Spirit-Filled World: Religious Dis/Continuity in African Pentecostalism

Description

This book is about African Pentecostalism and its relationship to religious beliefs about a pervading spirit world. It argues that Pentecostalism keeps both a continuous and a discontinuous relationship in tension. Based on field research in a South African township, including qualitative interviews and focus group discussions, the study explores the context of African Pentecostalism as a whole and how it interacts with the concepts of ancestors, divination, and various types of spirit. Themes discussed include the reasons for the popularity of healing, exorcism, the “prosperity gospel,” the experience of the Holy Spirit, Spirit manifestations and practices resembling both traditional and biblical precedents, as well as scholarly discussions on African Pentecostalism from theological and social scientific disciplines. The book suggests that the focus on a spirit-filled world affects all kinds of events and explains the rapid growth of Pentecostalism outside the western world. Front Matter ....Pages i-xi Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 The Spirit of Dis/Continuity (Allan Heaton Anderson)....Pages 3-22 Pentecostalism in the Sub-Sahara (Allan Heaton Anderson)....Pages 23-50 Pentecostalism in a South African Township (Allan Heaton Anderson)....Pages 51-78 Front Matter ....Pages 79-79 The Ambiguity of Ancestors (Allan Heaton Anderson)....Pages 81-112 Witchcraft, Spirits, and Misfortune (Allan Heaton Anderson)....Pages 113-142 Divination, Healing, and Deliverance (Allan Heaton Anderson)....Pages 143-171 Front Matter ....Pages 173-173 Translating the Spirit World (Allan Heaton Anderson)....Pages 175-212 The Power of the Spirit (Allan Heaton Anderson)....Pages 213-250 The Spirit World in Global Perspective (Allan Heaton Anderson)....Pages 251-257 Back Matter ....Pages 259-274