, in 1957 - the encyclical "Fidei Donum" ("Gift of Faith"), in 1959 - the encyclical of John XXIII "Princeps Pastorum" ("Supreme Shepherd"). These documents set out a program of missionary activity: 1) the methods of missionary activity should be adapted to the conditions that have changed in the former colonial countries; 2) the church should train priests, as well as the church hierarchy from the local population; 3) church life should be Africanized, some elements of local cults should be included in the Christian cult; 4) special attention should be paid to the spread of the influence of the Catholic Church among the intelligentsia and youth.

"Out of the youth brought up in this spirit," says the 1951 encyclical, "will come future leaders of states, and the masses of the people will follow them as leaders, as teachers" (Herder Korrespondenz, 1972, No. 10, p. 504). A special emphasis was placed on the formation of the African clergy. If in 1939 there were 388 sacred sites,-

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If the first African priest was consecrated as a Catholic bishop, then in 1957 the number of African priests exceeded 2 thousand, and among the bishops there were 27 people of African descent, in 1960 the first African was consecrated as an archbishop and in the same year an African cardinal appeared [Shpazhnikov, 1967, p. 23].

A new trend at that time was the Vatican's transformation of the missionary hierarchy into a "local" church. For example, in 1956, the clergy of Northern and Southern Rhodesia, French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa, Cameroon, Togo, and Madagascar received the status of an ordinary church hierarchy (Shpazhnikov, 1967, p.23).

The decisions of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which was fateful for the Roman Catholic Church, were in line with the new policy. One of the most important documents of the Council was the declaration on the relationship between the church and non-Christian religions "Our Age "("Nostra aetate"), which, referring to the Apostle Paul, rejected differences between people, since the universal brotherhood of Christianity excludes all discrimination: "Therefore, such a theory or policy cannot have any moral basis which make distinctions between individuals and races with respect to their human dignity and the rights that result therefrom. Based on this, the Church considers it alien to the spirit of Christ and strictly condemns any discrimination or insults of people on the basis of race, skin color, social status or religious affiliation" [Gergey, 1996, pp. 409-410]. The Cathedral also introduced innovations in religious practice-it gave Africans the right to hold services in local languages, beat drums and dance during mass.

In 1994, the First African Synod was held in Rome for the first time (held at the height of the Rwandan genocide). For the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, local Catholic churches in Africa were able to come together and discuss evangelization issues. In 1995, following the Synod, Pope John Paul II published the epistle "Ecclesia in Africa "("The Church in Africa"). [see: La documentation catholique, 1995, No. 2123, p. 817-855], where he demanded that bishops, priests and laity modernize their pastoral ministry, taking into account new realities.

The Pope addressed the peoples of Africa with the words: "Despite the predominantly negative picture that is being observed today in many parts of Africa, despite the difficulties that are being faced in many countries, the church must affirm resolutely that these difficulties can be overcome. It should strengthen the hope of genuine liberation in all Africans... Ultimately, this confidence is based on an understanding of the church as the church of God's covenant, which states that history is not self-contained, but is open to the kingdom of God. That is why there is no reason for despair and pessimism when we think about the future of Africa or any other part of the world."

In his message, the pontiff declared that God wants to save Africa, as evidenced by the rapid growth of Catholics on the continent. Touching upon the post-colonial development of the continent, the Pope noted that not all hopes for development have been realized, and in some parts of the continent, poverty, violence, and political instability have reigned. The role of the church in this situation is to help the suffering. Special attention was paid to the theme of African culture, which, according to the pontiff, has deep religious roots, Africans have a developed religious sense, a sense of the sacred, a sense of God the Creator and the spirituality of the world. In the minds of people, the motives of sin and the need for rites of purification and redemption are strong. Evangelization in Africa is inseparable from inculturation, which is a difficult and delicate task that must be carried out with care in order to avoid syncretism and deviation from the teachings of the Church. Adherents of traditional cults should be treated with respect and reverence for their deep religiosity, kato said.-

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catholic missionaries, priests, and monks should learn the basics of these cults. The protection of human dignity in the Catholic sense also includes the aspect of a decent social and political life.

In 2009, the Second African Synod was convened in Rome, which returned to the topic raised at the First Synod, that unworthy politicians should either repent or leave their posts. The main topic of discussion was the idea of reconciliation and cooperation both at the ecclesiastical, national and state levels. Tribalism in all its forms was condemned. Special attention was paid to the topic of interreligious dialogue, including with adherents of traditional African cults. Special attention was paid to the integration of women in church and public life.

Following the Synod, Benedict XVI published his epistle "Africa's Challenge" ("Africae Munus") [see: Herder Korrespondenz, 2012, No. 1], where he called the Catholic Church in Africa "the salt of the earth" and Africa his favorite continent. The message was read out during the Pontiff's 2011 trip to Benin. His main message in the socio-political sphere is that Africa needs sound public administration, which should be expressed in respect for the Constitution, free elections, independence of the judiciary, and transparent governance that is not tempted by corruption. It is important to use natural resources for the common good; to take care of such valuable resources as water and land; and to pay due attention, including at the international level, to the phenomenon of migration and the globalization of solidarity, which includes "the principle of selflessness and the logic of giving as an expression of brotherhood". It is noteworthy that the Roman Catholic Church in Africa has taken an active position in socio-political issues. The message focuses on inter-religious dialogue with traditional African religions in order to understand what corresponds to the gospel and what, on the contrary, relates to witchcraft.

