‘Battling for Souls: Contesting for Space’? African Traditional Religions and Pentecostalism in Zimbabwe
Main Article Content
Keywords
Innovation, Competition, African Traditional Religion, Pentecostalism, Continuity and Change
Abstract
There is no doubt of the existence of religious competition and conversion in Africa. Pentecostalism has become one of the fastest growing forms of Christianity that has created a major competition for African traditional religions. This study concurs with the idea that diversity and competition are often vehicles, if not drivers, of creative change, and such innovation creates more competition. It is the thrust of this study to analyse how contemporary Pentecostalism in Harare has been forced to create innovations from African Traditional Religion as experienced through ‘rituals, symbols and practices that are usually forms of communication with the divine as well as through more contemplative practices that enhance one’s awareness of the presence of God’ (Mwaura 2008:2).
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References
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Awolalu, J. A. (1976). 'What Is African Traditional Religion'? Studies in Comparative Religion 10: 2: 1-10.https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/XLIV.2.275
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Bourdillon, M.F.C. (1990). Religion and Society: A Text for Africa, Gweru: Mambo Press.
Bucher, H. (1980). Spirits and Power: An Analysis of Shona Cosmology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chavunduka, G. (1978). Traditional Healers and the Shona Patient. Gweru: Mambo Press.
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Chitando, E., Manyonganise, M., and Mlambo O.B. (2013). 'Young, Male and Polished: Masculinities, Generational Shifts and Pentecostal Prophets in Zimbabwe'. In Prophets, Profits, and the Bible in Zimbabwe, pp.153-170. Edited by Ezra Chitando, Masiiwa Ragies Gunda and Joachim Kugler. Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press.
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Gelfand, M. (1985). The Traditional Medical Practitioner in Zimbabwe. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Gifford Paul. (1998). The religious right in southern Africa. Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications.
Hackett, Rosalind. (1991). 'Revitalization in African Traditional Religion'. In African Traditional Religions in Contemporary Society, pp. 135-149. Edited by Jacob K. Olupona. New York: Paragon House.
Hackett, Rosalind. (1998). 'Charismatic/Pentecostal Appropriation of Media Technologies in Nigeria and Ghana'. Journal of Religion in Africa 28: 3: 258-277. https://doi.org/10.1163/157006698X00026
Hackett, R.I.J., and Soares, B.F. eds. (2015). New Media and Religious Transformations in Africa. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Iyer, S. et. al. (2011). 'Divine Innovation: Religion and Service Provision by Religious Organisations in India'. Paper presented to the Spiritual Capital Research Program, 31 March 2011. Faculty of Economics and St. Catharine's College, University of Cambridge. http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/dae/repec/cam/pdf/cwpe1135.pdf. Accessed 21 January 2017.
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Lu, Y., Johnson, B. And Stark, R. (2008). 'Deregulation and the Religious Market in Taiwan: A Research Note'. The Sociological Quarterly 49: 139-153. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2007.00109.x
Mapuranga, T. P. (2011). Gender, HIV and AIDS and African Traditional Religions in Zimbabwe: The Gains and the Pains of the Ndau Woman in Chipinge District. Saarbrücken: Lambert.
Mapuranga, T. P. (2013). 'Bargaining With Patriarchy: Women Pentecostal Leaders in Zimbabwe'. Fieldwork in Religion 8:1: 74-91.https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v8i1.74
Martin, David. (2002). Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish. Malden: Blackwell.
Mashiri, P. (1999). 'Terms of Address in Shona: A Sociolinguist Approach'. Zambezia 16:1: 93-110.
Mbiti, John S. (1969). African Religions and Philosophy. London: Heinemann.
Mbiti, John S. (1975). Introduction to African Religion. London: Heinemann.
Meyer, Birgit. (1998). "'Make a Complete Break with the Past." Memory and Post-Colonial Modernity in Ghanaian Pentecostalist Discourse'. Journal of Religion in Africa 27:3: 316-349. https://doi.org/10.2307/1581573
Mosala, J. (1983). 'African Traditional Beliefs and Christianity'. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 43:3: 15-34.
Mukonyora, Isabel. (1999). 'Women and Ecology in Shona Religion'. Word and World 19: 276-84.
Mukonyora, Isabel. (2007). Wandering a Gendered Wilderness: Suffering and Healing in an African Initiated Church. New York: Peter Lang.
