The Earl A. Pope Annual Guest Lecture in World Christianity: Nonconformist Christianity in Africa's Cultural History

African theologians often argue that contemporary African Christianity is an outgrowth of older religious traditions. In this lecture I will argue that there was much that was strange, eccentric, and inconsistent about Christianity in colonial Africa. The lecture will focus on the reading habits and interpretive strategies that inspired Christian nonconformity. Nonconformists read the Bible idiosyncratically, snipping bits of text out of the fabric of the book and using these slogans to launch heretical and odd ways of living. Over time, some of Africa’s nonconformists sought to position themselves in narrative structures that could authenticate and legitimate their dissident religious activity. That entailed experimentation with voice, positionality, and addressivity.