Thus, the era of the fall of colonialism in Africa gave rise to a new "African" policy of the Vatican. It was necessary to eliminate the stereotype of the Catholic priest as an agent of white colonialists. This led to the urgent need to" Africanize " Christianity, to address social, political, and humanitarian issues in the life of the continent. It can be stated that this policy at this stage has brought success to the Roman Catholic Church. In contrast to secular Europe, Africa is becoming the Vatican's hope. However, behind the Vatican's success, it is not difficult to see both existing and future problems. The success of Catholicism was made possible to a large extent by dualism and religious syncretism, despite the Vatican's denial of this. This is likely to affect both the dogmatic teaching of the Catholic Church and religious practice. In the foreseeable future, we can foresee changes in the Roman curia itself, due to the growth in the size of the African episcopate, which will require proportional representation in the highest church administration. Protestant denominations compete strongly with the Catholic Church. Co-existence with the adherents of Islam is another problem.

The third largest number of Christians in the region is occupied by Orthodox Christians. The overwhelming majority of Orthodox Christians live in Ethiopia - 36,060,000 (43.5% of the country's population) and Eritrea - 3,030,000 (57.7%). The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Christian Monophysite churches in the world. For a long time (since its foundation in the fourth century), the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was subordinated to the Coptic Church, the metropolitan was appointed from Alexandria and was Egyptian [see: Robertson, 1999]. Since 1959. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church became fully independent. After the independence of Eritrea in 1993, the autocephalous Eritrean Church was separated from the Ethiopian Church.

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the Orthodox Church, which, like its sister churches, remains faithful to the Monophysite doctrine. There is a large Orthodox community in Kenya (650,000 people, 1.6%), which is under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, which also conducts intensive missionary activities in Tanzania (30,000 people) and Uganda (about 1 thousand).

The ratio of different Christian denominations and denominations in different countries is as follows:

Table

A country

Protestants, %

Catholics, %

Other Christians, %

South Africa

84

11

5

Liberia

81

13

6

Ghana

71

25

4

Kenya

64

34

2

Botswana

64

22

4

Nigeria

60

37

4

Zambia

60

26

14

Mozambique

52

44

3

Uganda

46

53

2

Tanzania

44

51

5

Chad

41

54

5

Democratic Party

40

46

14

Republic of the Congo

Rwanda

40

58

2

Cameroon

39

54

7

Ethiopia

27

1

72

Guinea-Bissau

2

95

2

Источник: [http://www.pewforam.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Belief and Practices/subsaharan-africa-chapter-1.pdf].

Now let's analyze the peculiarities of Christian religiosity of the population in sub-Saharan Africa. To find out the characteristics of the population's religiosity, The Pew Forum conducted a large-scale study from December 2008 to April 2009 [http://www.pewforum.org/Resources-on-Islam-and-Christianity-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa. aspx. http://www.pewforum.org/executive-summary-islam-and-christianity-in-sub-saharan-africa.aspx] in 19 countries (Mali, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, Liberia) with different religious composition and standard of living, whose population is 75% of the total population of the region. 25,000 people representing 60 languages and dialects were interviewed. We will be interested in survey data related only to the Christian population.

The sub-Saharan region is one of the most religious regions in the world. Its religious landscape has changed dramatically in the 20th century. If in 1900 in the region there were: 76% of the population - adherents of traditional cults, 14% - Muslims and 9% - Christians, then according to the" World Religion Database " in 2000 Christians

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Chart

Dynamics of the number of professing Islam and Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa, 1900-2010

they were already 57%, Muslims-29%, adherents of local cults-about 13%. It is clearly seen that 1950 is a turning point. If before that the number of adherents of Islam and Christianity grew slowly and was approximately the same, then from that moment the number of followers of these religions began to grow explosively, while Christianity showed double the rate of increase in its followers compared to Islam. At the moment, the opportunities for proselytizing are almost exhausted, and the growth of adherents to Christianity and Islam strongly correlates with the growth of the population that already professes a particular religion.

Approximately 90% of respondents from 19 countries surveyed by The Pew Forum say that religion plays an extremely important role in their lives. The question arises as to whether the followers of traditional religions really abandoned their beliefs under the influence of the teachings of Christianity and Islam, or do we have to some extent the phenomenon of dual faith? According to the survey, every fourth Christian in the region is a dual believer, believes in the protective power of spirits, the cult of ancestors, etc.

Thus, we are once again convinced that the success of Christianization in the region is largely due to a change in attitudes towards indigenous African religions.

When describing the Christian religiosity of Africans, it should be assumed that religiosity is understood as a social quality of an individual and a group, expressed in the totality of their religious properties (characteristics). The nature of religiosity can be defined as a qualitative and quantitative feature, the specifics of the features of religiosity of an individual, group, or population. Religiosity is recorded using criteria (indicators). The criteria are: signs of consciousness, behavior, involvement in religious relations.

