Challenges in the Nigerian Context 2 Corrected - Weltkirche

International Conference

on

THE CATHOLIC CHURCHAND

PENTECOSTALISM CHALLENGES IN THE NIGERIAN CONTEXT

Editors: Rev. Fr. Dr. Ralph MaduMarco Moerschbacher

Rev. Fr. Augustine Asogwa

Jointly Organized By:Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria,

Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, German Bishops’ Conference Research Group on International Church Affairs,

Missio Aachen

International Conference

on

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND

PENTECOSTALISM CHALLENGES IN THE NIGERIAN CONTEXT

Venue: Daughters of Divine Love Retreat and Conference Centre

(DRACC), Lugbe, Abuja, Nigeria

Date: Monday, November 14th, to Thursday, November 17, 2016

:Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria,

Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, German Bishops’ Conference Research Group on International Church Affairs,

Missio Aachen

Jointly Organized By

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German Bishops' Conference

Research Group on

International Church Affairs

German Bishops' Conference

Research Group on

International Church Affairs

© Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN:

entecostalism is an integral part of the Christian Religion. In fact, it is a vital basis of the faith, considering the importance of that Pentecost Day, when the Holy Spirit descended on P

the Apostles in the Upper Room, ten days after the Ascension of Christ; in fulfilment of his promise to them. On that day, the Apostles became filled by the Holy Spirit, spoke in tongues – reaching out with the Good News of Christ. They became bold and confident to preach Christ without fear of intimidation and persecution.

Down the centuries, different Christian denominations began to emerge from the one Catholic Church started by Christ, about 2000 years ago. Then came the Pentecostal Movement which eventually metamorphosed into a form of Christian Religion denomination. However, some doctrinal teachings of the Pentecostal Church which places emphasis on prosperity and riches as against the doctrine of suffering and the Cross instituted by Christ, became a matter of grave concern for the Christian world, especially the Catholic Church.

In the attempt to address this major spiritual concern, the Research Group on International Church Affairs of the German Bishops’ Conference, in 2013, organized an International Conference on the theme: Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Charismatics: New religious movements as a challenge for the Catholic Church. This academic discussion took place in Rome and was attended by scholars of Religion from different parts of the world, including Nigeria. Because of her relevance in the sphere of religion, with her fare share of Pentecostal denominations, especially in Africa; the German Research Group decided to organize the follow-up session of the Rome Conference in Nigeria; with a view of having a real insight into the impact of the Pentecostal form of Christianity in the country and the African continent.

Thus, from November 14 to 17, 2016, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) in collaboration with the German Bishops’ Conference Research Group on International

FOREWORD

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Compiled by: Otunba Jide Fadugba-Pinheiro and Femi Adeojo

Edited by: Rev. Fr. Dr. Ralph Madu, Marco Moerschbacher and Rev. Fr.

Augustine Asogwa

Published by: the Directorate of Social Communications Catholic Secretariat

of Nigeria (CSN), Durumi, Abuja.

Printed by : Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Durumi, Abuja, Nigeria.

Church Affairs, organized an International Conference on the theme: The Catholic Church and Pentecostalism: Challenges in the Nigerian Context at the Daughters of Divine Love Retreat and Conference Centre (DRACC), Lugbe, Abuja. The research group provided the funds and Missio Aachen was asked to help in organizing the successful programme.

At the Conference, about 150 participants from the Nigerian Catholic Church and other experts of different Christian denominations from Africa and other parts of the world, addressed the subject matter academically, spiritually and pastorally and identified the values of Pentecostalism as well as those practices that are inimical, with a view to resolving the knotty issues through dialogue.

The outcome of the four-day academic discussion are contained in this publication, which is made up of the presentations and the resolutions of the participants on how to address the challenges of Pentecostalism in Nigeria and beyond.

It is a thought provoking document that, along with other documents of relevance on the same subject matter are repository of the practice of the Christian Religion in the modern day world; and I recommend it for all research centres, churches, educational institutions and Christian family homes.

It is a document worth having on the shelves of all Christian organizations, research departments, Churches and homes as reference document on the importance, relevance and practice of pentecostalism. It is a highly recommend reading for all Christians, irrespective of denominations.

Rev. Fr. Dr. Ralph Madu (Secretary General, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

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he International Conference on: The Catholic Church and Pentecostalism: Challenges in the Nigerian Context, held at the Daughters of Divine Love Retreat and Conference Center T

(DRACC), Lugbe, Abuja, Nigeria, from Monday November 14 to Thursday, November 17, 2016, was a very succesful academic session in terms of attendance and presentations.

The contributions of the speakers and participants clearly showed that Pentecostalism is an integral part of the Christian faith and showed also the need on the side of the Catholic Church and other Christian Religious bodies to dialogue over the grey areas of spiritual aspects and practices of Pentecostal Churches in order to ameliorate the situation in the name of oneness of the Christian Religion.

For the successful outcome of this unique gathering, we are most grateful to Almighty God for the guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout the discussion period as well as the mercies granted to all the participants.

Our appreciation also goes to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), the German Bishops’ Conference Research Group on International Church Affairs, and Missio-Aachen for facilitating and funding the programme. The active participation of the representatives of the three bodies in the programme is indeed a confirmation of the universality of the Catholic Church.

Our gratitude also goes to the speakers from different parts of Africa, Europe and America who collaborated with their Nigerian counterparts to make the discussion the academic success that it was. We also appreciate the participation of a wide spectrum of the Nigerian Catholic Church, especially those engaged in Pentecostal activities, for their invaluable contributions.

Finally, we are grateful to all the facilitators of the programme, the Conference secretariat staff, the Research Group on International Church Affairs of the German Bishops’ Conference and the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN); the administrative office of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, for giving their best in making the conference the invaluable success that it was.

God bless us all as we continue the evangelization mission of Christ on earth for the benefit of humanity.

The Editors

entecostalism started as a movement where some Christian faithful gathered to pray and do Bible sharing as part of their Christian religious practice. However, over the decades, P

these Prayer/Bible sharing groups metamorphosed into religious denominations and within a very short period spread like wild fire in different parts of the world. Nigeria is not an exception to this global development in the Christendom.

However, some spiritual teachings of the Pentecostal Churches, have continued to be matters of concern; thus making the German Bishops' Conference Research Group on International Church Affairs to initiate an International Conference on Pentecostalism and Charismatic practices; with a view of exploring the impact of these religious ways of life on Christian Religion, especially the Catholic Church.

Primarily, the preaching of prosperity and wealth is opposed to the teaching of Christ which emphasizes suffering and the Cross as the basis of Christianity. However, the desire of the Research Group on International Church affairs of the German Bishops’ Conference to academically address this issue for a possible resolution led to the hosting of the first conference on this subject matter in Rome in 2013. The theme of the discussion was: "Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Charismatics: New religious movements as a challenge for the Catholic Church”.

The Nigerian conference (November 14 to 17, 2016); was a follow-up to the discussion in Rome, with a view to finding solutions to the issues of contention in the spiritual teachings of the Pentecostals. Particularly, this conference was to look at this subject from the Nigerian perspective. Hence, the topic of the conference was: The Catholic Church and Pentecostalism: Challenges in the Nigerian Context.

The concept of the Nigerian conference was “to share in

information, views and perspectives, to come to know each other

INTRODUCTIONin a profound and personal way, and to work together on issues,

challenges and perspectives given the concrete and partly

conflictual context of the Nigerian society”.The outcome of the conference is the content of this

publication. Discussions at the conference were divided into six major units: The context; Understanding health and healing; Reading the Bible in the African context; Prosperity or poverty? Consequences for the role of Churches within society; Theology and communications; and Evangelization and mission.

The opening session of the programme, held on Monday, November 14, 2016 featured welcome addresses by the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan and Bishop Stefan Zekorn, of the Diocese of , Germany, who represented the German Bishops' Conference. The addresses were followed by an Introduction to the study theme by Andreas Hasenclever, a member of the Research Group on International Church Affairs, German Episcopal Conference.

The day was concluded with the presentation of Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) and Metropolitan of Jos Ecclesiastical Province. His paper was titled: The Role of the Catholic Church in the multi-religious context of Nigeria.

Day two of the conference featured presentations by Richard Burgess of the University of Roehampton, United Kingdom, who spoke on: The Position of the Pentecostal movement in Nigerian society and politics; while Afe Adogame from the United States of America spoke on: Evangelizing the world, evangelizing Nigeria – Pentecostal perspectives. Other speakers of the day were: Opoku Onyinah from Ghana whose subject of discussion centred on: Deliverance services and liturgies; Bernard Udelhoven from Zambia who spoke on: Spirits and the healing of body and spirit – Pastoral challenges; Paulin Poucouta from Cameroun whose topic of discussion was: The role and hermeneutics of Bible reading in the Catholic Church in Africa; and Professor Amos Yong from the United States of America whose paper was premised on: Understanding and living

Münster

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the apostolic way: Oral culturality and hermeneutics after Pentecost.

Speakers at the third day proceedings were: Andreas Heuser of Switzerland who spoke on: Divine money – Prosperity theology's material economy of blessing; Professor Nike Emeke of the University of Ibadan who spoke on: Women’s vulnerability in religion: The contributions of Pentecostalism; Very Rev. Fr. Raymond Aina MSP, whose presentation was on: The option of the poor as a lasting challenge towards societal transformation; and Very Rev. Fr. Anthony Akinwale OP, whose paper centred on: Nigerian Pentecostalism and the problem of poverty.

Presenters at the last day of the conference were: Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu from Ghana; whose paper was on: Communication technology and the Church in Africa: Preaching and teaching through new media; Very Rev. Fr. Joseph Faniran, Director of CESACC, CIWA, who spoke on: Being present in today's world: Training pastoral agents in social communications; and Bishop Anselm Umoren, the Auxiliary Archbishop of Abuja whose paper was titled: The lasting challenge of mission and dialogue in Nigeria.

Each day's presentations were followed by questions and answers as well as group discussions. Other activities included: celebration of the Mass, prayer sessions, closed door meeting between Bishops and priests of the Catholic Church in attendance at the conference, plenary session and excursion.

