Africa has played a decisive role in the formation of Christian culture from its infancy. Some of the most decisive intellectual achievements of Christianity were explored and understood in Africa before they were in Europe. What can we learn from this history?

In these two volumes theologian Thomas C. Oden offers a portrait that challenges prevailing notions of the intellectual development of Christianity from its early roots to its modern expressions. He explores the tradition that Mark himself was from North Africa, and he also traces Christianity's formative presence in Libya.