Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity in South Africa and Zimbabwe: A Review

Abstract

Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity is the fastest‐growing religion in southern Africa. This article explores its social and political roles, drawing primarily on examples from South Africa and Zimbabwe to illuminate wider trends across the continent. It considers the main competing assessments of Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity in Africa: (1) it is dominated by the ‘prosperity gospel’ and therefore stunts real economic growth and development; (2) it is primarily an apolitical faith that distracts people from their suffering; and (3) it is a Western import that disables the development of African cultures. It concludes that Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity in South Africa and Zimbabwe has included all of these elements. But recent research indicates that Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity is increasingly a socially and politically active religion that is surprisingly well‐placed to meet people’s economic and material needs, to empower people to participate in civic and public life, and to promote reconciliation between previously opposing groups.

The prevalence of religiosity and association between religiosity and alcohol use, other drug use, and risky sexual behaviours among grade 8-10 learners in Western Cape, South Africa

“…Religiosity played an important role in the lives of South Africans during the Apartheid period where churches and other places of worship provided people with an opportunity and place for both worship and for meeting to address the political challenges of the era [23]. During the post-Apartheid era, religiosity and spirituality have continued to provide solace and meaning to vast proportions of the population, and particularly, members of disenfranchised communities which face high levels of unemployment and poverty and other social stressors [24].…”

Towards a decolonial hermeneutic of experience in African Pentecostal Christianity: A South African perspective

“…Even there, Mathole (2005:189) argues that because of the similarity of the demographic of followers with neo-Pentecostalism after the rise of the latter, old Pentecostals lost their strictness such that the two became almost indistinguishable from one another. This indistinguishability, not only in moral attitude, but phenomenologically too, has led to scholars such as Ganiel (2010) adopting the nomenclature of 'Pentecostal-charismatic'.…”

“You Must Know Where You Come From”

“…Although Christianity is the dominant force in religious life, other religious groups are present as well (e.g., Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, and African traditionalism). The most rapidly growing churches appear to be Evangelical/Pentecostal (Ganiel, 2010), which seem to draw youthful congregations (Johnson, 2009). This movement is credited with a profound reworking of the attitudes, knowledge, and behavior necessary to articulate with a third stage of capitalism (Schlemmer, 2008).…”