Author: Sunday Jide Komolafe
Publisher: Langham Monographs
ISBN: 190771359X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 475
Book Description
The explosion of the church in Nigeria is phenomenal, with a forward momentum that is as remarkable as the missionary optimism of the first century Church. The history reveals a tightly woven narrative of the process of beginnings, growth, and change.
The Transformation of African Christianity
Author: Sunday Jide Komolafe
Publisher: Langham Monographs
ISBN: 190771359X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 475
Book Description
The explosion of the church in Nigeria is phenomenal, with a forward momentum that is as remarkable as the missionary optimism of the first century Church. The history reveals a tightly woven narrative of the process of beginnings, growth, and change.
Publisher: Langham Monographs
ISBN: 190771359X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 475
Book Description
The explosion of the church in Nigeria is phenomenal, with a forward momentum that is as remarkable as the missionary optimism of the first century Church. The history reveals a tightly woven narrative of the process of beginnings, growth, and change.
Making African Christianity
Author: Robert J. Houle
Publisher: Lehigh University Press
ISBN: 1611460824
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 355
Book Description
Making African Christianity argues that Africans successfully naturalized Christianity. It examines the long history of the faith among colonial Zulu Christians (known as amaKholwa) in what would become South Africa. As it has become clear that Africans are not discarding Christianity, a number of scholars have taken up the challenge of understanding why this is the case and how we got to this point. While functionalist arguments have their place, this book argues that we need to understand what is imbedded within the faith that many find so appealing. Houle argues that other aspects of the faith also needed to be 'translated,'particularly the theology of Christianity. For Zulu, the religion would never be a good fit unless converts could fill critical gaps such as how Christianity could account for the active and everyday presence of the amadhlozi ancestral spirits - a problem that was true for African converts across the continent in slightly different ways. Accomplishing this translation took years and a number of false-starts. Coming to this understanding is one of the particularly important contributions of this work, for like Benedict Anderson's 'Imagined Communities,' the early African Christian communities were entirely constructed ones. Here was a group struggling to understand what it meant to be both African and Christian. For much of their history this dual identity was difficult to reconcile, but through constant struggle to do so they transformed both themselves and their adopted faith. This manuscript goes far in filling a critical gap in how we have gotten to this point and will be welcomed by African historians, those interested in the history of colonialism, missions, southern African, and in particular Christianity.
Publisher: Lehigh University Press
ISBN: 1611460824
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 355
Book Description
Making African Christianity argues that Africans successfully naturalized Christianity. It examines the long history of the faith among colonial Zulu Christians (known as amaKholwa) in what would become South Africa. As it has become clear that Africans are not discarding Christianity, a number of scholars have taken up the challenge of understanding why this is the case and how we got to this point. While functionalist arguments have their place, this book argues that we need to understand what is imbedded within the faith that many find so appealing. Houle argues that other aspects of the faith also needed to be 'translated,'particularly the theology of Christianity. For Zulu, the religion would never be a good fit unless converts could fill critical gaps such as how Christianity could account for the active and everyday presence of the amadhlozi ancestral spirits - a problem that was true for African converts across the continent in slightly different ways. Accomplishing this translation took years and a number of false-starts. Coming to this understanding is one of the particularly important contributions of this work, for like Benedict Anderson's 'Imagined Communities,' the early African Christian communities were entirely constructed ones. Here was a group struggling to understand what it meant to be both African and Christian. For much of their history this dual identity was difficult to reconcile, but through constant struggle to do so they transformed both themselves and their adopted faith. This manuscript goes far in filling a critical gap in how we have gotten to this point and will be welcomed by African historians, those interested in the history of colonialism, missions, southern African, and in particular Christianity.
