A YEAST IN THE FLOUR: PENTECOSTALISM AS THE AFRICAN REALISATION OF THE GOSPEL
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/1591Keywords:
Pentecostalism, African, gospel, catholicity, globalisation, theologyAbstract
The paper discusses the contributions of Pentecostalism to the development of the Christian faith in Ghana and Africa. It argues that Pentecostalism is what fulfils the aspirations and quest of Ghanaian (African) Christians in their search for authentic Christian life. Christianity came to West Africa as a Western contextualised religion impinged by the nineteenth-century rationalisation, the product of the Enlightenment. This paper contends that Pentecostals influence the ethos and praxis of older mission churches in Ghana. It describes, analyses and assesses the various ways Pentecostals are helping to integrate the Christian faith into the religio-social contexts of Ghanaians. This is a complete paradigm shift from their earlier posture to social matters.
Metrics
References
Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena. “Traditional Missionary Christianity and New Religious Movements in Ghana: A Comparative Study of Attitudes toward Each Other’s Faith and Practice.†MPhil thesis, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana, June, 1994.
Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena. African Charismatics: Current Developments within Independent Indigenous Pentecostalism in Ghana. Leiden: E .J. Brill, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047406303
Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena. Contemporary Pentecostal Christianity: Interpretation from an African Context. Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1ddcp37
Barrett, David. “AD 2000: 350 Million Christians in Africa?†International Review of Mission, 1970. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6631.1970.tb00933.x
Bediako, Kwame. Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1995.
Boff, Leonardo and Clovodis Boff. Introducing Liberation Theology. Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis Books, 1988.
Chitando, Ezra et al (Eds.). Prophets, Profits and the Bible in Zimbabwe. Bamberg: Bamberg University Press, 2013.
Dunning, H. R. Grace. Faith, and Holiness: A Wesleyan Systematic Theology. Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 1988.
Gifford, Paul. African Christianity: Its Public Role. London: C. Hurst and Co. Ltd., 1998.
Gifford, Paul. Ghana’s New Christianity: Pentecostalism in a Globalizing African Economy. London: Hurst and Co., 2004.
Gutierrez, Gustavo. A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation. Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis Books, 1973.
Gutierrez, Gustavo. “Toward a Theology of Liberation.†In Liberation Theology: A Documentary History Hennelly, edited by Alfred T. Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis Books, 1990, 62–76.
Hock, Klaus. “Jesus power-super power: on the interaction between Christian fundamentalism and new religious movements in Africa.†Mission Studies 12 no.1 (1995): 56–70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/157338395X00051
Imasogie, Osadolor. Guidelines for Christian Theology in Africa: Theological Perspectives in Africa. Achimota: ACP Press 1995.
Jenkins, P. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/0195146166.001.0001
Kalu, Ogbu U. “Preserving a Worldview: Pentecostalism in the African Maps of the Universe.†Pneuma, 24 no. 2 (2002): 110–137. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15700740260388009
Kalu, Ogbu U. “African Christianity: An Overview.†In African Christianity: An African Story, edited by Ogbu U. Kalu. Trenton, NJ and Asmara, Eritrea, Africa World Press Inc., 2007.
Koduah, Alfred. Who is Disturbing the Nation? Accra: Advocate Publishing Limited, 2008.
National Church Survey: Facing the Unfinished Task of the Church in Ghana. Accra: Ghana Evangelism Committee, 1999.
Ntumy, M. K. Coming with Fire: An Autobiography of Apostle Dr. M. K. Ntumy. Accra: Advocate Publishing. 2005.
Omenyo, Cephas, N. Pentecost outside Pentecostalism: A Study of the Development of Charismatic Renewal in the Mainline Churches in Ghana. Zoetermeer, the Netherlands: Boekencentrum Publishing House, 2006.
Parham, Sarah, E. The Life of Charles F. Parham. Joplin, MO: Tri-State Printing Co., 1930 reprinted, Birmingham, AL: Commercial Printing Co., 1977.
Quayesi-Amakye, Joseph. “Ideas of the Divine and the Human in Ghanaian Pentecostal Songs.†MA thesis, VrijeUniversiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2008.
Quayesi-Amakye, Joseph. “Prosperity and Prophecy in African Pentecostalism.†Journal of Pentecostal Theology 20 (2011): 92–116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/174552511X597161
Quayesi-Amakye, Joseph. “Christ, Evil and Suffering in Ghanaian Christian Liturgy.†PentecoStudies: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Research on the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, 14 no. 1 (2015): 9–41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/ptcs.v14i1.9
Shreiter, Robert, J. The New Catholicity: Theology between the Global and the Local. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2004.
Uka, Azonse. “AfricanChristianities: Features, Promises and Problems.†Arbeitspapiere/Working Papers, 79. Department of Anthropology and African Studies. Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat, 2007.
Wa Thiong’o, Ngugi. Weep not, Child. London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. 1964.
Witherington, B. The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI, Cambridge: Eerdmans; Carlisle: Paternoster, 1998.
Wyllie, R. W. “Pioneers of Ghanaian Pentecostalism: Peter Anim and James McKeown.†Journal of Religion in Africa 6 no. 2 (1974): 109–22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/157006674X00022
Zwiep, A. W. The Ascension of the Messiah in Lukan Christology. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1997. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004267336
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Accepted 2017-01-19
Published 2017-02-23