Mwaura, P. (2008). 'Civic Driven Change~Spirituality, Religion and Faith'. In Civic Driven Change: Citizen's Imagination in Action, pp. 51-66. Edited by Alan Fowler and Kees Biekart. The Hague: Institute of Social Studies.
Omeje, Kenneth, and Kwaja, Chris M. A. (2008). 'Exploring the Conflicts between Traditionalism and Modernism in Postcolonial Africa'. In The Crises of Postcoloniality in Africa, pp. 83-102. Edited by Kenneth Omeje. , Dakar: CODESRIA. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh8r3k3.10
Parrinder, Geoffrey. (1967). African Mythology. London: Paul Hamyln.
Pongweni, A. (1983). What's in a Name? A Study of Shona Nomenclature. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Reader, J. (1999). Africa: A Biography of the Continent, New York: Vintage Books.
Rinne, E, (2001), 'Water and Healing - Experiences from the Traditional Healers in Ile- Ife, Nigeria'. Nordic Journal of African Studies 10:1: 41-65.
Shoko, T. (2007). Karanga Indigenous Religion in Zimbabwe: Health and Well- Being, London: Ashgate Publishers.
Shoko, T. (2008). 'Karanga Indigenous Religion in Zimbabwe: Health and Well-being'. Religious Studies Review 34:2: 118.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-0922.2008.00277_3.x
Shoko, T. (2011). 'Shona Traditional Religion and Medical Practices: Methodological Approaches to Religious Phenomena'. Africa DevelopmentXXXVI:2: 277- 292.
Shoko, T. and Chiwara A. (2013). 'The Prophetic Figure in Zimbabwean Religions: A Comparative Analysis of Prophet Makandiwa of the United Family International Church (UFIC) and the N'anga in African Traditional Religion'. In Prophets, Profits and the Bible in Zimbabwe, pp.217-230. Edited by Ezra Chitando, Masiiwa Ragies Gunda and Joachim Kugler. Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press.
Skalnik, Peter. (2002). 'Chiefdoms and Kingdoms in Africa: Why They are Neither States nor Empires', paper presented at the African Studies Centre, University of Leiden, 21 February 2002. Available at http://www.ascleigen.nl/pdf/chiefdomsandkingdoms.pdf. Accessed on 17 January 2017.
Togarasei, Lovemore. (2006). 'Cursed be the Past: Tradition and Modernity among "Battling for Souls: Modern Pentecostals in Zimbabwe and Botswana'. BOLESWA 1:2: 114-132.
Ukah, Ansah. (2007). 'African Christianities: Features, Promises and Problems'. Working Paper No. 79, Institut für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien, Department of Anthropology and African Studies, Johannes Guttenberg University-Mainz. http://www.ifeas.unimainz.de/Dateien/AP79.pdf Accessed 22/01/17.van der Merwe W.J. (1957). The Shona Idea of God. Masvingo: Morgenster Mission Press.
Vengeyi, Obvious. (2011). 'Gona And The Bible among Indigenous Pentecostal Churches of Zimbabwe: A Comparative Approach'. In From Text to Practice The Role of the Bible in Daily Living of African People Today, pp. 95-129. Edited by Masiiwa Ragies Gundda. Bamburg: University of Bamberg Press.
Asamoah, Moses Kumi. (2013). 'Penteco/charismatic worldview of prosperity theology'. African Educational Research Journal 1:3: 198-208.
Awolalu, J. A. (1976). 'What Is African Traditional Religion'? Studies in Comparative Religion 10: 2: 1-10.https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/XLIV.2.275
Ayegboyin, Deji. (2011). 'New Pentecostal Churches and Prosperity in Nigeria'. In Who is Afraid of the Holy Spirit? Pentecostalism and Globalization in Africa and Beyond, pp. 155-179. Edited by Afe Adogame. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Bateye, B.O. (2008). 'Paradigmatic Shift: Reconstruction of Female Leadership Roles in the New Generation Churches in South- Western Nigeria'. In Christianity in Africa and the Diaspora: the Appropriation of a Scattered Heritage, pp. 113-125. Edited by Afe Adogame, Roswith Gerloff and Klaus Hock. London: Continuum, 113-125.
Biri, K, (2012). 'The Silent Echoing Voice: Aspects of Pentecostalism and the Quest for Power, Healing and Miracles', Studia Historiae Ecclesiaticae 38: Supplement: 37-55.
