This case study examines the patterns of dissidence within an independent African church that was deeply scarred by conflicts that accompanied the struggle for the right to succeed the founding prophet. Gontran Marcos is typical of visionary prophets who, in the name of the bitter struggle against sorcery, break with the mother church in order to found their own. But the umbilical cord is seldom completely cut, and the pattern of dissidence and exclusion seen here co-exists easily with more ecumenical strategies, illustrated here by the inter-faith marriage of Marcos.
References
1.
Adogame, Afeosemime U. (1999) Celestial Church of Christ: The Politics of Cultural Identity in a West African Prophetic-Charismatic Movement. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
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Anonyme (1972) “Lumière sur le Christianisme Céleste”. Porto Novo.
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Dozon, J.-P. (1995) La cause des Prophètes. Paris: Le Seuil.
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Eglise du Christianisme Céleste (1998) “Synthèse des différentes sessions de formation organisées en 1998 par le Saint Siège de l'Eglise du Christianisme Céleste”. Porto Novo.
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Marcos, G. (n.d.) “L'Eglise du Christianisme Céleste. Jésus est révolutionnaire: Marcos Gontran et l'Eglise du Christianisme Céleste”. “Origine et Fondement de l'Eglise Bethléem” (n.d.) Cotonou.
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Paroisse du Christianisme Céleste (1974) “Paroles essentielles prononcées par le Révérend Pasteur S.B.J. Oschoffa, Fondateur du Christianisme Céleste à tous ses adhérents dans le monde entier”.
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Peel, J.D.Y. (1968) Aladura: A Religious Movement among the Yoruba. London and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