The Editors

Foreword.........................................................................................iv

Acknowledgment................................................................................... vi

Introduction...............................................................................vii

OPENING CEREMONY

Welcome Address by John Cardinal Onaiyekan .......................................2

Address by Bishop Stefan Zekorn ............................................................4

Introduction into the study theme by Andreas Hasenclever ......................6

FIRST UNIT: THE CONTEXT

The Role of the Catholic Church in the multi-religious context of

Nigeria...................................................................................................24

Ignatius Kaigama

The position of the Pentecostal movement in Nigerian society and politics

...............................................................................................................36

SECOND UNIT: UNDERSTANDING HEALTH AND HEALING

Deliverance services and liturgies ..........................................................54

Spirits and the healing of body and spirit – Pastoral challenges...............69

THIRD UNIT: THE BIBLE IN THE AFRICAN CONTEXT

The role and hermeneutics of Bible reading in the Catholic Church in

Africa.....................................................................................................98

Understanding and living the apostolic way: Oral culturality and

hermeneutics after Pentecost ..................................................................109

Richard Burgess

Opoku Onyinah

Bernard Udelhoven

Paulin Poucouta

Amos Yong

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ix x

FOURTH UNIT: PROSPERITY OR POVERTY? CONSEQUENCES FOR THE ROLE OF CHURCHES WITHIN SOCIETY

Divine money – Prosperity theology’s material economy of

blessing..................................................................................................132

Women’s vulnerability in religion: The contributions of Pentecostalism

................................................................................................................145

The option of the poor as a lasting challenge towards societal

transformation .......................................................................................165

The Nigerian Pentecostalism and the problem of poverty .......................195

FIFTH UNIT: THEOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION

Communication technology and the Church in Africa: Preaching and

teaching through new media ...................................................................216

Being present in today's world: Training/forming pastoral agents in social

communications .....................................................................................232

SIXTH UNIT: EVANGELIZATION AND MISSION

The lasting challenge of mission and dialogue in Nigeria........................254

Andreas Heuser

Nike Emeke

Raymond Olusesan Aina

Anthony Akinwale

J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu

Joseph Oladiran Faniran

Anselm Umoren

The Catholic Church and Pentecostalism: Challenges in the Nigerian

context (Final report of the academic secretariat) ...............................

Augustine Asogwa (General Secretary)

265

OPENING CEREMONYIntroduction to the study subject

& First Presentation

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s Local Ordinary, I have been given the special honour to welcome all participants to this symposium. I have the honour to welcome you all first to Abuja in my capacity as A

the Local Ordinary of the capital city. To our German colleagues and friends, in particular and to others who have come from other countries I say welcome to Nigeria.

I commend you for taking the risk to honour our invitation to come to Nigeria despite the bad image of our country that the mass media have been spreading in your country about us. I am glad that your visit here will give you a first hand experience of the true situation of things in Nigeria. You will see that despite the challenges of security facing us we have managed to cope and to maintain a reasonable measure of peace and tranquility in most parts of the country. May God keep you all safe during your stay with us here and may the Lord God grant full and lasting peace to our nation.

Not long ago, in the year 2013, the German Catholic Bishops' Conference convoked a workshop in Rome to which leaders from many parts of the world were invited. The symposium was more or less centered on Pentecostalism. I have the privilege of being among the few persons invited from Nigeria. In the course of that meeting, it became quite clear that our country is a focal point for the growth and spread of the Pentecostal movement in Africa, and beyond Africa; among Africans in the diaspora, globally.

Not only are Nigerians more in the fore front of Pentecostal movement in all these countries, it seems that the Yorubas are more in the front. It is therefore right and just for this follow-up

NIGERIA: IDEAL FOR THIS FOLLOW-UP CONFERENCE

(Welcome address by JOHN CARDINAL ONAIYEKAN, Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, on behalf of the Catholic

Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN)

1conference to be brought to this country, where the phenomenon in all its ramifications is visible everywhere we turn. The origins and spread of what we now know as Pentecostal churches are rather recent mainly within our own generation. Most of the founders, usually young people from the university environment in the 1970s, are still alive and in full control of their churches which they founded. We have seen a clear path in their growth from simply mainly spiritual movements within existing churches to non-denominational charismatic groups and finally becoming autonomous churches; with their doctrine, pattern of worship and ways of governance. Since most of their members are not new converts from paganism or Islam, but rather Christians and enchanted from the existing churches it is no wonder that any form of rapport with them has been very problematic.

It will be interesting to see what this conference will come up with on this complex issue. Whatever may be our challenges and problems with those who now go under the name of Pentecostals, we must together with them recognise our own, the positive reality of the Pentecost event as narrated in the Acts of the Apostles. We see in it the powerful action of the Holy Spirit without which Christ's events would have fizzled out as a tragic and colossal failure. In the creed, we proclaim daily “I believe in the Holy Spirit” just as we say “I believe in one God and I believe in Jesus Christ the son of our Lord”. We believe in the Holy Spirit through whom Christ continues his work of salvation in our lives and in our country. In the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, we see a legitimate expression of the Pentecostal ideas in our own Church. But beyond that, we need to identify and claim all souls for ourselves. The major positive dimension of the Pentecostal events in that sense is that every true Christian is a Pentecostal, to the extent that the Holy Spirit also works in them; let us listen to what the spirit is saying to the churches through pentecostalism.

I wish this symposium the light of the Holy Spirit. Let us dare to hope that our gathering here will give us the experience of the new Pentecost that will enable us to set our world on fire with the Lord God and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

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o all of you who are gathered here let me extend a very warm welcome in the name of the German Bishops' Conference. I am really delighted to meet such a lively T

interest in the subject of this conference. For some decades the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement has proven to be an important challenge for the Catholic Church not only in Nigeria but in many other countries in the world.

We have brought together many experts who have studied the impressive growth of the Pentecostal movement for a long time. And I am especially happy to welcome our distinguished guests from the Pentecostal Churches. You will not only speak to us from an academic point of view, but explain the "Pentecostal way" from the "inside", in an engaged and personal manner.

But you will probably ask yourself: Why is this German Bishops' Conference interested in a conference on a subject that Western Europe is very little involved in, at least compared to other regions of the world? The German Bishops' Conference has got a Research Group. This "Research Group on International Church Affairs" has worked on the subject for a long time. After four empirical studies they organized a conference on the subject in April 2013 in Rome. His Eminence, Cardinal Onaiyekan and His Excellency, Archbishop Kaigama, were present at that conference as well as bishops and academic experts from twenty countries. There were many participants who asked us to follow up this subject in regional contexts.

We asked Archbishop Kaigama if he could imagine to organize a workshop together with us, and he and Father Madu took up the idea. So this event became a co-operation of the

ADDRESSING THE DYNAMISM OF PENTECOSTAL AND CHARISMATIC MOVEMENTS

(Address by BISHOP STEFAN ZEKORN, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of and member of the

German Bishops' Conference)Münster

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Secretariat of the Nigerian Bishops' Conference, the German Bishops' Conference "Research Group on International Church Affairs" and Missio Aachen. I would like to say a word of thanks to Father Dr. Ralph Madu, Mr. Dr. Marco Moerschbacher and Mr. Dr. Klaus Vellguth for doing most of the work in preparing this event.

I am looking forward to our discussions during the next days and hope to learn about the way the Nigerian Catholic Church approaches this dynamic movement within Christianity. As Catholics we tend to be skeptical in the first place looking at the growth of a Christian community outside our own denomination that in many terms does not go with our own tradition.

But I would like to find out if there are new approaches compatible with our own tradition that we could learn from. Obviously there is a large number of people especially in Africa, America and Asia who find the Pentecostal way attractive. If new members stay for a long time and if they pass on their affiliation to their children - doesn't this mean that they found something there important and meaningful for their life?

Experts have suggested that you find a lot of positive encouragement and personal empowerment within Pentecostal communities that help people to tackle the difficulties of everyday life. Strong moral rules within the Pentecostal communities might help stabilize family and community values and also bring people forward in their business and career. Open and personal forms of liturgy might appeal to people. Others assume that the Pentecostal approach is closer to notions within the traditional African culture and that Catholic theology - being rooted in the Western tradition - tends to be too rationalistic.

I am not an expert, I am not an African and I don't live here, so I am curious what you think about these attempts to explain the success of Pentecostal Christianity. We will listen to your experience. And I am glad that we will listen to both the Catholic and the Pentecostal points of view. May the Holy Spirit guide us through these days and increase our mutual understanding about the right ways to open up people's hearts for the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Thank you very much

NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS:Introduction into the Study Theme

( A Presentation by Andreas HASENCLEVER, a member of Research Group on International Church Affairs,

German Episcopal Conference)

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strategies and concrete orientations for action, especially for those local churches which are particularly affected by this phenomenon. The Research Group on International Church Affairs was responsible for the organization of the conference which was held under the patronage of Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

In order to have the broadest discussion possible, representatives of the Vatican, of continental bishops' conferences and of the local churches, representatives of mission agencies as well as academic experts were invited to the conference. On the first day the conference dealt with “Evolution and contexts of New Religious Movements”. On the second day “The phenomenon of New Religious Movements from different perspectives” with different focuses regarding contents was discussed. On the final day the conference tried to find “Consequences for the pastoral work of the Catholic Church”.

This contribution will try to summarize the essential results of the conference in Rome as a starting point for this conference. First of all the global phenomenon of the New Religious Movements will be outlined. This is followed by a description of the causes and circumstances of the success of these movements. This is the basis for naming existing challenges and fields of tension. In the last paragraph a look to the future is taken with the aim to point out a few pastoral consequences for the Catholic Church.

2. DIVERSITY AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS

The New Religious Movements are a universal church phenomenon which is characterized by large differences and a great diversity which makes the comparability of the different continents, countries and regions only partly possible. Disputed and tainted terms such as “sects”, “fundamentalists” or generalisations such as “the Pentecostals”, the “Charismatics” make this even more difficult. A frequently used metaphor is “market of religions” or “market of faith”. This market is as complex and limitless as the globalized market of goods and

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

or some decades, a revival of religions has been observed all over the world. This concerns above all such religious forms which traditionally and from the perspective of the F

major Churches are described as sects. The scientific world uses the broad ter “New Religious Movements”. The worldwide growth of Christianity is mainly due to evangelical movements, pentecostal churches and charismatic movements. Today, their membership is estimated at more than 400 million people. Particularly for the Catholic Church, this phenomenon represents a major challenge, above all with regard to traditional church structures.

