A critical examination of the impact of Evangelical Christianity on African societies today
Evangelical Christianity's presence is increasing exponentially in African states and is exercising significant influence in virtually all spheres of life.
African Evangelicalism and the Transformation of Africa is a comprehensive and interdisciplinary study of the impact of Evangelical Christianity on Africa. It examines the social, cultural, political, and economic forces at play, and its essays address Evangelical subjectivity and identity formation in Nigeria, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other nations. Its contributors also reflect on ways that the African diaspora and transnational ties have contributed to the makeup of contemporary African Evangelicalism.
Readers will gain a deeper understanding of how Evangelical Christianity is transforming both public and private life in Africa today.
Introduction
Jacob K. Olupona
Part I: Subjectivity and the Political
1. Governance as Trauma in Nigeria: Turning Evangelicalism into Pentecostal
Incredible Nimi Wariboko
2. Evangelical Christianity and Politics in Africa: A New Map for an Old
Terrain Esther E. Acolatse
3. Ethiopian Evangelicals and Politics: Polite Distance or Keen Interest?
Tibebe Eshete
4. Governing Religious Life in Idi Amin's Uganda Derek R. Peterson
5. "Are You Ready to Hear?": Politics, Prophecy, and Practical Theology in
Malawi Blair D. Bertrand
Part II: Embodiment, Gender, and Identity
6. Embodiment and Evangelical Christianity: Missions, Prophets, and Bodies in
Post-colonial Democratic Republic of Congo Yolanda Covington-Ward
7. Notes on Women's Evangelical Revolutions in Northern Nigeria Shobana
Shankar
8. Weddings Are Not a Sexy Affair!: Youth Sexualities, Embodiment, and Moral
Imaginaries in a Neo-Pentecostal Church in Kenya Damaris Seleina Parsitau
9. "A Mightier Power": Women and Gender Construction in the African
Challenge, 19511961 Andrew E. Barnes
Part III: African Traditional Religion and Interfaith Relations
10. Awakening the Market: Small Pentecostal Genres and Religious
Accommodation in Kinshasa Katrien Pype
11. "Let us Offer Thanks for the Nation of Ghana": Indigenous Harvest
Festival as a Civil Ceremony of Thanksgiving Mariam Goshadze
12. "I Am a Witch for Jesus!": Confronting Ritual Praxis, Symbolic Violence,
and Trauma in African Evangelical Pentecostalism Afe Adogame
Part IV: Global/Transnational Christianity and Mission
13. Some Thoughts on Evangelical Christianity in Africa and the Diaspora
Jacob K. Olupona
14. African Evangelical Politics in Global Perspective Paul Freston
15. "Africa . . . Leads the Way": Kwame Bediako's Understanding of the
Remaking of Christian Theology Tim Hartman
16. Evangelical Transformation and Transnationalism in Africa Stephen Offutt
About the Contributors
Contributors: Esther Acolatse; Afe Adogame; Andrew Barnes; Blair D. Bertrand; Yolanda Covington-Ward; Tibebe Eshete; Paul Freston; Mariam Goshadze; Tim Hartman; Stephen Offutt; Damaris Parsitau; Derek R. Peterson; Katrien Pype; Shobana Shankar; and Nimi Wariboko