A common feature of religious consciousness is religious faith. It includes the knowledge and acceptance as true of certain religious ideas, concepts, beliefs, dogmas, and the belief in the existence of hypostatic beings. The degree of actual religiosity can be determined, first of all, by faith in religious dogmas, which are the foundation of a religious worldview and embody the transcendent values of being.

One of these dogmas is the expectation of the second coming of Christ, which is at the center of Christian eschatology. The theme of the second coming is given much attention in the New Testament-in the Gospels, in Acts, and in the Epistles

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apostolic, and in the Apocalypse. According to Christian eschatology, the second coming of Christ will be sudden and unexpected, catching those who are not preparing for it by surprise. The early Christian church was characterized by a tense expectation of the imminent coming of Christ. According to the survey, 61% of Christians in the region believe in the coming of Christ even during their lifetime, so we can talk about intense eschatological expectation as one of the dominant features of Christian religiosity in the region.

Religious consciousness is characterized by the belief in miracles and divine healing. For example, 56% of Africans said they had witnessed or experienced divine healing. The religious nature of the consciousness of African Christians is also evidenced by the fact that on average 56% of respondents believe that God will provide wealth and good health to those who have a strong faith. The highest rates were recorded in Ghana (77%), Nigeria (77%), South Africa (70%), Ethiopia (70%), and the lowest - in Guinea-Bissau (31%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (36%), Tanzania (39%), Uganda (52%).

Religious consciousness defines religious behavior as a set of interrelated actions of an individual or group that implement religious prescriptions. The leading criteria for the cultic side of religious behavior are the frequency of attendance at services, prayer, observance of religious precepts, and celebration of religious holidays.

According to the survey, an average of 81% of the Christian population attend religious services at least once a week. The highest rates are in Nigeria (88%), Zambia (85%), Chad (83%), Tanzania (83%). The lowest rates are in South Africa (60%), Botswana (62%), Guinea-Bissau (66%), Cameroon (70%).

On average, 72% of Christians pray at least once a day. There is a high percentage of Christians who follow the precepts in Lent-69%. This indicator is highest in Nigeria (89%), Ethiopia (86%), Chad (85%), Ghana (83%), and the lowest in South Africa (35%), Kenya (53%), Botswana (55%), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (56%).

Thus, it can be stated that Christians in Africa regularly and often commit acts of worship, the main motive of which is religious.

Religious consciousness affects the motivation of social activity, attitude to social reality. From this point of view, a very important issue that shows the role of religion in everyday life was the question of supporting the Holy Scriptures as the legal basis for life in the country. On average, 60% of Christians surveyed identified the Bible as a source of law in the country. In Zambia, this figure is the highest - 77%, followed by Nigeria (70%), Ghana (70%), Botswana (69%), South Africa (66%), Uganda (64%), Liberia (63%), Mozambique (63%), Kenya (57%) Africa , Guinea-Bissau (57%), Ethiopia (55%), Democratic Republic of the Congo (52%), Cameroon (52%), Chad (45%), Rwanda (42%), Tanzania (39%). Religious texts as a source of law are evidence of an integral religious consciousness that seeks to be guided in worldly relations by the sacred texts of its religion. However, this is also a potential source of tension in countries that have a significant number of adherents of Islam. For example, in Nigeria, 71% of Muslims supported Sharia law as the basis of legal life in the country, compared to 63% of the region's Muslim population. A very important indicator of the high potential for conflict is the fact that the majority of the surveyed Christians in the region have a negative attitude towards interfaith marriages.

Thus, an African Christian can be described as a strong believer in the basic tenets of the Christian faith, often combining elements of traditional beliefs with Christianity, living with intense eschatological expectations, and realizing himself as a member of a certain religious community. -

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a person who regularly and frequently performs acts of worship, the main motive of which is religious, and who is guided in social activities by his religious consciousness.

list of literature

Gsrgoi E. Istoriya papstva [History of the Papacy], Moscow, 1996.
Religious Studies / Edited by I. N. Yablokov, Moscow, 1998.

Robsrtson R. Vostochnye khristianskie tserkvi: tserkovno-istoricheskiy spravochnik [Eastern Christian Churches: Church and Historical Reference]. SPb., 1999.

Shpazhnikov G. A. Religions of African Countries, Moscow, 1967.
Herder Korrespondenz. 1972. № 10; 2012. № 1.

La documentation catholique. 1 octobre 1995. № 2123.

http://www.pcwforum.org

http://www.pcwforum.org/Christian/Global-Christianity-africa.aspx

http://www.pcwibrum.org/uploadcdFilcs/Topics/Bclicf and Practices/sub-saharan-africa-chaptcr-1.pdf

http://www.pcwforum.org/Rcsourccs-on-Islam-and-Christianity-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa.aspx // http://www.pcwforum.org/cxccutivc-summary-islam-and-christianity-in-sub-saharan-africa.aspx

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