Christianity and Social Change in Africa
Author: Toyin Falola
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 704
Book Description
Christianity and Social Change in Africa is the most comprehensive look at the African encounter with Christianity in recent years. The book's themes are drawn from the pioneering work of J.D.Y. Peel, building on his creative explanation of the African experience of Christianity. The volume covers a broad range of themes, including religious expansion, the rise of Pentecostalism, and the use of new media and technologies to convert people and reform believers. The various manifestations of religious impact run through all the chapters, covering aspects of culture, politics, the economy, and the landscape. The volume also explores the success of Africans in exporting Christianity to other parts of the globe, a phenomenon that has redefined both the message and meaning of this religion. The contributors are a distinguished roster of scholars who draw on years of experience and research to present remarkable ideas and original interpretations of the forces Christianity exerts in Africa. The essays reflect the importance of comparative historical inquiry, inter-disciplinary perspectives, Peel's contributions to the transformation of history and sociology, and the paths that a new generation of scholars must chart to comprehend the power of African Christianity. "For all interested in the processes and power relations of cultural (self)representation and (self)determination in the African context, this book is essential." -- The International Journal of African Historical Studies "The chapters are well written, persuasive and well structured. The book is a useful tool for the study of social transformation and cultural persistence in African, diaspora and cultural studies." -- Journal of African History "This is an important book for scholars of Nigeria and the Yoruba world, but also for those interested in the ongoing question of religious change in Africa and the diaspora. Indeed, some of the individual essays have the potential to become classics... This book is a fitting salute to the legacy of John Peel." -- African Studies Review "At a time when Christianity in Africa is experiencing a great leap forward, Christianity and Social Change in Africa facilitates an exploration of some of the themes more critical to this development... The book signals interesting directions for future research and should be welcomed by anyone interested in the still unfolding landscape that is Christianity in Africa." -- Pneuma
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 704
Book Description
Christianity and Social Change in Africa is the most comprehensive look at the African encounter with Christianity in recent years. The book's themes are drawn from the pioneering work of J.D.Y. Peel, building on his creative explanation of the African experience of Christianity. The volume covers a broad range of themes, including religious expansion, the rise of Pentecostalism, and the use of new media and technologies to convert people and reform believers. The various manifestations of religious impact run through all the chapters, covering aspects of culture, politics, the economy, and the landscape. The volume also explores the success of Africans in exporting Christianity to other parts of the globe, a phenomenon that has redefined both the message and meaning of this religion. The contributors are a distinguished roster of scholars who draw on years of experience and research to present remarkable ideas and original interpretations of the forces Christianity exerts in Africa. The essays reflect the importance of comparative historical inquiry, inter-disciplinary perspectives, Peel's contributions to the transformation of history and sociology, and the paths that a new generation of scholars must chart to comprehend the power of African Christianity. "For all interested in the processes and power relations of cultural (self)representation and (self)determination in the African context, this book is essential." -- The International Journal of African Historical Studies "The chapters are well written, persuasive and well structured. The book is a useful tool for the study of social transformation and cultural persistence in African, diaspora and cultural studies." -- Journal of African History "This is an important book for scholars of Nigeria and the Yoruba world, but also for those interested in the ongoing question of religious change in Africa and the diaspora. Indeed, some of the individual essays have the potential to become classics... This book is a fitting salute to the legacy of John Peel." -- African Studies Review "At a time when Christianity in Africa is experiencing a great leap forward, Christianity and Social Change in Africa facilitates an exploration of some of the themes more critical to this development... The book signals interesting directions for future research and should be welcomed by anyone interested in the still unfolding landscape that is Christianity in Africa." -- Pneuma
Christianity and the Transformation of the Book
Author: Anthony Grafton
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674037863
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384
Book Description
When early Christians began to study the Bible, and to write their own history and that of the Jews whom they claimed to supersede, they used scholarly methods invented by the librarians and literary critics of Hellenistic Alexandria. But Origen and Eusebius, two scholars of late Roman Caesarea, did far more. Both produced new kinds of books, in which parallel columns made possible critical comparisons previously unenvisioned, whether between biblical texts or between national histories. Eusebius went even farther, creating new research tools, new forms of history and polemic, and a new kind of library to support both research and book production. Christianity and the Transformation of the Book combines broad-gauged synthesis and close textual analysis to reconstruct the kinds of books and the ways of organizing scholarly inquiry and collaboration among the Christians of Caesarea, on the coast of Roman Palestine. The book explores the dialectical relationship between intellectual history and the history of the book, even as it expands our understanding of early Christian scholarship. Christianity and the Transformation of the Book attends to the social, religious, intellectual, and institutional contexts within which Origen and Eusebius worked, as well as the details of their scholarly practices--practices that, the authors argue, continued to define major sectors of Christian learning for almost two millennia and are, in many ways, still with us today.,