Berliner, Paul. (1981). The Soul of Mbira: Music and Traditions of the Shona People of Zimbabwe. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Bourdillon, M.F.C. (1990). Religion and Society: A Text for Africa, Gweru: Mambo Press.
Bucher, H. (1980). Spirits and Power: An Analysis of Shona Cosmology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chavunduka, G. (1978). Traditional Healers and the Shona Patient. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Chitando, Ezra. (2002). Singing Culture: A Study of Gospel Music in Zimbabwe. Research Report No. 121. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet.
Chitando, Ezra. (2013). 'Prophets, Profits and Protests: Prosperity Theology and Zimbabwean Gospel Music'. In Prophets, Profits and the Bible in Zimbabwe, pp. 95-112. Edited by Ezra Chitando, Masiiwa Ragies Gunda and Joachim Kugler. Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press.
Chitando, E., Manyonganise, M., and Mlambo O.B. (2013). 'Young, Male and Polished: Masculinities, Generational Shifts and Pentecostal Prophets in Zimbabwe'. In Prophets, Profits, and the Bible in Zimbabwe, pp.153-170. Edited by Ezra Chitando, Masiiwa Ragies Gunda and Joachim Kugler. Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press.
Daneel, M. L. (1970). Zionism and Faith-Healing in Rhodesia: Aspects of African Independent Churches. The Hague: Mouton.https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110908602
Garrard-Burnett, Virginia. (2012). 'Neo-Pentecostalism and Prosperity Theology in Latin America: A Religion for Late Capitalist Society'. IBEROAMERICANA: Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies 42: 1 & 2: 21-34. https://doi.org/10.16993/ibero.32
Gelfand, M. (1985). The Traditional Medical Practitioner in Zimbabwe. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Gifford Paul. (1998). The religious right in southern Africa. Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications.
Hackett, Rosalind. (1991). 'Revitalization in African Traditional Religion'. In African Traditional Religions in Contemporary Society, pp. 135-149. Edited by Jacob K. Olupona. New York: Paragon House.
Hackett, Rosalind. (1998). 'Charismatic/Pentecostal Appropriation of Media Technologies in Nigeria and Ghana'. Journal of Religion in Africa 28: 3: 258-277. https://doi.org/10.1163/157006698X00026
Hackett, R.I.J., and Soares, B.F. eds. (2015). New Media and Religious Transformations in Africa. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Iyer, S. et. al. (2011). 'Divine Innovation: Religion and Service Provision by Religious Organisations in India'. Paper presented to the Spiritual Capital Research Program, 31 March 2011. Faculty of Economics and St. Catharine's College, University of Cambridge. http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/dae/repec/cam/pdf/cwpe1135.pdf. Accessed 21 January 2017.
Kalu, Ogbu. (2008). African Pentecostalism: An Introduction, Oxford/ New York: Oxford University Press.https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195340006.001.0001
Kalu, Ogbu. (1998). 'The Third Response: Pentecostalism and the Reconstruction from Christian Experience in Africa, from 1970 -1995'. Journal of African Christian Thought 1:2: 1- 21.
Kehinde, F.S. (2016). 'Deliverance as a Strategy for Mission in Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries in Nigeria'. Paper found at the website of the International Association for Mission Studies. http://missionstudies.org/wpcontent/uploads/2016/04/fabunmi_samuel_Deliveranceas-a-Strategy-for-Mission_paper.pdf. Accessed 22/01/17.Lagerwerf, L. (1990). 'African Women Doing Theology'. Exchange 19:1: 1-68.https://doi.org/10.1163/157254390X00167
Lu, Y., Johnson, B. And Stark, R. (2008). 'Deregulation and the Religious Market in Taiwan: A Research Note'. The Sociological Quarterly 49: 139-153. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2007.00109.x
Mapuranga, T. P. (2011). Gender, HIV and AIDS and African Traditional Religions in Zimbabwe: The Gains and the Pains of the Ndau Woman in Chipinge District. Saarbrücken: Lambert.
Mapuranga, T. P. (2013). 'Bargaining With Patriarchy: Women Pentecostal Leaders in Zimbabwe'. Fieldwork in Religion 8:1: 74-91.https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v8i1.74
Martin, David. (2002). Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish. Malden: Blackwell.
Mashiri, P. (1999). 'Terms of Address in Shona: A Sociolinguist Approach'. Zambezia 16:1: 93-110.
Mbiti, John S. (1969). African Religions and Philosophy. London: Heinemann.