Against this background the Commission for International Church Affairs of the German Bishops' Conference has dealt with this issue for a long time. Already in the mid-1990s the then president of the Commission, Bishop Walter Kasper, instructed the Research Group to examine the phenomenon of sects or New Religious Movements in a long-term research project. After a first literature study it was decided to deepen the current state of research in four exemplary country studies. The selected countries were: Costa Rica for Latin America, the Republic of South Africa for Africa, the Philippines for Asia, and Hungary for Eastern Europe. These studies have been completed and the results have been published.

In order to present the results of these studies and to discuss them in a broader context the German Bishops' Conference organized an international conference in Rome from 9th to 11th April 2013. The aim of the conference was to look for pastoral

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services. The supplies available on this market, where everybody choses what one likes and what one considers right, are so complex and diverse that the market cannot be arranged in a fixed coordinate system.

a. The problem of the “exodus” from the Catholic Church can no longer be overlooked in Latin America. One fourth of the Catholics have joined these movements in the last decades. In addition, half of the Catholics may be classified as Charismatics. This indicates, at least, a certain openness of the faithful regarding this phenomenon, especially for its spiritual elements. The lack of attention shown by the Catholic Church in Latin America to this development was mentioned as one of the basic problems during the conference in Rome.

What makes especially the Pentecostals so attractive on this continent? In any case the Pentecostals have been able to establish close links with the poorer sections of the population who feel more attracted by the Pentecostal interpretation of the Gospel. Since the beginning of the 20th century they have successfully gained this “target group” by integrating themselves into local cultures and living spaces. They have become “authentic popular religions” taking their strength and legitimacy from the proximity to the people and the knowledge of the given socio-cultural situation. The proximity to syncretism also adds to this as it makes a close relationship of the Christian faith with indigenous rites possible. On the other hand, there is the danger of an externalization of faith if the message of the Gospel is reduced to the material advantages of faith and only little consideration is given to people who are marginalized or who have failed.

From this point of view one can talk of an ambivalence of the pentecostalization of the Christian faith in Latin America. On the one hand, Pentecostal churches succeed in creating new forms of inculturation of the Christian faith and establish community structures with a

close proximity to the faithful. In an attractive way this corresponds to modern forms of expression such as for example individualism, liberality, flat hierarchies or possibilities to participate. In addition, the charismatic way to practise religion promotes the liveliness of the life of faith in the communities. On the other hand, the risk is given that this way is oriented too much to the desires and needs of the people marked by these characteristics of modern times.

b. The New Religious Movements in Africa present an image which is also quite ambivalent, but there are large differences among the various countries. Knowing this, the conference asked the question: Which potential for conflict can be found in the phenomenon of the New Religious Movements? And indeed, the African participants were far less optimistic with regard to a dialogue with these groups than the participants from Latin America. The high potential for mobilization of these movements and the very active participation were mentioned as positive factors. Partly they also show a modern social profile which is expressed in tolerance, a sense of responsibility and openness to the future shown by their members. Their charismatic tinge can intensify this.

During the discussion the potential for conflict was again and again pointed out, especially with Islam. The reason for this is often a demeanour which is considered to be too self confident or aggressive by Muslims and which causes irritations and encourages Islamist reactions. There was also a strong criticism of a questionable theology of prosperity, which announces success in this world and material prosperity to be seen as evidence for God's grace. This way of preaching, however, is at the same time one of the main reasons for the success of New Religious Movements because it directly refers to the social misery many Africans are finding themselves in. A massive and clever use of mass media reinforces this message. The Catholic Church, however, raises fundamental theological doubts about this way of interpreting the Gospel.

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What characterizes Pentecostal churches in Africa is their influence on political structures and the balance of power. This corresponds to the self-perception of African Pentecostal churches as strong political players in societies being in a process of transformation. The strong politicization by the Pentecostal churches in Africa created an intense political motivation thus promoting political participation but it has only little to do with democracy, because what we are dealing with is a moral dualism (“good” and “evil”), exclusion and an instrumentalization of politics for religious purposes.

c. In Asia one finds a large number of such movements, but their numbers are still smaller than those in Latin America and Africa. On the other hand 43 percent of the Christians in Asia are members of such movements. Turning to these movements takes place in different patterns in all countries, also in those with the fastest increase: Indonesia, South Korea and the Philippines. Unlike in other continents the target groups are the educated middle-classes who are streaming into the large metropolitan areas and who hope to receive support and security by the Pentecostal churches in a modern world which has become confusing. Another joint characteristic is the Asian tendency towards syncretism which, in contrast to Africa, reduces the possible conflict potential considerably. Especially in Asia it is important to take the traditional socio-cultural traditions and the spiritual religious heritage very seriously. On the other hand it has to be thoroughly analysed why the New Religious Movements tend to exclude the issue of social injustice and restrict themselves to the charitable support of the victims instead.

d. The United States and Europe show great differences as far as religiosity is concerned, especially considering religious practice. Europe is by far the most secularized continent so that New Religious Movements are playing only a minor role. It can be observed that traditional churches as well as

these movements have only little influence where secularization is strongest. So Europe was only a marginal factor during the conference. In the United States, there exists some common ground between American Evangelicals and the Catholic Church and there is a strong development towards a dialogue between them. Theo-logical controversies, e.g. regarding the interpretation of the Bible or the issue of inter-religious dialogue, must not be overestimated, as one has to take a look at the similarities in questions of social ethics.

This short survey of the phenomenon of the New Religious Movements in the “Global South” shows many differences among these movements, which partially explain why the reaction of the Catholic Church is by no means consistent. An essential conclusion which was often expressed during the conference was the demand for regional and local studies based on empirical knowledge. Otherwise there is the risk of generalization which is not objectively justified and which is of little help. This was one of the reasons why the German Bishops' Conference was very interested in realizing this conference in Abuja.

3. CAUSES AND FACTORS OF THE SUCCESS OF THE NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS

As varied as the forms of the New Religious Movements are the causes and factors of their success. The conference showed that there are different interpretations to approach this phenomenon or its causes. All these explanations are closely related and much differentiated. Nevertheless at least some factors shall be outlined here.

Perhaps a general distinction can be made between general social causes and causes within the Church. The first form is an environment favouring the success of the New Religious Movements which is highly complex, multi-layered and partly contradictory. In this context the subjects of globalization, urbanization, rationalization, modernization, secularization, pluralism, relativism or insecurity in the “risk society” came up. These items will be discussed in more detail later.

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Regarding the causes within the Church a correlation of the strength of the New Religious Movements with the weaknesses of the Catholic Church can be clearly observed. An important factor is the displeasure of the faithful with the established Churches with regard to topics such as hierarchy, participation of the laity in general and of women in particular, numbers of priests, etc. The same applies to the understanding of spirituality and religious practice.

Urbanization plays a central part in all continents. In urban regions where the social structure and other social factors have become very confusing and complex these movements offer orientation and communion. Due to their small-scale and community-oriented structures they can better react to this predicament than the large churches. Joining them presents a way out of personal or interpersonal situations of crisis. In this environment the New Religious Movements are regarded as a place where people can find counselling and refuge. So religion is made a “reactive religion”, as in this interpretation the New Religious Movements concretely deal with the crises of the faithful and cater for the people.

In a way, urbanization is linked with secularization which outside the Western world is less an anti-religious development but more a phenomenon of the differentiation of secular spheres. So secularization does not displace religion but individualizes it which leads to a larger religious pluralism. This is a form of modernization which causes trouble for religion in Europe but which does not automatically show anti-religious traits in other regions of the world. Modernization and urbanization are accompanied by religious pluralism thus leading to more religious dynamics. So religion does not seem to be a traditional and obsolete concept as is the case in Europe but it is seen as a phenomenon of modernization and globalization.

There exists a relationship with a demographic argument. Due to the fact that the New Religious Movements are present and centred in regions with extremely high population increase, it is not surprising that they are growing very fast compared to other religious groups in other regions. This suggests that in the long run they will be even more successful.

Another factor important for the success of these movements which has not received enough attention so far is the role of the (new) media. These movements use the media very efficiently, especially in their missionary campaign. They know how to present themselves effectively in this field which results in a professionalization of their visibility in a greater range of society and so in an increase of their target groups.

This shows that the New Religious Movements control the instrument of strategic planning, which means the systematic analysis of the weak points of the traditional churches, to obtain advantages for their own activities. One can even speak of a process of instrumentalizing and economizing religion. This concept functions in a world where the logic of globalization and the forces of capitalism are gaining ground. The family-like structures and their economistic interpretation of the Gospel (“prosperity religion”) allow these movements to give answers to questions of the modern times such as individuality, subjectivity and freedom. In this respect they know how to profit from the modern age. This corresponds with theories on the “mobilization of resources”, which means the ability of these groups to make use of the availability of time, money and staff in an optimal way in the sense of economic and media efficiency.

Another factor mentioned by almost every participant in the conference in Rome is the successful inclusion of the laity realized by these movements. This is especially important as the established churches show large deficits in this field, especially if it is accompanied by a kind of (neo-) clericalism. The inclusion and active participation of the laity is one characteristic of the success of these movements. Many faithful are encouraged by family-like grassroots structures to become members of the movements and to get actively involved in their work.

This applies all the more to the participation and involvement of women which is only insufficiently or hardly found in the Catholic Church, even if there are clear differences on the different continents and in socio-cultural traditions. The New Religious Movements offer concrete help to women in precarious situations, which is possible due to their grassroots and small-scale community structures. This happens directly by concrete pastoral

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care but also indirectly by offering help to husbands and fathers of the family so that they are “kept away from the bottle”, thus making everyday life for women and families worthwhile again. In addition, women seem to react especially to the charismatic spirituality of these groups.

The lack of inculturation in the Catholic Church is another factor. One can also express it the other way round: The success of a religion essentially depends on its ability to inculturate its doctrines into the local cultures. Due to their grassroots structures and their syncretistic practice these movements are more successful in this respect than the Catholic Church. Especially in modern “risk societies” there are strong links between spiritual awareness and ethnic cultures and the New Religious Movements know how to benefit from this.

