1st Edition

The Use and Abuse of the Spirit in Pentecostalism A South African Perspective

Edited By Mookgo S. Kgatle, Allan H. Anderson Copyright 2021
    218 Pages
    by Routledge

    218 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book is a pneumatological reflection on the use and abuse of the Spirit in light of the abuse of religion within South African Pentecostalism. Both emerging and well-established scholars of South African Pentecostalism are brought together to reflect on pneumatology from various approaches, which includes among others: historical, biblical, migration, commercialisation of religion, discernment of spirits and human flourishing.

    From a broader understanding of the function of the Holy Spirit in different streams of Pentecostalism, the argument is that this function has changed with the emergence of the new Prophetic churches in South Africa.

    This is a fascinating insight into one of the major emerging worldwide religious movements. As such, it will be of great interest to academics in Pentecostal Studies, Christian Studies, Theology, and Religious Studies as well as African Studies and the Sociology of Religion.

    1 Introduction: The Abuse of the Spirit in Some New Prophetic Churches in South African Pentecostalism

    Mookgo S. Kgatle and Allan H. Anderson

    2 "The Weird You Shall Always Have": A Historical Look into the Causative Factors behind Neo-Prophetic Scandals in South Africa

    Thabang R. Mofokeng

    3 The Abuse of the Spirit: An Immigration-Imported New Wave or a Development of Pre-Existing Local Beliefs?

    Elise B. Kisungu

    4 Whence Have All the Prophets Come?: A Reflection on Neoprophets and their Oracular Forms

    Hulisani Ramantswana and Ithapeleng Sebetseli

    5 "Simon the Sorcerer Offered Them Money" (Acts 8:19): Some Pentecostals have gone Commercial instead of Evangelical

    Kelebogile T. Resane

    6 Mission as Discernment of Spirits in the Advent of the Abuse of Prophecy within Newer Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity in South Africa

    Themba Shingange

    7 Rethinking the Seven Angels Ministry’s Praxis of Pneumatology as Seen through the Lens of Decoloniality

    Bekithemba Dube

    8 Pneumatology and Prophetic Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity during COVID-19 in South Africa

    Maria Frahm-Arp

    9 The Poor’s Weapon against inequality?: A Critique of the Public Role of Neo-Pentecostalism in Unequal South Africa

    Collium Banda

    Biography

    Mookgo S. Kgatle is Associate Professor of Missiology at the University of South Africa (UNISA). He completed his PhD (Theology) from the University of Pretoria in 2016. Kgatle is a National Research Foundation (NRF) Y-Rated researcher (2019–2024) in the area of African Pentecostalism. He is the visiting scholar at the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies-University of Birmingham (2020–2021). Kgatle has published several peer-reviewed articles in various high impact journals and the book The Fourth Pentecostal Wave in South Africa: A Critical Engagement (Routledge, 2019).

    Allan H. Anderson is Emeritus Professor of Mission and Pentecostal Studies at the University of Birmingham, an internationally well-known scholar in the study of worldwide Pentecostalism, with particular interest in southern Africa. He is the author of nine books (translated into four languages) and many articles, and has joint-edited four collections on global Pentecostalism. He is a founder-member of the European Research Network on Global Pentecostalism, was editor of PentecoStudies, and serves on the international editorial board of five academic journals.