Mbiti, John S. (1975). Introduction to African Religion. London: Heinemann.
Meyer, Birgit. (1998). "'Make a Complete Break with the Past." Memory and Post-Colonial Modernity in Ghanaian Pentecostalist Discourse'. Journal of Religion in Africa 27:3: 316-349. https://doi.org/10.2307/1581573
Mosala, J. (1983). 'African Traditional Beliefs and Christianity'. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 43:3: 15-34.
Mukonyora, Isabel. (1999). 'Women and Ecology in Shona Religion'. Word and World 19: 276-84.
Mukonyora, Isabel. (2007). Wandering a Gendered Wilderness: Suffering and Healing in an African Initiated Church. New York: Peter Lang.
Mwaura, P. (2008). 'Civic Driven Change~Spirituality, Religion and Faith'. In Civic Driven Change: Citizen's Imagination in Action, pp. 51-66. Edited by Alan Fowler and Kees Biekart. The Hague: Institute of Social Studies.
Omeje, Kenneth, and Kwaja, Chris M. A. (2008). 'Exploring the Conflicts between Traditionalism and Modernism in Postcolonial Africa'. In The Crises of Postcoloniality in Africa, pp. 83-102. Edited by Kenneth Omeje. , Dakar: CODESRIA. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh8r3k3.10
Parrinder, Geoffrey. (1967). African Mythology. London: Paul Hamyln.
Pongweni, A. (1983). What's in a Name? A Study of Shona Nomenclature. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Reader, J. (1999). Africa: A Biography of the Continent, New York: Vintage Books.
Rinne, E, (2001), 'Water and Healing - Experiences from the Traditional Healers in Ile- Ife, Nigeria'. Nordic Journal of African Studies 10:1: 41-65.
Shoko, T. (2007). Karanga Indigenous Religion in Zimbabwe: Health and Well- Being, London: Ashgate Publishers.
Shoko, T. (2008). 'Karanga Indigenous Religion in Zimbabwe: Health and Well-being'. Religious Studies Review 34:2: 118.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-0922.2008.00277_3.x
Shoko, T. (2011). 'Shona Traditional Religion and Medical Practices: Methodological Approaches to Religious Phenomena'. Africa DevelopmentXXXVI:2: 277- 292.
Shoko, T. and Chiwara A. (2013). 'The Prophetic Figure in Zimbabwean Religions: A Comparative Analysis of Prophet Makandiwa of the United Family International Church (UFIC) and the N'anga in African Traditional Religion'. In Prophets, Profits and the Bible in Zimbabwe, pp.217-230. Edited by Ezra Chitando, Masiiwa Ragies Gunda and Joachim Kugler. Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press.
Skalnik, Peter. (2002). 'Chiefdoms and Kingdoms in Africa: Why They are Neither States nor Empires', paper presented at the African Studies Centre, University of Leiden, 21 February 2002. Available at http://www.ascleigen.nl/pdf/chiefdomsandkingdoms.pdf. Accessed on 17 January 2017.
Togarasei, Lovemore. (2006). 'Cursed be the Past: Tradition and Modernity among "Battling for Souls: Modern Pentecostals in Zimbabwe and Botswana'. BOLESWA 1:2: 114-132.
Ukah, Ansah. (2007). 'African Christianities: Features, Promises and Problems'. Working Paper No. 79, Institut für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien, Department of Anthropology and African Studies, Johannes Guttenberg University-Mainz. http://www.ifeas.unimainz.de/Dateien/AP79.pdf Accessed 22/01/17.van der Merwe W.J. (1957). The Shona Idea of God. Masvingo: Morgenster Mission Press.
Vengeyi, Obvious. (2011). 'Gona And The Bible among Indigenous Pentecostal Churches of Zimbabwe: A Comparative Approach'. In From Text to Practice The Role of the Bible in Daily Living of African People Today, pp. 95-129. Edited by Masiiwa Ragies Gundda. Bamburg: University of Bamberg Press.
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Sep 30, 2024
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‘Battling for Souls: Contesting for Space’? African Traditional Religions and Pentecostalism in Zimbabwe. (2024). Utambuzi: Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and Its Diaspora, 5(1), 86-103. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ujsrad/article/view/3418
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How to Cite
‘Battling for Souls: Contesting for Space’? African Traditional Religions and Pentecostalism in Zimbabwe. (2024). Utambuzi: Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and Its Diaspora, 5(1), 86-103. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ujsrad/article/view/3418