An important aspect of their inculturation is their charismatic spirituality, which many faithful feel closer to than to the religious practice of the Catholic Church which is marked too much by Western culture and its rational world view. This, however, is far from being a world-wide accepted model and the New Religious Movements have recognised and used this knowledge. So they question the worldview of Western metaphysics and theology which is considered to be too dualistic because there is no room for “intermediate worlds”, where angels, demons and spirits are active. These “worlds”, however, play an important and often essential role in the spirituality of many believers in the Third World.

New Religious Movements express some kind of religious criticism which does not reject religion as such but its conventional forms which do no longer reach out to many people in other cultural contexts. The Trinitarian image of God is no longer the centre of religious experience of the whole of Christianity which is shown by the recognition of “intermediate worlds”. From that point of view the charismatic spirituality of these movements is a “positive” reason for their success, because many believers feel better in such a context and take a conscious decision for this way of living their faith. This attitude is partly intensified by the social reality, if, for example, many believers especially in the slum regions explain their misery with the activities of demonic forces

or deeds of the Devil. This applies less to the urban middle-classes in Asia.

In addition to giving room for “intermediate worlds”, there are further Charismatic elements in the spirituality of the New Religious Movements, as for example the baptism in the Spirit or the promised healing of body and soul. The aspect of healing plays a central part and is one of the most important incentives to convert to one of the new movements. Moreover, the topic of healing is the factor which most likely opens the doors to ritual syncretism, as indigenous practices often offer much space for the healing of spirit and body. So the argument of inculturation into given socio-cultural structures is once again referred to.

This complexity of reasons, which could only be outlined here, shows the importance of an interdisciplinary approach of research in this field, because the mentioned factors do by no means only refer to theology and they cannot be understood in religious terms alone. Rather it is important to use methods of social science to be able to give satisfactory explanations.

4. CHALLENGES AND FIELDS OF TENSION

Without doubt the success of the New Religious Movements presents a significant phenomenon in Christian modern times to which the Catholic Church has to react in many different ways. In this context it is essential to understand these movements primarily as a question and a challenge and less as a threat, which has to be “eliminated”. On the one hand this would be utopian and on the other hand it would ignore in many respects the undeniable legitimacy of these movements, which in some aspects seem to offer better answers to the “signs of the time” than the Catholic Church. Analysing them can be a challenge and even offer the chance to form the Christian faith in the complex modern times in a more up-to-date and attractive way. Of course this paper firstly points out the fields of tension and lines of conflict the Catholic Church has to deal with. However, this should not be done in a spirit of resignation, but one should understand these challenges as an incentive for a constructive handling of the mentioned problems. Some fields of tension which were discussed during the conference will be mentioned here.

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A first and very fundamental line of conflict is the question whether and in how far one should face the New Religious Movements as dialogue partners or whether one should primarily look for a confrontation with them. The participants in the conference reached a clear consensus: Only an open and honest dialogue can help to deal with these movements in a responsible way and to shape an unavoidable co-existence constructively. A polemic or exclusively conflict-ridden confrontation is an unsuitable means to promote the unity of Christians, which demands mutual recognition and acceptance and which is justified by the right to religious freedom.

In other words: It is important to expand the ecumenical dialogue. Today the Catholic Church also shows an openness to dialogue with these groups as was especially revealed by Cardinal Kurt Koch's lecture. For a long time this had been difficult because the Charismatic Movements sealed themselves off, were unstable and their views seemed to be too different so that a dialogue at eye level was impossible.

What is important for dialogue is the knowledge that these groups are by no means a completely homogeneous phenomenon that calls for a differentiated approach to the respective move-ments. Of course this leads to difficulties, as for example to an increasing “pluralism of dialogues”. A primary criterion for the choice of dialogue partners has to be the question in how far these movements do affect the Church. So the challenge particularly consists of the concrete choice of dialogue partners within a wide range. In order to be able to take adequate and intelligent decisions the Catholic Church does not only have to accept the phenomenon of these movements but also has to show an openness for their respective contents, which means to refrain from unfounded generalizations and to show a genuine interest for their beliefs, motives and methods. It is important to listen actively, because only then a constructive dialogue can emerge from a superficial conversation. There have been calls to engage in an ecumenical dialogue of spiritual experience which deals with the different forms of spirituality.

The openness for dialogue is connected to the field of tension between plurality and unity. The catholicity of the world-

wide Church always means the inculturation into completely different contexts and so it also means plurality. On the other hand there is the real danger of fragmentation as is shown by the number of 35,000 churches world-wide calling themselves Christian churches. The focus at the conference was on the concept of unity. What is always important is a plurality within the unity of Christians, because one must not lose sight of the goal of unity and one cannot deny that plurality is a fact. The conference found a consensus that a “universal Church” in the sense of a religion of many differentiations is needed.

Related to this is a further field of tension, i.e. between inclusion and exclusion (partly in Latin America) of the New Religious Movements. In this context the local communities, i.e. a “pastoral development from bottom to top” (individual and subjective and authentic religious experience), play an important part. As is shown by the example of the Philippines, an essential criterion for a successful inclusion is the question, in how far the Catholic Church itself by practising an openness for the Charismatic spirituality of the faithful “picks them up where they are”, which means in how far it meets their religious needs. At the same time this would contribute to overcome the field of tension between a rational theology and the acceptance of the already mentioned “intermediate worlds” (spirits, healing powers, angels).

So a central challenge for the Catholic Church is the better inculturation of its theology and pastoral practise into the respective socio-cultural contexts. The common sense practice of the faith in Western Europe is definitely a form of such inculturation in a world marked by rationality, secularization and economic efficiency, but the Church runs the risk of regarding this region as the centre of the universe being a model for other continents and countries. The spirituality expressed in Southern continents, however, is based on other ideas concerning the right practice of the faith and follows its own paths, to say nothing of the fact that the quantitative focus of the Church (number of the faithful) has already shifted to this region. An openness of the Church is also necessary with regard to a variety of spiritualities.

Irrespective of all pleas for more openness by the Catholic Church there were many contributions to the conference stressing

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independent life of faith are necessary. The New Religious Movements have succeeded in making their members feel their faith to be “simple” “good” “ true” and “beautiful”. The Catholic Church should transmit the faith to the people in the same way. Everything depends on a “convinced-convincing” transmission of the faith.

The demand for more subsidiarity and for more weight lent to the local churches is related to this, because they are elements which distinguish the New Religious Movements and which are key to their success. The Catholic Church should take this demand seriously because only then will it reach more closeness to the faithful. It is essential to develop the service of the laity within the Church and to transfer more responsibility to the faithful. This includes an intensified and better cooperation between priests and lay people who shall complement each other to overcome clericalism which is very pronounced in the Catholic Church.

A stronger role of the local churches and the promotion of basic communities are an indispensable means to reach this goal and at the same time an active and participatory life of faith would be encouraged. This requires of the Church not to treat lay people paternalistically but to recognise their skills and to promote them. In many places of the universal Church such approaches can be found, but this development has to be strengthened world-wide. Pastoral offices for qualified lay persons could contribute to this. They could offer guidance in a world of religious pluralism and could accompany seekers spiritually. So they would take respon-sibility for tasks which do not have to be limited to clerics. By this way the problem that there are comparatively few priests on the Southern hemisphere (as far as the number of Christians is concerned), which makes the Church “vulnerable” to the mission of the New Religious Movements, could be reduced.

What is especially needed is a stronger participation of women and the implementation of their right to have a say. A strengthening of the family and an “empowerment” of women in everyday life and in the Church can contribute to this. This applies particularly to cultures in which the structures of “machismo” make the life of women more difficult. In addition, women have to

the thesis that the New Religious Movements will “professionalize” structurally in the course of time and will be adjusted to the official churches because only by this they would be able to survive on a long term basis. For this purpose an institutionalization and a bureaucratization are inevitable.

The Church has to meet the challenge of the New Religious Movements constructively. It should not make every effort to analyse structural differences or even try to copy the structures of these movements. The Church might even face the danger of secularization which threatens the churches as well as the bureaucratized New Religious Movements.

5. PASTORAL CONCLUSIONS

On the last day the conference in Rome dealt with the “conclusions for the pastoral care offered by the Catholic Church”, i.e. with an outlook to the tasks that have to be tackled now. The three steps “see – judge – act” were recommended as a fundamental way to proceed and as a methodical approach. In concrete terms this means to take the phenomenon of the New Religious Movements into account, to follow new ways of pastoral perception (seeing), to analyse the perceptions in order to achieve justified results (judging) and to design concepts of action and to implement them (acting). To carry out the first two steps it was recommended to establish interdisciplinary “round tables” which analyse the ecumenical situation and provide information and material necessary for dialogue. Reflection in the sense of a critical but constructive self-reassurance of the Catholic Church can be added as a fourth step.

A central aspect on this way is a stronger inclusion of lay people and a clear No to clericalism to bring the Church again closer to the people and to let the people who are religious and responsible persons develop their own ideas. So “round tables” established to analyse the situation, could be a good means to involve lay people in the process of a new pastoral orientation of the Church. To this purpose it is not necessary to reinvent the whole structure and hierarchy of the Church, but an adaptation to the present time is important. Simpler structures and more space for an

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This paper is based on: Müller, Johannes/Feneberg, Valentin Evangelicals -Pentecostals -Charismatics. New Religious Movements as a Challenge for the Catholic Church. Systematic Summary of the results of the International Conference, Rome, 9,10, 11 April, 2013. Published by the German Bishops' Conference and the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Bonn (German Bishops' Conference Research Group on International Church Affairs) 2015, p.31

Compare also: Gabriel, Karl/Müller Johannes: Evangelicals-Pentecostals Churches-Charismatics. New Religious Movements as Challenge for the Catholic Church (Documentation of the International Conference of the German Bishops' Conference, Rome 9th to 11th April 2013), Quezon City (Claretian Communications Foundation) 2015, p.365

accept more responsibility in offices and tasks within the Church so that their equal status is recognised and promoted.

It is not less important to deal with the concepts of the New Religious Movements, especially with their understanding of spirituality. This is not only a pastoral but also a theological challenge. Only by this is a “reform” of spirituality in the Catholic Church possible, for example by the acceptance and the inclusion of new forms of worship. Nevertheless the aim is not to copy the methods of these movements but to carry out a productive transformation based on the theological and spiritual foundations of the Church. The same applies to the methods of evangelization used by these movements.

On no account may their partly highly questionable methods be simply adopted. The Church should distance itself from the promise of earthly happiness. The preferential option for the poor has to be remembered again and again, no matter if it is “convenient or inconvenient”. A charismatic spirituality is no contradiction to this but it can lead to a living relationship with Christ, which includes the commandment of love of neighbour.

Of course, dealing with the phenomenon of the New Religious Movements is a task which has to be performed by the Church also in its role as a universal Church, for instance on the level of the “Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity”. At the same time it is desirable and even necessary for the above mentioned steps to be carried out in a decentralized way. This applies especially to the action level, because pastoral strategies and plans can only be developed on site, i.e. where the Church really exists. Everything has to start at the lowest level, within the local communities and local churches where the faithful are living and are active.

A certain reorientation of the Catholic Church has to be aspired to in order to seek and to find the correct pastoral answers to the “signs of the time”. At the same time the dialogue with the New Religious Movements has to be cultivated to avoid the risk of dealing mainly with internal issues and of resembling a ship heading towards the wrong direction. Although ecumenism is loaded with much knowledge and many plans it does not reach the faithful. It is important to define the goals of the ecumenical movement so that the dialogue will not miss its target. We need a

clear idea of the direction of the journey in order to avoid the danger of a wrong course. Cardinal Koch pointed out that what is important in the end is to restore the unity of Christendom, because everything else basically contradicts its self-image. This, however, presents a tremendous challenge in view of the enormous internal pluralization within the “ecumenism of Christians”. The Catholic Church has to face this challenge, even if this requires perseverance and patience.

First UnitTHE CONTEXT

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THE ROLE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH INTHE MULTI-RELIGIOUS CONTEXT OF NIGERIA

(Paper presented by ARCHBISHOP IGNATIUS KAIGAMA, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria

(CBCN) and Archbishop of Jos)

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1. INTRODUCTION

he 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stipulates that “Nigeria is a multi-religious country”. TAlthough our statistics are rarely accurate, if not

controversial because of the obvious war of numbers, it is safe to say that the dominant religious groups are Christianity and Islam. This is not to deny the small percentage of African Traditional Religion (ATR). Such religious diversity if properly harnessed, could foster unity and greatly contribute to nation building in a country where Muslims are presumed to be predominant in the North and Christians in the South.

The polarization of Nigerians either along religious or denominational lines and the overemphasis of the differences has had far reaching negative consequences that permeate and manifest in almost all facets of life. This portends a threat and danger to our national cohesion and remains a factor responsible for our recurring crises. It is disheartening that aside the Nigerian civil war no other skirmish has claimed more lives in Nigeria than religiously motivated crises e.g. the Maitatsine riots of the 1980s, the Sharia crisis beginning in 1999, the riots associated with the Miss World beauty competition in 2002 and now the Boko Haram insurgency which began in 2009.

Even among Christians, instead of appreciating each others' doctrinal differences and complementing one another's evangelical initiatives, some religious leaders disparage the age-long sacred traditions and practices of other denominations. Some leaders appear bent on rebranding, restructuring and repackaging Christianity in a manner that undermines the centrality of the Cross

with the inevitable consequence of misconstruing Christianity as a means of emancipation from poverty to material fortunes. One George O. Folarin captures this when he refers to it as “the gospel that promises only financial breakthrough or the preaching that does not address the concern of salvation from sin, but only

1emphasizes that God will make everyone materially rich.” According to Titus 1:11 they teach what they should not, and all for

2the shameful purpose of making money. The overzealous struggle for followers is heightened and worsened by the efforts of founders of churches to take members from other churches instead of looking for those who do not know about the Gospel. They capitalize on the misfortunes of the people e.g. poverty, unemployment, sickness, etc. in the quest to woo members.

It is noteworthy that the fall-out of the recurrent security challenges occasioned by Boko Haram insurgency, Fulani herdsmen attacks, sectarian agitations and ethnic crises in the country has led some so-called believers across religions to seek to complement God's protection over them with fetish reinforcements. Some Christians resort to their native beliefs and customs and yet they are hesitant to give up Christianity. This is what Ludovic Lado describes as “lived syncretism'' which “has more to do with people trying out other gods when they feel that

3Christianity has let them down. It tends to occur in times of crisis.” This always constitutes a crisis of faith.

In this presentation, I will show that the challenges posed by multi-religiosity are not without reciprocal enrichment, as ecumenical initiatives and inter-religious dialogue help us to better appreciate and accommodate our doctrinal, ideological and

4religious differences. Dialogue is yielding fruits as many interfaith

1George O. Folarin, The Gospel of Prosperity in Nigeria: A Re-Examination of the Concept, Its Impact and Evaluation, http://www.pctii.org/cyberj16/folarin.html.

2Primate Elijah Ayodele, The spiritual leader of INRI Spiritual and Evangelical church, Oke-Afa, Isolo, Lagos. In a thchat with Daily post 5 August 2015, among other things said, “We have many selfish Christian leaders,

people who only fight for their own, their pocket, their family and what they will eat. . . . Proliferation of Churches is corruption. No other word to describe it”. http://dailypost.ng/2016/08/05/god-will-punish-pastors-deceiving-leaders-primate-ayodele/

3Ludovic Lado, The Roman Catholic Church and African Religions: A problematic Encounter, p. 18.4Given that dialogue is a divine initiative, the Catholic Church has responded to this divine call with various

documents among which are: Nostra Aetate, Lumen Gentium (Numbers: 1, 13, 16, 17 and 48), Dignitatis Humanae (Numbers 2-4), Ad Gentes (Numbers 3, 7-11, 13, 15-16, 18, 21-22, 26, 34, 38, and 40-41), Gaudium et Spes (Numbers 22, 42, 45, 57-58, 73, 76 and 92), Paul VI, Encyclical Letter: Ecclesiam Suam (1964), Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation: Evangelii Nunciandi (1975), John Paul II, Encyclical Letter: Redemptor Hominis (1979), John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation: Familiaris Consortio (1981), John Paul II, Encyclical Letter: Redemptoris Missio (1990), John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation: Ecclesia in Africa (1995), Benedict XVI, Apostolic Exhortation: Africae Munus (2011).

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groups are springing up for the primary purpose of soliciting and seeking for harmonious and peaceful co-existence among

5adherents of different religions. The physical presence of Islamic leaders at Christian religious ceremonies and vice versa demonstrates the consolidation of Muslim-Christian relationships in Nigeria.

With the gradual understanding of our respective views, there is a reasonable decline in religious prejudice and misconception, mutual suspicion and mistrust. Today there is, often a strong and unanimous condemnation of crises sparked off in the name of religion by both Christian and Islamic religious leaders. The Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammed Sa'ad Abubakar III, made this inspirational statement: “…. I wish to assure you all of the determination of the religious leaders in Nigeria to make

6Muslim-Christian conflict a thing of the past.” This and many other reassuring statements issued by religious leaders have helped to broker peace, break down the stereotype that tears people apart and makes them intolerably suspicious of one another.

2. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AN NIGERIA AS AN AGENT AF CONSTRUCTIVE DIALOGUE

The Catholic Church in Nigeria has been very visible and in the front line in issues of intra and inter-religious dialogue. Thaddeus B. Umaru corroborated and commended this when he noted that: “The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has always stressed the need for Christians to dialogue with other religions, especially Islam. This desire has been strengthened with the establishment of a department for dialogue and mission within the

7Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN).” Aware of the need for Christian unity, the Catholic Church was co-responsible in the formation of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in 1976,

inspired by Vatican II's Decree Unitatis Redintegratio (The Restoration of Unity). Those Christians who are separated from the

8Catholic Church are held in tender esteem.” According to Pope Francis, “Ecumenism is not just a task. It is seeking the unity of the

9Body of Christ, broken by our sins of division.” The quest for ecumenism thus remains one of the Catholic Church's primary preoccupations as demonstrated by the openness, for example, to mixed marriages, observance of the annual week of prayer for Christian Unity and participation in inter-denominational services without compromising the basic doctrines.

The Catholic Church has also tried to reach out to the indigenous religions by demonstrating that Christianity does not destroy but builds on nature. It is the Church's conviction that enlightened by divine truth and ennobled by grace they can be lifted up to true virtue and the supernatural life since there are certain practices in these religious that could be used to enrich Christianity even as the latter transforms them. Francis Cardinal Arinze asserts that “the better ATR is understood by the heralds of the Gospel, the more suitable will be the presentation of Christianity as traditional to Africans…. In this way, the church will be more and more at home in Africa and Africans will be more

10and more at home in the church.” ATR acknowledge the existence of a higher god (God), belief in lesser gods and spirits (saints and angels) and the veneration of the saints. As Saint Paul tells the people of Athens, “As I walked around looking at your shrines, I even discovered an altar with this inscription: To an unknown God. Now, what you worship as unknown, I intend to make known to you - Acts 17: 22.” This has been the inspirational source for engaging the adherents of ATR.

The Catholic Church tries to encounter other religions by seeking to understand and appreciate both their insights into the human condition and the forms of belief and practice they

11recommend and inculcate. What is necessary today is for

8The Catholic Church in an Independent Nigeria: Joint Pastoral Letter of the Nigerian Hierarchy, October 1st 1960.

9 Address of Pope Francis to the Third Worldwide Priests' Retreat, Basilica of St. John Lateran, Rome, Italy, June 12, 2015.

10 Cardinal Francis Arinze, Pastoral Attention to African Traditional Religions, Rome, 25th March, 1988. 11Kaufman, “Religious Diversity, Historical Consciousness and Christian Theology” in The Myth of Christian

Uniqueness, Ed. By John Hick and Paul Knitter, London: SCM Press Ltd., 1988, p. 4.

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5 An Islamic Organization, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) reacted to a statement credited to the current leader of Boko Haram Al Barnawi. The director of MURIC Prof. Isiaq Akintola described the call to maim Christians as totally despicable. http://vanguardnigeria.org/islamic-organization-asks-nigerian-muslims-protect-christians/

6 “Muslim-Christian Relations in Nigeria”, being a Speech delivered by His Eminence, Alhaji Mohammed Sa'ad Abubakar, Sultan of Sokoto at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) Washington DC, 13 November, 2007.

7Thaddeus B. Umaru, Christian- Muslim Dialogue in Northern Nigeria: A Socio-Political and Theological Consideration, Xlibris LLC, USA, 2013, p. 192.

department promotes ecumenical dialogue within the Christian family and dialogue with other religious bodies and operates with the committees of Mission, Ecumenism and Inter- Religious Dialogue.

The Mission Committee focuses on animation of priests, religious and laity and on creating awareness for full participation of the people of God in the universal mission of the Church. It operates with a National Missionary Council which draws its membership from the clergy, religious and laity. It coordinates the missionary activities of the dioceses and religious congregations, especially in the area of the mission ad gentes, sending out missionaries to other dioceses and countries. It also collaborates with the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS).

The Committee on Ecumenism promotes Christian unity at human, social, political and religious levels. It aims at encouraging the various Christian denominations in the country to study and understand each other better, work together in identifying areas of agreement and deepening them, while seeking solutions to areas of disagreement. The Nigeria Anglican Roman Catholic Commission (NARCC) is one such example, while the Nigeria Catholic Methodist Relation is in the pipeline. Engaging the Pentecostal Churches in a formal way will hopefully be a natural outcome of this colloquium.

The Committee on Inter-Religious Dialogue seeks to interact with other believers, especially of the African Traditional Religion and the Islamic Religion. Efforts are made to build bridges and to recognize and act as people who believe in the supremacy of God, to cooperate in the promotion of the good of all in Nigeria, and to cultivate the culture of respect for other people's religion. The Committee helps dioceses, parishes and religious congregations in their own efforts at dialogue with other religious bodies at the local level.

To take the work of dialogue to the grassroots, there is a provincial coordinator in every province and a diocesan director in every diocese to coordinate the work of Inter-religious dialogue. The Department of Mission and Dialogue organizes seminars and workshops every year for all the directors of Inter-religious

religious and secular communities that differ and disagree, to come to sufficient understanding and appreciation of each other to enable them to enter into positive dialogue and interaction, instead of persisting in the sort of separation, distrust, and warfare that

12destroys. It is a slow, and often frustrating process but as Pope Benedict XVI has eloquently admonished Africa and indeed Nigeria, “It is important for the Church to promote dialogue as a spiritual disposition, so that believers may learn to work together, for example in associations for justice and peace, in a spirit of trust and mutual help. Families must be educated in attentive listening,

13fraternity and respect without fear of the other.”When the Catholic Church raises some concerns about the

Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), it is not done out of malice but that Christians should be of one mind, heart and soul as the Body of Christ. It is only from the vantage point of Christian unity that any meaningful engagement with our Muslim brothers and sisters is going to bear fruits.

2.1.The Impact of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria

To reach out and be in touch with every aspect of the nation, the Catholic Church in Nigeria has put in place a functional Secretariat, with four departments and a directorate of Communication. It is the administrative organ of the Catholic

14Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). Because this discussion is centred on a multi-religious context, I would like to dwell more specifically on the activities of the department of Mission and Dialogue. The activities of Caritas Nigeria and Justice, Development and Peace Commission, the organs that implement the social decisions of the Church in Nigeria will also be in focus. 2.2. Department of Mission and Dialogue

The department of Mission and Dialogue coordinates and facilitates activities of the Catholic Bishops' Conference in the area of mission animation and formation of Nigerian Catholics. The

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12Ibid.13Pope Benedict XVI, Africae Munus, http:www.vatican.va/content/benedict-

xvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_e… p. 26, accessed, 29/07/2016.14Cornelius A. Omonokhua, The Joy of Service; Dialogue of Action (Kaduna, Virtual Insignia, 2015) p. 157.

3.1.Caritas Nigeria and JDPC

The executive report to the Board of Directors of Caritas Nigeria on June 9, 2016 reveals in a special way the social role of the Catholic Church in Nigeria in our multi-religious context. This role can be classified as dialogue of engagement, action and encounter with Nigerian citizens who are deprived, distressed and sometimes traumatized, irrespective of their religious affiliation. The Catholic Church through Caritas Nigeria has continued to give community-based care to those infected and affected by HIV. Apart from various initiatives at the level of the fifty-five dioceses, Caritas Nigeria presently supports 57,930 HIV positive beneficiaries and many more indirect beneficiaries like spouses, children and relatives of persons living with HIV, including HIV orphans and

18vulnerable children across many States in Nigeria.

Caritas Confederation is currently supporting Caritas Nigeria respond to the needs of thousands of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Adamawa and Borno States, in the North East. IDPs in Cameroun were reached with substantial financial help through Caritas Nigeria, even as there are currently a few Nigerian priests who are in Cameroun accompanying the IDPs. The Catholic Church through Caritas Nigeria has been championing the building of a transparent and accountable society where citizens participate in decisions that affect their lives. The Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) is engaged in civic education programmes and has been involved in election monitoring to ensure the integrity of elections in the country.

3.2. Interventions by the Catholic Bishops Conference (CBCN)

The Catholic Bishops of Nigeria issue communiqués addressing national concerns. The communiqués from 1963-2015 have been published into a book titled, “Our Concern for Nigeria: Catholic Bishops Speak”. Last year, the CBCN published its statements on

dialogue and ecumenism. The department has visited all the Ecclesiastical Provinces in the country to animate the directors and Inter-Religious Dialogue committees on the meaning and need for dialogue at all levels.

The department has also visited all the Major Seminaries in the country to organize workshops for teachers of Dialogue, Ecumenism, Mission, and African Traditional Religion.

The Women Religious along with the Catholic Women Organization are also promoting the Catholic/Muslim Women dialogue in various places especially in Northern Nigeria.

3. THE PROPHETIC ROLE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN NIGERIA

In the light of gross economic and political deprivation; the Church has no option but to side with the poor. “There is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor who should never be

15abandoned.” This explains why the Catholic Church invests heavily in health care projects and schools in rural and urban areas to complement government effort. As Pope Francis puts it, she must stick to the ideals of the Gospel by identifying with the poor, living like them amid the uncertainties of everyday life and renouncing all claims to power and in this way to become brothers and sisters of the poor, bringing the witness of the joy of the Gospel

16and a sign of God's love. Equally, the Church cannot afford to fail in its prophetic task of being a light in the nation, highlighting the

17evils in the society; neither must she relinquish her task of being the voice of the voiceless in our society. When the underprivileged fail to see the Church on their side then shepherds are only serving themselves. What is required is a disciplined Church where the clergy live modestly and not abuse the privileges that the people of God have granted them. We have seen in recent years how prominent religious figures in our country have lost credibility through close association with high profile politicians and by living psychedelic and flamboyant life styles.

18Namely: Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, Plateau; Delta, Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Osun, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The 18 priority LGAs are located in Benue (7), Nasarawa (5), Lagos and the FCT (2) where scale-up involved the activation of 14 new comprehensive treatment centres; 16 new PMTCT sites as well as the upgrade of 4 PMTCT sites to comprehensive centres.

15Ibid. 2.16Pope Francis, Message of Pope Francis for World Mission Day 2015, 2.17George Omaku Ehusani, A Prophetic Church, (Ibadan, Intec Printers Limited, 1996) p. 2.

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the challenges of corruption and its impediment to the political and socio-economic development of the country from 1960 – 2015. In addition, prayers have been composed for “Nigeria in Distress” and “Against Bribery and Corruption”. National prayer events have also been organised and held to pray for the country.

In the past, the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria have visited the presidency to discuss the way forward for the nation. On May 2, 2016, representatives of the Catholic Bishops paid a courtesy visit to President Muhammadu Buhari, reminding him of his speech in February 2015 as a presidential candidate to the Catholic Bishops, which had the theme: “One Nation Bound in Freedom, Peace, Unity and Love”, in which he re-affirmed his commitment towards ensuring that Nigeria remains a multi-religious state where every individual is free to practise his or her religion of choice.

While commending his efforts in the fight against Boko Haram and against corruption, the Bishops called for justice according to the rule of law, with no sacred cows to be spared. The Bishops informed the President of the role the Catholic Church is playing to bring relief to the displaced persons.

The Bishops requested for a proper investigation into the Agatu killings in Benue State, the Nimbo killings in Enugu State and many other killings in Taraba, Nassarawa, Ondo, Edo, Delta and elsewhere because our people cannot continue to live in perpetual fear of attacks by fellow Nigerians with criminal intent. The Bishops drew the attention of the President to the difficulty of getting land approval for Christian religious purposes in some parts of the North, the inability to erect Christian places of worship in Federal institutions in some northern states and the difficulty of obtaining certificates of occupancy to build Churches.

The Bishops reminded the President of the harsh economic situation in which our people are living presently. In many States, workers do not receive regular salaries; many pensioners go for months without their pensions, while so many self-employed and non-employed persons and family dependents are struggling to make ends meet. We concluded by assuring Mr. President of our fervent prayers and patriotic support as he and his team struggle to

19overcome the multi-dimensional challenges facing the country.

4. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN NIGERIA AND THE QUEST FOR PEACE

While we praise the Government for fighting Boko Haram and diminishing their capabilities to thrive as a powerful terrorist organization, the same cannot be said of other areas. Sadly, insecurity is on the rise in other parts of the country, especially the Middle Belt and Niger Delta States. We learn of violent attacks by Fulani herdsmen in different farming communities around the country, the Niger Delta rebellion (Avengers) has reared back its ugly head, religious motivated murders of innocent citizens especially in northern Nigeria, kidnappings, assassinations, armed robberies, cultism and fetish practices, all leading to loss of lives. The Church tries to persuade the relevant authorities to pause and take action on emerging dangerous hate groups and communities. There are many groups like Boko Haram in their infancy. Nipping religious extremism and conditions that allow these groups to evolve in the bud will save society a lot of headache.

The Church insists that religious freedom must be real and any violator of such freedom must face the law. While there has not been identified and chronicled occasion of violence and carnage among Christians of different denominations in Nigeria as it has been between Muslims and Christians, there are perceptible unhealthy competition, scandalous division and contemptible antagonism. When the Catholic Church opts for dialogue especially with Muslims, some Christians see it as complacency, compromise, weakness and claim that the Catholic Church is betraying her Christian heritage. Some even go on to call names!

