The Role of Christians in Politics in Africa Today PDF Download

Author: Patrick Ryan (Fr.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Christianity and politics
Languages : en
Pages : 94

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Author: Jeffrey Haynes
Publisher: Zed Books
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
The impact of religion on the political process has come to the fore in recent years in a wide variety of societies. Yet the significant and varied ways in which the rapidly changing religious context has impacted on the politics of modern Africa is still a relatively neglected field. This book, which is designed to fill this gap in the teaching of African Politics, assembles and analyses an enormous amount of hitherto scattered material on the interaction between politics and religious groups in the post-independence, but also colonial, eras. Dr Haynes focuses on all three of the main organised religious traditions in Africa - Christian, Islamic and 'syncretistic' movements, including the rise of various fundamentalist groups. His thematic and comparative approach embraces all parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, and seeks to locate the role of religion in the African political process in its historical, social and international contexts. In doing so, he illuminates what has often been a profoundly important factor affecting the stability of governments, evolution of civil society and even the development trajectory of many African countries. The author's combination of theoretical context, rich empirical information and thoughtful analysis makes this book ideal as a text for students, as well as commanding a wider interest.

Author: Paul Gifford
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253212047
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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These detailed analyses of the state of the churches in each country suggest more general patterns operating widely across sub-Saharan Africa.

Author: Joachim Kügler
Publisher: University of Bamberg Press
ISBN: 3863090918
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Section 1: The Bible and broad political discourses in Africa. "Rewriting" the Bible or de-biblifying the public sphere? Proposals and propositions on the usage of the Bible by public figures in Zimbabwe/ by Masiiwa Ragies Gunda. The Bible and the quest for democracy and democratization in Africa: the Zimbabwe experience / by Eliot Tofa. The Bible and the quest for developmental justice: the case of orphans in Namibia / by Jannie Hunter. The Bible in the service of pan-africanism: the case of Dr Tafataona Mahoso's pan-african biblical exegesis / by Obvious Vengeyi. The ANC's deployment of religion in nation building: from Thabo Mbeki, to "the RDP of the soul", to Jacob Zuma / by Gerald West. The Bible and democracy in Africa: how biblical science can contribute towards the establishment of plurality and democracy, the Bible as a relevant tool in the quest for engendering plurality / by Jephthah Kiara Gathaka. Section 2: Some readings of the Bible in/for political discourses in Africa. Contextual theological reading of the Bible with indigenous communities: the case of the Basarwa/San in Botswana / by Moji Ruele. A theological reflection on Romans 13:1-7 in the 21st century Zimbabwean politics / by Phillemon M. Chamburuka. The Judas Iscariot episode In the zimbabwean religio-political debate of "selling out" / by Francis Machingura. Inspiring for liberation - legitimizing for occupation : interpretations of the Exodus from southern Africa / by Stephanie Feder. Politics of feeding: reading John 6 (and 1 Cor 11) as documents of socio-political conflicts / by Joachim Kügler. "If my people ..." a critical analysis of the deployment of 2 Chronicles 7:14 during the Zimbabwean crisis / by Ezra Chitando. Towards a new reading of the bible in africa - spy exegesis / by Canisius Mwandayi. Empowering the poor: the Bible and the poor in informal settlements in Africa with reference to Mangaung, South Africa / Pieter Verster. Section 3: The bible, gender and politics in Africa. The politics of "biblical manhood": a critical study of masculinity politics and biblical hermeneutics in a Zambian pentecostal church / Adriaan S. Van Klinken. The bible as a source of strength among Zimbabwean women during socio-economic and political crises / by Elizabeth Vengeyi. An analysis of the application of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-14: the politics of pentecostalism and women's ministries in Zimbabwe / by Tapiwa Praise Mapuranga.

