This article argues that confession of Jesus Christ in relation to COVID-19 vaccines is shaped in important ways by the existential cultural contexts of traditional medicines in Zimbabwe. In Africa health is grounded in and informed by religious and cultural practices that emerge from the values and beliefs held by particular communities or groups of people. The COVID-19 vaccine roll out towards herd immunity must be understood in particular historical and cultural context of the community of faith. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy remains prevalent in Zimbabwe. Vaccination cannot succeed without taking seriously the social and cultural contexts of Christology. The presence of coronavirus in the midst of the community of faith is an assault on human dignity. It requires a clear Christological response in order to make Christianity meaningful and relevant to society. With mountains of unknowns about COVID-19 that even the epidemiologists and virologists are accepting, many Christians in the country are suffering from a religious civil war in the mind -the troubling conflict between Christian beliefs mediated by western cultural values or African traditional values. Christians are toying between sticking to their Western medical standards or stick to their trusted traditional medical practices. These conflicts do not only exist at a very theoretical level; they mean a constant series of practical coronavirus choices. The coronavirus pandemic brings with it serious theological issues for the Christian community of faith. If a Christian is sick as a result of coronavirus, should he/she go to the hospital, a traditional herbalist, or both? Should a Christian rely on traditional medicines or foreign medicines though there is vaccine politics between the West and East superpowers? The spread of coronavirus has been astoundingly rapid, complex and relentlessly killing people worldwide. In Zimbabwe, after managing the virus relatively well in its early stages, the second wave of new cases grew exponentially towards the end of July 2020. I maintain that the rejection of foreign vaccines went hand in hand with the trend to harness local resources to solve local problems and further Christ's kingdom.
This historical study will demonstrate that each age constructs an image of Jesus out of the cultural hopes, aspirations, biblical and doctrinal interfaces that make Christ accessible and relevant. From the earliest times, the missionaries and the church were of the opinion that Africans had no religion and culture. Any religious practice which they came across among the Africans was regarded as heathen practice which had to be eradicated. While references to other Pentecostal denominations will be made, this paper will focus on the first Pentecostal church in Zimbabwe, namely the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM). Scholars are not agreed on the origins of Pentecostalism. However, there is a general consensus among scholars that the movement originated around 1906 and was first given national and international impetus at Azusa Street in North America. William J. Seymour’s Azusa Street revival formed the most prominent and significant centre of Pentecostalism, which was predominantly black and had its leadership rooted in the African culture of the nineteenth century. Despite this cultural link, when Pentecostalism arrived in Zimbabwe from 1915 onwards, it disregarded African culture. It must be noted that in preaching the gospel message, missionaries have not been entirely without fault. This has resulted in many charging missionaries with destroying indigenous cultures and helping to exploit native populations for the benefit of the West. The main challenge is not that missionaries are changing cultures, but that they are failing to adapt the Christocentric gospel to different cultures. Often the gospel has been transported garbed in the paraphernalia of Western culture. This paper will argue that there is a need for Pentecostal churches to embrace good cultural practices in Zimbabwe.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.