5. HOPE FOR INTERRELIGIOUS RELATIONS IN NIGERIA MUST NOT BE DASHED

The cloud of religious and ethnic co-existence in Nigeria gets thicker because of some criminal activities that now carry the label of religion. Some of the Government policies and political appointments are often given a religious interpretation such that some people even perceive these as indicators of a systematic method of endorsing Islam as a national religion. Some Nigerians have concluded that the clash between the herdsmen and the 19https://zenit.org/articles/address-by-president-of-nigerian-bishops-to-president-buhari/

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farmers in the various communities in Nigeria is an Islamic agenda. The grazing bill has become another source of controversy. The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan on May 8, 2016 noted : “There is a terrible wind blowing around our country right now. There are so many people who are fanning the flames of discord and hatred. It is becoming very difficult to preach unity and mutual natural love and there are those who are already envisaging a clash between Christians and Muslims. There are those who are interpreting the clash between

20herdsmen and farmers as the front line of this battle.”

It has been alleged that the Curriculum book introduced by the Federal Ministry of Education requires that the children would be taught that Jesus did not die nor resurrect for any body's sin. The children would be taught that the GLORIOUS QUR'AN is designated as Allah's Greatest Book and his Prophet Mohammed the Greatest of all the prophets. The Christians feel that this approach to training the young ones is a form of indoctrination that could perpetuate religious intolerance in the country. To enable the Muslim students to study Islam authentically and Christian students to study the Bible without prejudice, it is highly recommended that Christian Religious Studies and Islamic Religious Studies be allowed to stand separately and be studied as independent subjects with separate textbooks.

Muslims must never get tired of clarifying the concept of peace in Islam by using the verses of tolerance and peace in the Qur'an. They must also show in practice that Islam for instance is not responsible for the apparent institutionalized injustice of not giving land to Christians to build Churches and the conspicuous absence of Church buildings in some Federal and State institutions. Christians must, on their part, resist the fear of Muslims by living authentic Christian witnessing of loving like Jesus in all circumstances. This is the time to redeem religion from the hands of criminals by Christians and Muslims.

6. CONCLUSION

The Catholic Church in Nigeria has a deep concern for Christian unity, inter-cultural harmony and inter-religious co-existence for national development. We believe that the adherents of different

20https://www.naij.com

religions can live together devoid of rancour and savagery and explore civilized approaches in addressing real or perceived grievances. Former British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, noted that “Nigeria's incessant religious crises will end only if the

21nation's politicians are ready to be leaders rather than politicians.” Religion should not constitute an essential component of our body politic. No religious platform should be used to feather political nests.

Living in a multi-religious society is a great blessing. At the same time, it is most challenging. The Catholic Church, from centuries of experience of engagement with plural societies, should continue to motivate discussions and practical steps in Nigeria which will hopefully lead to a greater openness to God's presence within the religious life of the nation. Different groups within Nigeria, particularly, Christian and Islamic leaders must free themselves from their fears and artificially restricted visions into a greater intellectual honesty and realism. Genuine religions and religious people are not at war with one another. For too long, war mongers and preachers of hate have been given a field day to spread their hateful messages and almost leading the country to the brink of an outright war. It is never too late to take united action against such bigots in our midst. The right time is now.

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21Nationalmirroronline.net/new/how-to-solve-nigeria's-crises-tony-blair

1. INTRODUCTION

n December 2010, in the run-up to the April 2011 Nigerian presidential elections, the Redeemed Christian Church of God Iheld its annual, week-long Holy Ghost Congress at

Redemption City along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. On the penultimate evening an estimated one million people gathered for an all-night session of praise, prayer and preaching. In attendance were a host of dignitaries, including the incumbent Christian President, Goodluck Jonathan. Long periods of exuberant singing were interspersed with exhortations, Bible teaching and prayers led by Pentecostal pastors from different denominations. Eventually Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, invited President Jonathan to address the audience. Employing Christian rhetoric, the President exhorted his listeners to pray for free, fair and peaceful elections and to exercise their right to vote. His words were met with enthusiastic applause. Adeboye himself then took center stage. In a short speech he warned that he will lead mass protests against any attempt to rig the ballot. The following Sunday, several Nigerian newspapers carried front-page photographs of the President kneeling down to receive prayer from Adeboye.

This event, and the media coverage it generated, served as a potent symbol of the increasing political influence of Pentecostalism in Nigerian society, a remarkable transition considering the movement's former reputation as an “other-worldly” sectarian movement eschewing political engagement in favour of saving the lost before the return of Christ.

I intend this paper as an exercise in ecumenical engagement. It is hoped that it will enable a better understanding of

THE POSITION OF THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT IN NIGERIAN SOCIETY AND POLITICS

(Presentation by RICHARD BURGESS of the University of Roehampton, United Kingdom)

5Nigerian Pentecostalism's role in society and politics. The paper is based on research conducted in Nigeria between 2010-2013, which included interviews with Pentecostal leaders, participant observation of Pentecostal events, and a congregational survey of Pentecostal churches (henceforth, referred to as the Nigeria

1Survey).

The paper begins by examining the influence of Pentecostal beliefs and practices on the churches' public role, with a particular focus on their political engagement. It then examines different types of Pentecostal political engagement in Nigeria. Pentecostals have employed a variety of strategies to influence the political sphere, ranging from conventional methods such as electoral politics to more implicit strategies such as prophecy and prayer. Recently, some Pentecostal leaders have adopted more long-term strategies by establishing new institutions, and organizing conferences and training programs geared towards raising transformational leaders and reforming cultural values and practices. I argue that these initiatives offer the most potential to reshape politics and achieve a democratic culture, even if it may be some time before the wider society feels their impact.

2. PENTECOSTAL SPIRITUALITY AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

2.1. Pentecostal Soteriology: Personal and Social Transformation

African Pentecostal soteriology has long been associated with personal transformation and evangelism, often accompanied by divine healing and deliverance, and Pentecostals commonly consider individual conversion as the key to social change. According to Dena Freeman (2012: 13, 25), the key element of this “transformation of subjectivity” is a “shift from seeing oneself as a victim to seeing oneself as a victor”, enabling Pentecostals to “reject passive, fatalistic beliefs and reclaim their agency”. Freeman suggests that this sense of empowerment leads to new

1Research for this paper was conducted as part of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Initiative (PCRI) funded by the John Templeton Foundation and administered by the Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California.

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forms of conduct and social relations, both of which “enhance economic development and foster upward social mobility” (ibid.: 25). Similarly, Donald Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori (2007: 33) refer to the “incremental impact on people's social welfare” due to the social uplift associated with Pentecostalism's moral prescriptions against alcohol, gambling and womanizing, which gives them a “competitive economic advantage over their neighbours”. Associated with this is an emphasis on success-oriented theologies which reinforce Pentecostal aspirations for a better life for themselves and their families. In Nigeria, this has contributed to the formation of a Pentecostal middle class and to the appeal of the movement to the socio-economic and educated elite.

Yet this shift to the centre of Nigerian society has made Pentecostal leaders vulnerable to state co-option and partisan politics (Obadare 2006). There has been a tendency for some influential Pentecostal leaders to provide uncritical support for Christian politicians. Despite allegations of corruption and political manipulation, powerful Pentecostals such as Enoch Adeboye and David Oyedepo endorsed Olusegun Obasanjo's presidency and provided it with divine legitimization. More recently, accusations of partisan politics have been leveled against Pentecostal pastor Ayo Oritsejafor for his support of former President Goodluck Jonathan. This was one reason for the temporary withdrawal of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria from

2the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in 2013. Some Pentecostal churches have also had to contend with accusations of corruption within their own ranks, which has hindered their capacity to speak prophetically to power.

The social and economic uplift associated with the emphasis on individual transformation are indirect results of Pentecostalism rather than explicit goals. However, there is an emergent group of Nigerian Pentecostal leaders who are intentionally seeking to bring about social transformation in their communities. Their focus on holistic mission, which seeks to integrate evangelism and forms of social and political action, is

associated with a shift away from the separatist tendencies of a Pentecostal emphasis on individual transformation to a form of social holiness understood as obedience to Christ's command to love one's neighbour in the wider society. Recent interdisciplinary studies of Godly Love help to explain the ways in which Pentecostals have lived out the Great Commandment at the heart of the Christian tradition (Lee & Yong 2012: 99). Godly Love has been defined “as the dynamic interaction between divine and human love that enlivens and expands benevolence” (Poloma and Lee 2013: 280). It includes the elements of “receiving God's love” and “working with others in benevolent ways” (Poloma, Lee and Post 2013: 15). For Pentecostals, the experience of empowerment through Spirit baptism and the exercise of spiritual gifts provide a strong motivation for benevolent action, engendering compassion and loving behaviour towards others (Poloma& Hood 2008). Miller and Yamamori (2007: 29–30) refer to those with this particular orientation as “Progressive Pentecostals” because they no longer regard the world as a place to escape from but instead as a place they want to make better.

2.2. Pentecostal Ecclesiology: La Participation and Leadership Another important factor influencing Nigerian Pentecostal public engagement is their ecclesiology and organisational culture. Historically, Pentecostals have tended to favour a free-church ecclesiology, with its emphasis on egalitarianism, voluntarism and independence of the local church. Though Pentecostals ground their faith in the Bible, they claim unmediated access to God through Christ apart from priests, sacraments or liturgies. This is in contrast to the more hierarchical ecclesiology favoured by the Roman Catholic Church, where only churches united to their bishops are churches in the full sense.

Until recently, Pentecostals have not given sustained thought to ecclesiology. However, the formal Pentecostal-Roman Catholic ecumenical dialogue, started in 1972, has generated more reflection by Pentecostals on the nature of the church. The notion of koinonia or fellowship in particular has resonated with Pentecostals. According to Kuzmic and Volf (1985, cited in

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2Monday Ateboh, “Why we pulled out of CAN — Catholic bishops”, January 24, 2013, http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/116774-why-we-pulled-out-of-can-catholic-bishops.html.

Karkkainen 2007: 2), “Pentecostal soteriology and pneumatology point. . . unmistakenly in the direction of an ecclesiology of the fellowship of persons.” For Pentecostals, the church is a Charismatic fellowship of persons gathered together for mutual edification (Karkkainen 2007).

