CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus in the 19thcentury Roman Province of Judea. According to the Gospel, Jesus was a Jewish teacher and healer who proclaimed the imminent kingdom of God and was crucified at 30- 33AD. His followers believed that he was then raised from the dead and exalted by God and would return soon at the inception of God’s kingdom.
In the early middle ages, missionary activities spread Christianity towards the west among German people. During the high middle ages, eastern and western Christianity grew apart, leading to the East-West Schism of 1054. Growing criticism of the Roman Catholic ecclesiological structure and its behavior, led to the protestant movement of the 16th century and the split of western Christianity.
Christianity in Nigeria by the early missionary activities began between 1472 and 1621 when the king of Portugal launched pioneering missionary enterprises in the kingdom of Benin and Warri. This attempt did not yield any lasting fruit. More attempts were also at entering Borno and Hausa lands by Catholics and Protestants alike, but it also failed.
However, the story of modern missionaries in Nigeria began with the freed slaves in the Americas and Great Britain. They became the pioneers and the instrument of spreading and building Christian missions on the west coast of Africa especially in Yoruba land, the Niger and Cross River. One of such freed slaves was Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther.