This book is about African Pentecostalism and its relationship to religious beliefs about a pervading spirit world. It argues that Pentecostalism keeps both a continuous and a discontinuous relationship in tension. Based on field research in a South African township, including qualitative interviews and focus group discussions, the study explores the context of African Pentecostalism as a whole and how it interacts with the concepts of ancestors, divination, and various types of spirit. Themes discussed include the reasons for the popularity of healing, exorcism, the "prosperity gospel," the experience of the Holy Spirit, Spirit manifestations and practices resembling both traditional and biblical precedents, as well as scholarly discussions on African Pentecostalism from theological and social scientific disciplines. The book suggests that the focus on a spirit-filled world affects all kinds of events and explains the rapid growth of Pentecostalism outside the western world.
Autorentext
Allan Heaton Anderson is Professor of Mission and Pentecostal Studies at the University of Birmingham, England. He is author of many articles and books, including An Introduction to Pentecostalism (2014), To the Ends of the Earth (2013), and Spreading Fires (2007).
Inhalt
PART 1: AFRICAN PENTECOSTALISM IN CONTEXT
1. The Spirit of Dis/continuity
Pentecostalism and the Continuity Debate
Terminology and Presuppositions
Spiritual Power and Spirituality
The Argument of this Book
2. Pentecostalism in the Sub-Sahara
Africa in the Twenty-First Century
Reasons for the Growth of African Pentecostalism
Globalization and the Religious Context
South Africa and its Pentecostalism3. Pentecostalism in a South African Township
Soshanguve and the Research Project
Pentecostalism in Soshanguve
African Popular Religion and Christian Responses
Methodological Issues and Challenges
PART 2: A SPIRIT-FILLED WORLD &nb...