Author: Henry Okullu
Publisher: Uzima Publishing House
ISBN:
Category : Christianity
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Author: Paul Gifford
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781850659341
Category : Christianity
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Since independence in 1963, Kenya has been a classic personalised patronage state, run by a corrupt elite for its own benefit, as became tragically evident in December 2007's stolen election and its aftermath. Kenya is also said to be 80 percent Christian. Under the bland label 'Kenyan Christianity', several different overlapping realities can be distinguished, and it is these which Gifford investigates in this book, relating them to the country's politics and public life. The politically engaged form that challenged the dysfunctional one-party state in the early 1990s is given due prominence, but Gifford contends that today the mainline churches, both Catholic and Protestant, are marked less by such political engagement than by their involvement in development, in which foreign missionaries and global networks play a huge role. The theology of Kenya's mainline churches is consciously focused on African culture, as a non-negotiable foundation, and the Catholic church has an additional agenda - to Africanise its religious congregations. Kenya is also noted for its rich variety of African indigenous Churches, all originating in a defence of Kenyan cultures, while in recent decades countless Pentecostal churches have also sprung up. They range from affluent middle class churches to refuges for the poor, but nearly all are characterised by a stress on power, success, achievement and prosperity that prioritises modernity rather than traditional culture. Gifford discusses their deployment of the media, crusades, organisation, theology and use of the Bible, and above all the economics that has made this phenomenon possible. Yet another distinct form is an enchanted Christianity in which demons or spiritual forces are deemed responsible for almost everything

Author: Adeshina Afolayan
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319749110
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 435

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As the epicenter of Christianity has shifted towards Africa in recent decades, Pentecostalism has emerged as a particularly vibrant presence on the continent. This collection of essays offers a groundbreaking study of the complex links between politics and African Pentecostalism. Situated at the intersection between the political, the postcolonial, and global neoliberal capitalism, contributors examine the roots of the Pentecostal movement’s extraordinary growth; how Pentecostalism intervenes in key social and political issues, such as citizenship, party politics, development challenges, and identity; and conversely, how politics in Africa modulate the Pentecostal movement. Pentecostalism and Politics in Africa offers a wide-ranging picture of a central dimension of postcolonial African life, opening up new directions for future research.

Author: Robert Kwasi Aboagye-Mensah
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Christianity and politics
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Author: Stephen Ellis
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780195220162
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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With Christian revivals (including Evangelicals in the White House), Islamic radicalism and the revitalisation of traditional religions it is clear that the world is not heading towards a community of secular states. Nowhere are religious thought and political practice more closely intertwined than in Africa. African migrants in Europe and America who send home money to build churches and mosques, African politicians who consult diviners, guerrilla fighters who believe that amulets can protect them from bullets, and ordinary people who seek ritual healing: all of these are applying religious ideas to everyday problems of existence, at every level of society. Far from falling off the map of the world, Africa is today a leading centre of Christianity and a growing field of Islamic activism, while African traditional religions are gaining converts in the West. One cannot understand the politics of the present without taking religious thought seriously. Stories about witches, miracles, or people returning from the dead incite political action. In Africa religious belief has a huge impact on politics, from the top of society to the bottom. Religious ideas show what people actually think about the world and how to deal with it. Ellis and Ter Haar maintain that the specific content of religious thought has to be mastered if we are to grasp the political significance of religion in Africa today, but their book also informs our understanding of the relationship between religion and political practice in general.

Author: Samuel K. Elolia
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1621891712
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Spanning various regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, the authors of this volume come together to explore the complex relationship between religion and democracy in contemporary Africa. As a result of the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union, many African countries have come to the realization, however partial, that political and social change is inevitable in spite of government heavy-handedness and threats. It has also become evident that no political system that refuses to permit freedom of political expression and alternative systems of governance could continue to be sustained. It is in precisely this political climate that religious institutions have collaborated with other elements of civil society to call for political reforms, with the church often becoming the prominent voice against oppressive governments in countries such as Kenya and South Africa. It is the purpose of this book to assess how religion shapes political issues and to what extent religious forces influence the civil society. By acknowledging the role of the civil society, the essays recognize the resilience that comes out of Africa even when the sociopolitical situation seems unbearable.