My Background Part 1 - An Introduction to African Pentecostalism

I was sitting it in my room thinking about how far I’d come from an unhappy [saved but unhappy..] Pentecostal to a beaming Reformed kid, and I couldn’t help but think about the religious background of the world I’m from, so I’m starting a series on African Pentecostalism - from an insider’s perspective. I will confine my attention to two African countries which I know intimately - GHANA and NIGERIA.

But before I go into any real detail, I want to cover some basics about the similarities and differences between African Pentecostalism and Western Pentecostalism.

1. African Pentecostalism is a syncretic form of Pentecostalism - I knew this long before I became a Calvinist. I’ve been to Ghana on several occasions and I’ve always wondered why the preacher and the witchdoctor share a theology of suffering, wrapped around native demons and a spirit behind everything. I believe that the Pentecostal missionaries who first came to Africa did a crummy job on that. Tomorrow’s post will actually show this in clear terms, so I won’t go into much detail right now
2. African Pentecostalism and Western Pentecostalism BOTH have no love for doctrine AS A MAJORITY. I say that because the denomination I grew up placed grea emphasis on the study and teaching of the Bible [though my dad was a renegade of sorts, and prefers "power" ministry]. More on that tomorrow
3. African Pentecostalism works on FEAR - unadulterated, undiluted FEAR is the fuel which a lot of African Pentecostal churches run on - I should know. Fear of “witchcraft attacks”, fear of the “devil and the powers of darkness”, fear of curses over unpaid tithes and offerings - fear is big business, as I’ll show tomorrow
4. African Pentecostalism and Western Pentecostalism both work, in what I call, the “blessing-bartering” business. What draws many Africans to African-based churches is the desire for something - not too different from the Emergent Church, the Word of Faith Movement and the Seeker-Sensitive Movement. Africans just go overboard with it - again I know, I am one!

Tomorrow will be the beginning of our detailed look with a look at Nigeria, which is the home of Africa’s largest Pentecostal denominations. What we’ll find may well shock you - I grew up around it [and still do...] so I know the 411 on this one.

 

Grace and peace,

YC

P.S. Look up the monograms I used as tags - it’ll give you a feel about what we’re dealing with