African Nationalism and Indigenous Christianity: A Study in the Life of James Calata (1895-1983)

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Periodical article

Title:	African Nationalism and Indigenous Christianity: A Study in the Life of James Calata (1895-1983)
Author:	Goedhals, Mandy
Year:	2003
Periodical:	Journal of Religion in Africa
Volume:	33
Issue:	1
Pages:	63-82
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	Anglican Church African Independent Churches nationalism biographies (form) History and Exploration Religion and Witchcraft
About person:	James Calata (1895-1983)
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/1581635
Abstract:	Even among historians of Christianity in South Africa sympathetic to the liberation struggle, there has been a tendency to focus on white clergy rather than the involvement of black clergy before the 1960s. This study of James Calata, Anglican priest and African nationalist, attempts to contribute to filling a gap in the existing historiography and also to address some of the problems raised by a biographical approach to history. Like white clergy, Calata faced opposition from the church hierarchy, but for Calata there was also a degree of racism in the way the church treated him, while his opposition was rooted in community, and integrated opposition politics and a struggle for an indigenous expression of Christianity. Calata's own ideological position reflects the ideological generosity (or vagueness) of the ANC. The essay also illustrates the radicalization of Calata's position in response to increasing repression. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]