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Department of the Study of Religions

Pentecostalism in Africa: Past and Present

Course Code:
158000185
Unit value:
0.5
Year of study:
Year 2 or Year 3
Taught in:
Term 1

Objectives and learning outcomes of the course

At the end of the course, a student should be able to demonstrate…

  • An understanding of the history of global Pentecostalism, and in particular, its history in the African continent
  • An understanding of the present expression of Pentecostalism in Africa, with an in-depth knowledge of TWO geographical regions
  • Identify and compare different disciplinary and methodological approaches to the study of Pentecostalism in Africa
  • Assess critically the materials and themes discussed in the course

Workload

One two-hour lecture each week for 10 weeks (plus one revision week).

Scope and syllabus

This course will cover

  • The origins of Pentecostalism as a Protestant Revival moment in North America and Europe in the Early 20th century
  • Its theological, social, and cultural origins and characteristics
  • Its global transmission in the early 20th century through missionary and print proselytisation
  • The advent of Pentecostalism to Africa in the early 20th century
  • The ‘second wave’ of Pentecostalism to the country in the 1970s-1980s, and the role of North American evangelists
  • The relation between Pentecostal Christianity and indigenous African religions, with special focus on healing, prosperity and spiritual warfare
  • Postcolonial African state and the social agenda of African Pentecostalism
  • Pentecostalism as a form of globalization in Africa
  • African Pentecostals’ use of a range of new media, including internet, TV, video, cinema and mobile phone technology
  • The African Pentecostal diaspora, with particular attention paid to African and Afro-Caribbean Pentecostal churches in the UK

Method of assessment

One essay (3,000 words) (50%), One 2-hour exam (50%).

Suggested reading

  • Grant Wacker, ‘Heaven Below’ (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2001)
  • Allan Anderson, ‘An Introduction to Pentecostalism’ (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004
  • David Maxwell, ‘African Gifts of the Spirit: Pentecostalism and the Rise of a Zimbabwean Transnational Movement’ (Athens, Ohio university Press, 2006)
  • Ogbu Kalu, ‘African Pentecostalism: An Introduction’ (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008)
  • Bengt Sundkler, ‘Zulu Zion and Some Swazi Zionists’ (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1976)
  • Paul Gifford, ‘Ghana’s New Christianity: Pentecostalism in a Globalization African Economy’ (Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2004)
  • Walter Hollenweger, ‘Pentecostalism: Origins and Developments Worldwide’ (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 1997)
  • David Martin, ‘Pentecostalism: The World, Their Parish’ (Oxford, Blackwell, 2002)
  • Philip Jenkins, ‘The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South’ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)