The Berbers in the Bible

It is often ignored that the founding characters of Christianity had nothing Roman about them,

except citizenship. Many of them were indeed from Africa, Asia or other European countries. North

Africans (Berbers or Amazighs) played a key role in the creation and development of this new faith.

And the reader will be surprised to discover some of them.

Biblical characters:

The most famous North African mentioned in the Bible is without context Simon of Cyrene. He has carried Jesus' cross to Golgotha on the day of his crucifixion. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus, two characters who accompanied Saint Paul to Spain to evangelize the "ends of the earth", after his liberation from the

Roman prison. Alexander, in fact, helped to evangelize Spain before returning to live in Carthage in

present-day Tunisia, and find death there as a martyr. Rufus meanwhile helped to evangelize

Catalonia before continuing his journey to the south of what is now France - formerly Gaul - and

dying at an advanced age in Avignon, which centuries later would become "the City of the Popes".

The Berber people are currently considered Muslim. Rare are the regions where Christians live in

North Africa. With the exception of the Siwa Valley in Egypt and the Canary Islands. Those who

are called North Africans are totally unaware of their Christian origins and the identity of their ancestors. This book is aimed to help people discover their wonderful Christian History.

Saint Mark

Mark is the author of the first Gospel. He was the first to write down the words and deeds of Christ, thus inspiring other writers, including Matthew and Luke who took up most of his texts. At the end of his life, Mark went to evangelize Alexandria where he founded a church and where he died as a martyr. The Copts consider him the founder of the Church of Egypt.

Post-biblical period:

Christianity established itself very strongly in North Africa. From the second, then the third

centuries, characters appeared who would definitively mark the new religion. This region of the

world will give the entire West its philosophical and spiritual mentors.

The first of these characters was Minucius Félix who published in the second century, a work - the Octavius - where he depicts three characters, including a Christian and an unbeliever, debating on the existence of God. This work had a great impact, to the point where Felix was considered one of the very first Church Fathers. At the same time, Tertullian was born. A Carthaginian lawyer who converted and became one of the major writers of early Christianity. He lived in a period when conversions were very numerous among the Berbers, accompanied by periods of persecution with its share of martyrs of the faith, including the famous Perpetua and Felicity. In his book "Apologetics" he writes: "We are only of yesterday and we fill all that is yours, your cities, your islands, your fortresses, your municipalities, your councils, your camps themselves, the tribes , the

stables, the palace, the senate, the forum ». Tertullian was a man of character. He lived his faith

with courage and sincerity. He said, for those who boasted of being of noble and religious descent:

“You are not born a Christian, you become one”. His theological approach to Scripture sparked long

debates throughout the Roman Empire, and even beyond. He was the first Christian to publish in

Latin and to use the expression "Trinity". His works continue to inspire many philosophers and

theologians to this day.

After him will appear another Carthaginian character, father of Ecclesiology. It is Cyprian of

Carthage, Church Father and Bishop of this city. He marked the history of the Church by his

writings, especially in times of persecution. Many places and sites around the world bear his name.

He died a martyr, beheaded by the Romans, after having preached the Gospel and worked with

perseverance on the question of the Unity of the Church. We owe him in particular the quote

“Outside the Church, there is no salvation” which has aroused so much controversy. Later appeared

another character, Marius Victorinus. He too is considered Father of the Church. He was a

rhetorician, philosopher, grammarian, and ardent defender of the Trinity to whom he dedicated a

book in response to the Arians who distorted its meaning.

These Berber writers and Church Fathers were great figures who played an important role in the

development of post-Biblical Christian thought. But none of them, or even all of them put together,

can match the one who is considered the greatest Christian theologian after Saint Paul. This is Saint

Augustine, born in nowadays Algeria. His books, his semons and treatises are innumerable. He

treated all possible and imaginable subjects and he influenced all the philosophers and theologians

who came after him. There are still today in the world, more than four hundred publications of all

kinds concerning him, each year. He is considered by many thinkers to be the Father of the West.

His best-known works are " Confessions", the first autobiography in history, and "The City of God",

the first known treatise on geopolitics. Augustine is considered Father and Doctor of the Church.

He is the only one to carry these two titles simultaneously.

North Africa has also produced other intellectual or spiritual luminaries, like Arnobus of Sicca,

Lactantius and many other Berber Christian writers whose contribution continues to influence

Christian thought even today.

Popes:

Alongside these giants of faith, let us note that North Africa gave three Berber Popes to the Church,

even if the Papacy was not yet structured in the way we know it today : Victor 1st, Miltiades and

Gélasius 1st. The first held office at the end of the second century. He is known for having

succeeded in establishing a rigorous organization and discipline in the church. We also owe him the

first official correspondence in Latin, when in his time, the Greek language was dominant. It is also

to him that we owe the date of the celebration of the feast of "Easter", after a long controversy with

the bishops of the East.

The second pope of Berber origin was Miltiades. He exercised his ministry for four years, and was

associated with the Donatist controversy. He was in office when Emperor Constantine decreed

religious freedom and proclaimed Christianity as the official religion of the Empire. Miltiades,

without appearing in the front row, worked on delicate questions in all discretion, managing to unite

the skills of this time, despite the deep crisis which shook the Church with the opposition of the

Donatists.

The last Berber Pope was Gelasius the first. He is famous in present North Africa for having

established Valentine's Day. But his role during his pontificate was to clarify the areas of

competence of the Church in relation to political power and to distinguish the spiritual from the

temporal, insisting on the superiority of the first over the second. Gelasius was also the author of

several books and he was the Pope who compiled the list of the thirty-three Fathers of the Church.