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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches
Across Africa, Christianity is thriving in all shapes and sizes.
But one particular strain of Christianity prospers more than
most-Pentecostalism. Pentecostals believe that everyone can
personally receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit such as prophecy or
the ability to speak in tongues. In Africa, this kind of faith, in
which the supernatural is a daily presence, is sweeping the
continent. Today, about 107 million Africans are Pentecostals-and
the numbers continue to rise. In this book, Ogbu Kalu provides the
first ever overview of Pentecostalism in Africa. He shows the
amazing diversity of the faith, which flourishes in many different
forms in diverse local contexts. While most people believe that
Pentecostalism was brought to Africa and imposed on its people by
missionaries, Kalu argues emphatically that this is not the case.
Throughout the book, he demonstrates that African Pentecostalism is
distinctly African in character, not imported from the West. With
an even-handed approach, Kalu presents the religion's many
functions in African life. Rather than shying away from
controversial issues like the role of money and prosperity in the
movement, Kalu describes malpractice when he sees it. The only book
to offer a comprehensive look at African Pentecostalism, this study
touches upon the movement's identity, the role of missionaries,
media and popular culture, women, ethics, Islam, and immigration.
The resulting work will prove invaluable to anyone interested in
Christianity outside the West.
Naomi "Omie" Wise was drowned by her lover in the waters of North
Carolina's Deep River in 1807, and her murder has been remembered
in ballad and story for well over two centuries. Mistakes,
romanticization and misremembering have been injected into Naomi's
biography over time, blurring the line between reality and fiction.
The authors of this book, whose family has lived in the Deep River
area since the 18th century, are descendants of many of the people
who knew Naomi Wise or were involved in her murder investigation.
This is the story of a young woman betrayed and how her death gave
way to the folk traditions by which she is remembered today. The
book sheds light on the plight of impoverished women in early
America and details the fascinating inner workings of the Piedmont
North Carolina Quaker community that cared for Naomi in her final
years and kept her memory alive.
The last two decades have witnessed the growing participation in
theological dialogues of non-institutional (free church) movements.
This poses a serious challenge to 21st century ecumenism, since
ecclesial realities and internal diversity of these movements
impede fruitful dialogue in the classical manner. The present
volume addresses fundamental aspects of this challenge by a
critical study of an exemplary case of such dialogues, the
International Roman Catholic-Classical Pentecostal Dialogue
(1972-2007). This unique study builds both on primary archival
sources and on earlier research on the IRCCPD. After providing an
ecumenical profile of the Classical Pentecostal dialogue partner,
Creemers demonstrates how fair representation of the Classical
Pentecostal movement has been pursued in the course of the
dialogue. Next, he gives attention to the ecumenical method of the
IRCCPD. First, the development of a dialogue method hinging on
"hard questions" is traced, which has allowed a balanced
theological exchange between the dialogue partners. Regarding
theological method, it is demonstrated that both partners showed a
willingness to experiment together by integrating sources of
theological knowledge typically distrusted in their own traditions.
In conclusion, the analyses are integrated in an overview of
challenges and opportunities for dialogue with the Classical
Pentecostal movement in the context of ongoing discussions on
ecumenical method.
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