Mass African conversions to Christianity remained superficial because underlying Bantu philosophy persisted

Evidence

The missionary approach to the conversion of the Black people did not succeed in turning Africans completely from their own religion or culture, and it did not succeed in turning Africans into authentic Christians, that is, believers who completely abandoned their cultural practices. In Bantu Philosophy, Tempels (1959) observes that among the natives, mainly the evolues who converted to Catholicism were unstable, not the pagans who chose to continue to practice their native religions. Tempels (1959, p.12) comments that those who had been civilized, the evolues or the converts to Christianity, were unstable because they “never effected a reconciliation between [their] new way of life and [their] former native philosophy, which remains intact just below the surface”. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 153

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘evalue’/‘converted Christian’ versus ‘pagan’ categories as Tempels distinguishes them, and clarifies that ‘authentic Christians’ means converts who fully abandoned cultural practice.