This studay provides an overview of the numerous African initiated churches that came into being during the 20th century in the various different parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Written by an acknowledged expert on Christianity in Africa, it also examines the reasons for the emergence of these religious centres that have resulted from the interaction between Christianity and African pre-Christian religions.

One of the strongest heritages of the Reformation for Christianity was to return to the central role given to the Bible, translated in local dialects. Christianity expanded thanks to the translation of the Bible in vernacular languages worldwide. Most importantly, the people who had been victims of prejudices of race supremacy could now have access to God in their own language, culture, and idioms without intermediaries. It is largely thanks to Bible translations that the majority of those churches in Africa, born of European mission activities, continued to develop positively after the end of the colonial age, and that independent African churches emerged. (Series: Theology in the Public Square / Theologie in der Ã?Â?ffentlichkeit, Vol. 10) [Subject: African Studies, Christian Studies]

This book has been written on the premise that the mode of coping with death of virtually all African ethnic communities has taken proportions and turns that are neither cultural, scriptural, nor necessary. Current rites are complicated, time-consuming, expensive, and are leaving most families and their neighbors impoverished. They have been extremely commercialized and a large number of Africans do not have resources to bury their dead the "modern" way. Were the Agikuyu (read: Africans) to curb numerous funeral demands which they deem necessary and "customary," when in actual fact they are not, funerals for them would become cheaper, faster, and simpler; would be decent enough for the dead; would take care of those left behind; and would be environmentally friendly. How Africans in the Diaspora, away from their ancestral homeland, should cope with death is also addressed. Also addressed is the issue of cremation. It is shown that at the resurrection, God will accord us new spiritual bodies which will have no bearing with the material substance of our earthly (mortal) bodies.

This wide-ranging volume presents the most complete appraisal of modern African history to date. It assembles dozens of new and established scholars to tackle the questions and subjects that define the field, ranging from the economy, the two world wars, nationalism, decolonization, and postcolonial politics to religion, development, sexuality, and the African youth experience. Contributors are drawn from numerous fields in African studies, including art, music, literature, education, and anthropology. The themes they cover illustrate the depth of modern African history and the diversity and originality of lenses available for examining it. Older themes in the field have been treated to an engaging re-assessment, while new and emerging themes are situated as the book’s core strength. The result is a comprehensive, vital picture of where the field of modern African history stands today.

More Christians live in the Majority World than in Europe and North America. Yet most theological literature does not reflect the rising tide of Christian reflection coming from these regions. Bringing together theological resources from past and present, East and West, this work engages conversations with leading global scholars on theology, faith, and mission for the enrichment of the entire church.

This well-crafted book probes the key dimensions of Africa’s existential predicament. It constitutes an intellectual response to a gnawing “African situation”—the starting point for grasping Africa’s social and religious quest. Beyond split explanations of external versus internal factors (e.g., colonization/slavery vs. leadership/cultural values), this study accounts more comprehensively for emergent issues shaping this situation. The situation reflects a gamut of problems in traditional African religion and material culture, which hitherto defines African communality, polities, and destinies vis-à-vis the cosmos and nature. Thus, African religion and communities, each with its own attendant values, do not operate by critical engagement with larger issues of society and civilization, especially those shaped by the advent of (post-) modernity. Rather, they operate via adaptation. The communal drive for natural and social harmony inevitably produces a preservationist view of culture (“leaving things as they are”). This study takes an integrative approach to religion, society, and civilization; eschews dichotomies; and broadly defines and re-signifies life and wholeness as a true end of Africans’ quest today.

Revision of author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Baylor University, 2007 under title: The material in salvific discourse: a study of two Christian perspectives.

"This volume, based on a PhD thesis submitted to the University of Zimbabwe, investigates the resilience of Shona religion and culture among ZAOGA Pentecostal Christians. Whereas the Pentecostal ideology suggests that 'old things' have passed away, it appears that 'old things' continue to have high significance for the 'new'. The book demonstrates how belief in avenging spirits, witches and witchcraft, value of words spoken prior to death, the role, status and significance of women, belief in unnatural events, liturgy and salvation have remained relevant to the lives of ZAOGA Shona converts. The patterns of continuity, discontinuity, extension, collaboration, contradiction, re-interpretation and rejection between Shona traditional religion and culture and ZAOGA are explored, challenging the framing of African Pentecostalism as a mere imitation and parroting of US theology. The conclusion is that while ZAOGA self-consciously presents itself as a sophisticated, trans-national and progressive Pentecostal movement, members continue to wrestle with Shona indigenous beliefs and practices. An African womanist framework is adapted to challenge ZAOGA to promote the well-being of women." --

Communities of Faith is a collection of essays on the multicultural Christian spirit and practices of churches around the world, with particular attention to Africa and the African diaspora. The essays span history, theology, anthropology, ecumenism, and missiology. Readers will be treated to fresh perspectives on African Pentecostal higher education, Pentecostalism and witchcraft in East Africa, Methodist camp meetings in Ghana, Ghanaian diaspora missions in Europe and North America, gender roles in South African Christian communities, HIV/AIDS ministries in Uganda, Japanese funerary rites, enculturation and contextualization principles of mission, and many other aspects of the Christian world mission. With essays from well-known scholars as well as young and emerging men and women in academia, Communities of Faith illuminates current realities of world Christianity and contributes to the scholarship of today's worldwide Christian witness.

World Christianity: An Introduction provides an accessible introduction to the discipline, methodology, and field of world Christianity. In this book, Graham Joseph Hill engages with more than one hundred high-profile Majority World and First Nations Christian leaders to learn what they can teach the West about mission, leadership, hospitality, creation care, education, worship, and more. Hill challenges the Western church to move away from a Eurocentric and Americentric view of church and mission, and he calls for the church to engage with crucial paradigm shifts in world Christianity. The future of the global church--including the churches in the West--exists in these global exchanges. World Christianity is an indispensable guide for the church as it navigates the unique global experiences of the twenty-first century.