Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Several theories relating to the emergence and development of African Initiated Churches (AICs) are discussed, particularly that propounded by David Barrett, who saw AICs reacting to a “failure in love” on the part of Western European missions. The widespread “reaction to missions” view in missiological writings on AICs, although having some validity, tends to detract from more important underlying causes. This and other causes like Protestant denominationalism, Bible translations, theological and religious causes, and precipitating factors must together be seen as a complex whole and in the context of the macro-history of African Christianity and the innovative contributions of African missionaries.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

Allan

1991 Moya: The Holy Spirit in an African Context. Pretoria, South Africa: University of South Africa Press.

Anderson

Allan

2000 Zion and Pentecost: The Spirituality and Experience of Pentecostal and Zionist/Apostolic Churches in South Africa. Pretoria, South Africa: University of South Africa Press.

Anderson

Allan

2001 African Reformation: African Initiated Christianity in the Twentieth Century. Lawrenceville, NJ: Africa World Press.

Anderson

Allan

Otwang

Samuel

1993 Tumelo: The Faith of African Pentecostals in South Africa. Pretoria, South Africa: University of South Africa Press.

Andersson

Efraim

1958 Messianic Popular Movements in the Lower Congo. Uppsala, Sweden: Studia Ethnographica Upsaliensia 16.

Ayegboyin

Deji

Ishola

S. Ademola

1997 African Indigenous Churches: An Historical Perspective. Lagos, Nigeria: Greater Heights Publications.

Barrett

David B.

1968 Schism and Renewal in Africa: An Analysis of Six Thousand Contemporary Religious Movements. Nairobi, Kenya: Oxford University Press.

Bosch

David J.

1973 Onafhanklike Kerklike Bewegings. Studiegids: Sending en Godswetenskap, BD III. Pretoria, South Africa: University of South Africa.

Comaroff

Jean

1985 Body of Power, Spirit of Resistance: The Culture and History of a South African People. Chicago, IL, and London, UK: University of Chicago Press.

10.

Daneel

M. L.

1971 Old and New in Southern Shona Independent Churches, Vol. 1. The Hague, The Netherlands: Moulton.

11.

Daneel

M. L.

1974 Old and New in Southern Shona Independent Churches, Vol. 2. The Hague, The Netherlands: Moulton.

12.

Daneel

M. L.

1987 Quest for Belonging. Gweru, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press.

13.

Hastings

Adrian

1994 The Church in Africa, 1450–1930. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.

14.

Maimela

Simon S.

1985

“Salvation in African Traditional Religions.”

Missionalia 13(2):63–77.

15.

Pauw

B. A.

1960 Religion in a Tswana Chiefdom. London, UK: Oxford University Press.

16.

Pobee

John S.

Ositelu

Gabriel

1998 African Initiatives in Christianity: The Growth, Gifts and Diversities of Indigenous African Churches—A Challenge to the Ecumenical Movement. Geneva, Switzerland: World Council of Churches.

17.

Sundkler

B. G. M.

1961 Bantu Prophets in South Africa. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

18.

Turner

Harold W.

1967 History of an African Independent Church: The Church of the Lord (Aladura). 2 vols. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.

19.

Turner

Harold W.

1979 Religious Innovation in Africa. Boston, MA: G. K. Hall.

20.

van Dijk

Rijk

1998 “Pentecostalism, Cultural Memory and the State: Contested Representations of Time in Postcolonial Malawi.” In Memory and the Postcolony. Werbner

Richard

, ed. Pp. 155–181. London, UK, and New York: Zed Books.

21.

Welbourn

F. B.

1961 East African Rebels: A Study of Some Independent Churches. London, UK: SCM Press.

22.

Welbourn

F. B.

Ogot

B. A.

1966 A Place to Feel at Home. London, UK: Oxford University Press.

A “Failure in Love”? Western Missions and the Emergence of African Initiated Churches in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References