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674037863
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384
Book Description
When early Christians began to study the Bible, and to write their own history and that of the Jews whom they claimed to supersede, they used scholarly methods invented by the librarians and literary critics of Hellenistic Alexandria. But Origen and Eusebius, two scholars of late Roman Caesarea, did far more. Both produced new kinds of books, in which parallel columns made possible critical comparisons previously unenvisioned, whether between biblical texts or between national histories. Eusebius went even farther, creating new research tools, new forms of history and polemic, and a new kind of library to support both research and book production. Christianity and the Transformation of the Book combines broad-gauged synthesis and close textual analysis to reconstruct the kinds of books and the ways of organizing scholarly inquiry and collaboration among the Christians of Caesarea, on the coast of Roman Palestine. The book explores the dialectical relationship between intellectual history and the history of the book, even as it expands our understanding of early Christian scholarship. Christianity and the Transformation of the Book attends to the social, religious, intellectual, and institutional contexts within which Origen and Eusebius worked, as well as the details of their scholarly practices--practices that, the authors argue, continued to define major sectors of Christian learning for almost two millennia and are, in many ways, still with us today.,
Transforming Masculinities in African Christianity
Author: Dr Adriaan van Klinken
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 1472401522
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 350
Book Description
Studies of gender in African Christianity have usually focused on women. This book draws attention to men and constructions of masculinity, particularly important in light of the HIV epidemic which has given rise to a critical investigation of dominant forms of masculinity. These are often associated with the spread of HIV, gender-based violence and oppression of women. Against this background Christian theologians and local churches in Africa seek to change men and transform masculinities. Exploring the complexity and ambiguity of religious gender discourses in contemporary African contexts, this book critically examines the ways in which some progressive African theologians, and a Catholic parish and a Pentecostal church in Zambia, work on a 'transformation of masculinities'.
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 1472401522
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 350
Book Description
Studies of gender in African Christianity have usually focused on women. This book draws attention to men and constructions of masculinity, particularly important in light of the HIV epidemic which has given rise to a critical investigation of dominant forms of masculinity. These are often associated with the spread of HIV, gender-based violence and oppression of women. Against this background Christian theologians and local churches in Africa seek to change men and transform masculinities. Exploring the complexity and ambiguity of religious gender discourses in contemporary African contexts, this book critically examines the ways in which some progressive African theologians, and a Catholic parish and a Pentecostal church in Zambia, work on a 'transformation of masculinities'.
West African Christianity
Author: Lamin Sanneh
Publisher: Orbis Books
ISBN: 1608331490
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 412
Book Description
Publisher: Orbis Books
ISBN: 1608331490
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 412
Book Description
Wealth, Health, and Hope in African Christian Religion
Author: Stan Chu Ilo
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498561284
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 339
Book Description
Wealth, Health, and Hope in African Christian Religion offers a portrait of how contending narratives of modernity in both church and society play out in Africa today through the agency of African Christian religion. It explores the identity and features of African Christian religion and the cultural forces driving the momentum of Christian expansion in Africa, as well as how these factors are shaping a new African social imagination, especially in providing answers to the most challenging questions about poverty, wealth, health, human, and cosmic flourishing. It offers the academy a good road map for interpreting African Christian religious beliefs and practices today and into the future.
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498561284
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 339
Book Description
Wealth, Health, and Hope in African Christian Religion offers a portrait of how contending narratives of modernity in both church and society play out in Africa today through the agency of African Christian religion. It explores the identity and features of African Christian religion and the cultural forces driving the momentum of Christian expansion in Africa, as well as how these factors are shaping a new African social imagination, especially in providing answers to the most challenging questions about poverty, wealth, health, human, and cosmic flourishing. It offers the academy a good road map for interpreting African Christian religious beliefs and practices today and into the future.
How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind
Author: Thomas C. Oden
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830837051
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 205
Book Description
Thomas C. Oden surveys the decisive role of African Christians and theologians in shaping the doctrines and practices of the church of the first five centuries, and makes an impassioned plea for the rediscovery of that heritage. Christians throughout the world will benefit from this reclaiming of an important heritage.
