18th century – 19th century
Xhosa country, southern Africa
Ntsikana was a Xhosa religious prophet who promoted controlled accommodation with Christian ideas rather than Makana’s programme of armed resistance. He sought to transform Xhosa society by accepting selected Christian dynamics while rejecting many cultural assumptions of European society. Xhosa tradition credited him, rather than missionaries, with initiating Christianity among many Xhosa.
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The Story
Ntsikana represented a different response to the religious and political pressures facing the Xhosa. In contrast to Makana, who became the prophet of resistance, Ntsikana became associated with a process of controlled accommodation. Their disagreement concerned the nature of divinity, but it also had immediate practical consequences because it divided the Xhosa into competing factions.
Ntsikana’s primary aim was not simply to define relations with the whites. He sought to transform Xhosa society by accepting some of the dynamics of Christian thought while rejecting many of the cultural assumptions carried by European missionaries and settlers. His position therefore combined selective appropriation with cultural discrimination rather than unconditional acceptance.
The importance attributed to Ntsikana extended into Xhosa historical memory. Among many Xhosa, the beginning of Christianity was credited not to missionaries but to Ntsikana as a Christian forerunner. His legacy illustrates the diversity of African prophetism, which could produce programmes of resistance, accommodation, internal reform, or combinations of these alternatives.
18th century – 19th century
Xhosa country, southern Africa
Ntsikana was a Xhosa religious prophet who promoted controlled accommodation with Christian ideas rather than Makana’s programme of armed resistance. He sought to transform Xhosa society by accepting selected Christian dynamics while rejecting many cultural assumptions of European society. Xhosa tradition credited him, rather than missionaries, with initiating Christianity among many Xhosa.
Continue exploring
The Story
Ntsikana represented a different response to the religious and political pressures facing the Xhosa. In contrast to Makana, who became the prophet of resistance, Ntsikana became associated with a process of controlled accommodation. Their disagreement concerned the nature of divinity, but it also had immediate practical consequences because it divided the Xhosa into competing factions.
Ntsikana’s primary aim was not simply to define relations with the whites. He sought to transform Xhosa society by accepting some of the dynamics of Christian thought while rejecting many of the cultural assumptions carried by European missionaries and settlers. His position therefore combined selective appropriation with cultural discrimination rather than unconditional acceptance.
The importance attributed to Ntsikana extended into Xhosa historical memory. Among many Xhosa, the beginning of Christianity was credited not to missionaries but to Ntsikana as a Christian forerunner. His legacy illustrates the diversity of African prophetism, which could produce programmes of resistance, accommodation, internal reform, or combinations of these alternatives.
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