African Heroes: Discovering Our Christian Heritage

Jerome Gay, Jr.

Reviewed by: Diane L. Olinger

African Heroes: Discovering Our Christian Heritage, by Jerome Gay, Jr. New Growth, 2023. Hardcover, 64 pages, $16.99 (Amazon). Reviewed by OP member Diane L. Olinger.

This is a children’s picture book written by an African American pastor. It begins with a Christian family sharing a picnic after a worship service. A conversation about the children’s Sunday school lesson transitions to a discussion of heroes of the faith who “lived back when the Christian faith was almost brand new.” The father tells the children that “there are many heroes of the faith—and remarkable theologians—many from Africa.” The children’s request to hear the heroes’ stories is followed by vignettes of eleven African Christians who lived in the second to fifth centuries AD: Tertullian, Origen of Alexandria, Perpetua, Felicity, Athanasius, Cyprian of Carthage, Lactantius, Pachomius the Great, Cyril of Alexandria, Augustine, and Shenoute of Atripe. Each vignette is about four pages and features a Christian virtue or doctrine associated with the hero. For Athanasius, the virtue is courage, and the verse is Joshua 1:9 (NIrV), “Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope. I am the LORD your God. I will be with you everywhere you go.” Each vignette is accompanied by a portrait of the Christian hero and an illustration of some scene from his or her life. For example, Athanasius is shown at the Council of Nicaea surrounded by churchmen and arguing heatedly. The text tells us that Athanasius was upset that someone was spreading lies about Jesus. “The man spreading lies was named Arius, and he was trying to convince people that Jesus was just a regular person—not the Son of God. . . . Athanasius knew he had to do something. He began asking God for courage.” The book ends as it began with the picnicking family. The mother puts these stories from church history in context, telling the children that the stories are “nothing” compared to the true story of Jesus, who is the “reason all these heroes and legacies exist.” A child responds, “They were following after Jesus!”

In the May 2019 issue of New Horizons, PCA minister Terry L. Johnson reminded us that classic ecumenical Christianity is “not a European import”; the ideas and influence that shaped historic Christianity moved from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe, and not the other way around. Learning more about this helps us to appreciate the true catholicity of the church and to counter any who would limit Christianity as a European cultural product. Written for ages four to seven, African Heroes doesn’t delve into all that, but sharing this book with our children will encourage them to think more broadly about the history of the church. And this is a good thing, for surely God is gathering a great multitude from every tribe and nation who will stand together before the throne of the Lamb.