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830837051
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 205
Book Description
Thomas C. Oden surveys the decisive role of African Christians and theologians in shaping the doctrines and practices of the church of the first five centuries, and makes an impassioned plea for the rediscovery of that heritage. Christians throughout the world will benefit from this reclaiming of an important heritage.
Anthology of African Christianity
Author: Isabel Apawo Phiri
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781506474922
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 1240
Book Description
By the beginning of the twenty-first century, Christianity has taken shape and established roots in all areas of African reality. It has come to stay. Therefore, we welcome Christianity afresh in Africa, where it has arrived to continue the ancient and vibrant Christianity in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. It is appropriate that the Anthology of African Christianity presents, in valuable detail, this new reality that describes its African landscape in totality.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781506474922
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 1240
Book Description
By the beginning of the twenty-first century, Christianity has taken shape and established roots in all areas of African reality. It has come to stay. Therefore, we welcome Christianity afresh in Africa, where it has arrived to continue the ancient and vibrant Christianity in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. It is appropriate that the Anthology of African Christianity presents, in valuable detail, this new reality that describes its African landscape in totality.
African Catholic
Author: Elizabeth A. Foster
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674987667
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
Winner of the John Gilmary Shea Prize A groundbreaking history of how Africans in the French Empire embraced both African independence and their Catholic faith during the upheaval of decolonization, leading to a fundamental reorientation of the Catholic Church. African Catholic examines how French imperialists and the Africans they ruled imagined the religious future of French sub-Saharan Africa in the years just before and after decolonization. The story encompasses the political transition to independence, Catholic contributions to black intellectual currents, and efforts to alter the church hierarchy to create an authentically “African” church. Elizabeth Foster recreates a Franco-African world forged by conquest, colonization, missions, and conversions—one that still exists today. We meet missionaries in Africa and their superiors in France, African Catholic students abroad destined to become leaders in their home countries, African Catholic intellectuals and young clergymen, along with French and African lay activists. All of these men and women were preoccupied with the future of France’s colonies, the place of Catholicism in a postcolonial Africa, and the struggle over their personal loyalties to the Vatican, France, and the new African states. Having served as the nuncio to France and the Vatican’s liaison to UNESCO in the 1950s, Pope John XXIII understood as few others did the central questions that arose in the postwar Franco-African Catholic world. Was the church truly universal? Was Catholicism a conservative pillar of order or a force to liberate subjugated and exploited peoples? Could the church change with the times? He was thinking of Africa on the eve of Vatican II, declaring in a radio address shortly before the council opened, “Vis-à-vis the underdeveloped countries, the church presents itself as it is and as it wants to be: the church of all.”
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674987667
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
Winner of the John Gilmary Shea Prize A groundbreaking history of how Africans in the French Empire embraced both African independence and their Catholic faith during the upheaval of decolonization, leading to a fundamental reorientation of the Catholic Church. African Catholic examines how French imperialists and the Africans they ruled imagined the religious future of French sub-Saharan Africa in the years just before and after decolonization. The story encompasses the political transition to independence, Catholic contributions to black intellectual currents, and efforts to alter the church hierarchy to create an authentically “African” church. Elizabeth Foster recreates a Franco-African world forged by conquest, colonization, missions, and conversions—one that still exists today. We meet missionaries in Africa and their superiors in France, African Catholic students abroad destined to become leaders in their home countries, African Catholic intellectuals and young clergymen, along with French and African lay activists. All of these men and women were preoccupied with the future of France’s colonies, the place of Catholicism in a postcolonial Africa, and the struggle over their personal loyalties to the Vatican, France, and the new African states. Having served as the nuncio to France and the Vatican’s liaison to UNESCO in the 1950s, Pope John XXIII understood as few others did the central questions that arose in the postwar Franco-African Catholic world. Was the church truly universal? Was Catholicism a conservative pillar of order or a force to liberate subjugated and exploited peoples? Could the church change with the times? He was thinking of Africa on the eve of Vatican II, declaring in a radio address shortly before the council opened, “Vis-à-vis the underdeveloped countries, the church presents itself as it is and as it wants to be: the church of all.”