Christianity and the Kikuyu

Religious Divisions and Social Conflict

Bibliographic Data

ID3933115
AuthorsGrace Nyatugah Wamue, David P Sandgren
Year1992
Volume22
Issue3
Pages265
Publication date1992-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Religion in Africa (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-4200 • E-ISSN: 1570-0666
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/1580922
OpenAlexW2053270463
LanguageEN
Citations received10

New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt/M., Oxford, Wien, 1989. American University Studies: Series 9, History. Vol. 45. Drawing heavily upon oral evidence, David P. Sandgren reveals that the twentieth-century Kikuyu encounter with Christianity produced a series of religious and culturally based conflicts, which in time caused deep, serious, and irreconcilable divisions in their society. At the center of these conflicts were the differing and increasingly antagonistic points of view that grew among three groups: missionaries of the Africa Inland Mission (AIM), the Aregi or those who refused to accept AIM authority, and the Kirore loyalists to the mission. By mid-century, these conflicts, central to the Kikuyu society, played a role in the Mau Mau rebellion. 'David Sandgren's book is a solid contribution to the growing field of comparative mission history in Africa; it adds new data and raises new questions about Kenya's twentieth-century history; and in exploring modern Kikuyu history through careful and systematic collection of oral materials, it represents a methodological innovation as well as a substantive contribution.' (Robert W. Strayer, SUNY College at Brockport) 'David Sandgren uses mission and oral sources to reconstruct a rich history of struggles by African Christians to regain control of their own religious lives. His picture of early divisions within the Christian community leads to a new understanding of the roots of 'Mau Mau' in the history of Kenyan Christianity. This book is a valuable contribution to the history of modern East Africa.' (Steven Feierman, University of Pennsylvania)

Anthropology of religion · Christianity · History of religions · Political science · Politics · Religious conflict · Social conflict · Sociology · African history and culture analysis · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Law · Philosophy · Religion, Society, and Development · Religious studies