Tempels’s sincere dialogue effort still assumed Christian superiority over African religions.

Evidence

Tempels’s merit is to have tried and to have addressed the issue of the conditions for the possibility of dialogue between Africa and the West. He tried to overcome the “us versus them” dichotomy so characteristic of the Hegelian paradigm. Tempels, apparently, approached the Bantu with sincerity in his heart and the desire to acknowledge and defend the dignity of the African people, and he suffered for that at the hand of some colonial officials and mainly some religious leaders, such as the then powerful archbishop of Lubumbashi, Jean-Félix de Hemptinne. However, he remained a son of his time, believing Christianity to be superior to African religions and that Christianity was the only religion that could elevate Africans to genuine civilization. … In a world where almost 70% of the people are not Christian, interreligious dialogue requires a new mindset and a radical paradigm shift. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 739

Categorization

• QUESTION: The claim that almost 70% of people are not Christian — worth verifying the statistic and its date.