Pentecostal organizational culture is designed to mobilize the laity and foster participation. Nigerian Pentecostal churches represent strong networks of social capital capable of generating considerable numbers of volunteers for political engagement. Their emphasis on lay participation also enables members to acquire civic skills, such as leadership skills and public speaking, which are transferable to the public realm. Nigerian Pentecostal pastors hold sway over large numbers of people and often possess considerable organisational skills and charismatic qualities enabling them to mobilize their members. A recent trend is the emergence of leadership schools and programmes which seek to train leaders for public service.

The collective power of the Pentecostal community makes it a potential force for political protest, community organising, and voter mobilisation. However, the emphasis on Spirit empowerment and lay participation makes the movement susceptible to fragmentation and internal divisions, hindering its capacity to act collectively for the common good. Associated with this is the reintroduction of patriarchal and authoritarian structures, and the propensity for Pentecostal leaders to take titles for themselves, a betrayal of the movement's earlier egalitarian ethos. This can inhibit innovation and initiative, especially among women and young people.

2.3. Pentecostal Missiology: Evangelism and Spiritual Warfare

Another feature of Pentecostal spirituality influencing their public engagement is their distinctive missiology. According to missiologist Grant McClung, “The very heartbeat of Pentecostal missions is their experience with the power and person of the Holy Spirit” (McClung 1986: 72). The centrality of the Holy Spirit in mission has been a consistent theme in academic studies of Pentecostalism (Pomerville 1985; Anderson 2004, 2005;

Dempster et al 1991). According to Allan Anderson (2005: 31), the Pentecostal movement from its inception was a missionary movement, made possible by the Holy Spirit's empowerment. Anderson refers to Pentecostal mission as “pneumatocentric”, in comparison to the Missio Dei of older Catholic and Protestant missions and the “obedience to the Great Commission” of Evangelical Christocentric missions. The main motivating force behind Pentecostal mission is the Spirit poured out at Pentecost (Anderson 2004).

Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of African Pentecostal missions is the emphasis on “power encounter” and the expectation that “miracles” of healing and deliverance should accompany the gospel message (Kalu 2008; Anderson 2004). An important feature of this power encounter motif is the practice of spiritual warfare prayer, intended to wrest control of governments and communities from malign spirits (Burgess 2015). In the Nigerian context, the Pentecostal emphasis on evangelism and spiritual warfare is partly driven by ambitions to redeem the nation by replacing corrupt regimes with new forms of righteous authority and citizenship (Marshall 2009). Nigerian Pentecostal discourse on politics is invariably framed in spiritual terms, as a religious contest between good and evil, reflecting the dominance of supernatural ideas in African political culture. Pentecostals believe that their opponents are not only human beings and institutions but also principalities and powers. An important feature of this redemptive programme is combating the perceived Islamization agenda. This was one of the factors behind the shift to a more politically engaged Pentecostalism during the 1980s (Burgess 2015).

Unfortunately, the missionary practices and militaristic rhetoric of Nigerian Pentecostals can reinforce conceptions of the religious “other” as the enemy, resulting in an erosion of trust and a heightening of inter-religious tensions. Recent studies of Pentecostalism in Nigeria have suggested that the venture of Pentecostals into the public arenas of politics and media to combat “Islamization”, combined with their emphasis on evangelism and spiritual warfare, have exacerbated tensions between Christians and Muslims, leading in turn to protests and retaliation by Muslim

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groups (Ojo 2007; Ukah 2009; Hackett 2000; Kalu 2008; Akinade 2014). This forms part of the Roman Catholic critique of Pentecostalism: that Pentecostal mission strategy, which favours evangelistic programmes over interfaith dialogue, militates against religious tolerance and exacerbates inter-religious tensions (Aihiokhai 2010).

3. PENTECOSTAL STRATEGIES OF POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT

Having examined the influence of Pentecostal spirituality on the churches' public role, I now turn to their actual strategies for political engagement. Any analysis of Pentecostalism's public role in Nigeria must take account of the plurality of the movement and the diversity of Pentecostal political postures, ranging from the apolitical to the more politically engaged (Yong 2010). As already noted, Nigerian Pentecostal political strategies include conventional methods such as participation in the electoral process as well as more covert strategies such as prophecy and prayer. Media presence has also enabled some Pentecostal leaders to become significant players in the political field.

3.1. Pentecostal Prayer as Political Praxis

According to OgbuKalu (2008: 219), Pentecostal prayer in Africa is a form of political praxis, a strategy of “political dissent” and “an exercise of political power at the level of infrapolitics” reflected in the Pentecostal tendency to organize prayer retreats at critical moments in national life. In Nigeria, Pentecostal prayer meetings are often public occasions intended to capture the attention of the wider society. National prayer bodies addressing political issues have multiplied in recent years, including Intercessors for Nigeria, Watchman Ministries, Gethsemane Prayer Ministries, Prayer for the Nation and Nigeria Prays. According to its mission statement, Nigeria Prays aims to “mobilize all Nigerians to regular, fervent and result-oriented prayers for the healing and transformation of the nation through prayer rallies and seminars; and to promote the virtues of patriotism, transparency, and incorruptibility in

leadership, governance and in the entire citizenry” (Aransiola 2008: vi). As well as organizing prayer retreats and conferences, leaders of these organizations publish books and pamphlets on prayer that invariably include social commentary on the state of the nation.

Pentecostals' beliefs that they can improve society through prayer and spiritual warfare is consistent with African and biblical cosmologies. However, the tendency to spiritualize politics is sometimes criticized for contributing little to the debate on modern government and diverting attention from addressing social justice issues (Gifford 2004). Yet it would be wrong to assume such initiatives are incompatible with more conventional forms of political activism. In the Nigeria Survey, 89 percent of Pentecostal/Charismatics stated that Christians should combine prayer with participation in electoral politics.

3.2. Prophetic Politics

Prayer is sometimes associated with prophecy in Pentecostal political discourse. Some Nigerian Pentecostals aspire to a “prophetic” role by projecting prophetic revelation into the public sphere and speaking on political issues. Amos Yong (2010: 11) refers to this as “prophetic politics” in which Pentecostals are “indirectly political, but nonetheless political for all that.”

Nigerian Pentecostalism has a long pedigree of linking prophecy with politics, going back to the 1970s and the Christian Students' Social Movement, whose monthly Prayer Bulletin contained many prophecies regarding the state of the nation. These bulletins mainly were intended for Christian consumption, to sensitize and encourage the church to pray for Nigeria (Ojo 2006; Burgess 2008). However, in the 1990s, prophecies took on a wider public significance and several Pentecostal pastors gained reputations for their political prophecies, often directed at prominent political figures. Foremost among these was TundeBakare, pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly, who has attracted criticism from politicians and some of his fellow Pentecostals for the contentious nature of his prophecies (Ojo 2006; Burgess 2015).

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On a second level, prophetic politics involves the “antithetical political stances” of Pentecostal public pronouncements, especially in the media. In Nigeria, this generally has centred on debates around political leadership/corruption and inter-religious conflict (Harneit-Sievers 2006). Yong (2010) refers to the anti-Islamic rhetoric among Nigeria's Pentecostals as an example of the boldness sometimes characterizing Pentecostal discourse; however, from a Pentecostal perspective, public criticism of Islam is primarily a response to recurring violence against Christians by Muslim extremists, or a reaction against the imposition of Shari'a upon Christians in the north (Kalu 2008; Imo 2009). Criticism of government has escalated since the return to multi-party democracy, which has opened up space for political dissent, and some Nigerian Pentecostal leaders now head up large organizations with global links, making them less susceptible to intimidation.

Sometimes public criticism has spilled into the streets. In 2010, Bakare's Save Nigeria Group led street protests that forced the National Assembly to declare Goodluck Jonathan acting President and two years later it was the main catalyst behind countrywide mass protests against government removal of fuel subsidies, which threatened to plunge the economy into crisis (Burgess 2015).

3.3. Electoral Politics and Political Pastors

In the Nigeria Survey, 72 percent of Pentecostals/Charismatics said Christians should engage in politics to solve social problems, and 61 percent said they voted in the April 2011 elections. Increasingly, Pentecostals are encouraging their members to participate in the electoral process by voting “righteous” candidates into office or by running for political office themselves.

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria plays an important role in voter mobilization, claiming to be non-partisan and preferring to advise Pentecostals to vote for “righteous” candidates rather than along religious or ethnic lines. However, PFN's non-partisan stance is open to question. We have already mentioned the support of Goodluck Jonathan by Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the

former President of PFN. In Northern Nigeria, PFN encourages members to vote for Christian candidates as a form of resistance to the perceived Islamist agenda of Muslim politicians (Burgess 2015).

Pentecostals are also fielding political candidates, in part because of discontent with the caliber of existing candidates. Pentecostal pastors have also competed in presidential and state government elections. This top-down approach has met with a mixed response from the Pentecostal community. For example, Chris Okotie's unsuccessful presidential bids in 2003, 2007 and 2011 were opposed by the PFN who insisted that he was ill-equipped for office. In the run-up to the 2011 elections, some Pentecostal leaders also criticized TundeBakare for aligning himself with a former Muslim head of state (Burgess 2015). Most recently, in the 2015 elections, PFN came out in support of the incumbent Christian President Jonathan rather than the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket, despite Osinbajo's strong Pentecostal credentials.

The ventures of these Pentecostal pastors into politics reflect a strong self-belief in their ability to rule, and their tendency to regard themselves as the sole solution to Nigeria's problems, despite their relative inexperience in the political arena. It is appropriate here to recall Paul Freston's identification of two Pentecostal traits detrimental to democracy: “triumphalism,” the idea that the “people of God” have been chosen to rule their countries, and a “sense of moral superiority, which makes it difficult to accept it is as one player amongst many.”

3.4. Transformational Leaders and the Reformation of Culture

The relatively unsuccessful incursions of Pentecostals into electoral politics has prompted some Pentecostal leaders to establish new institutions for more long-term, sustainable political strategies, and to organize conferences and training programs to raise transformational leaders and reform cultural values and practices. A recurring theme in Nigerian Pentecostal discourse emphasizes nation-building and national transformation in response to the underperformance of existing political leaders and government failure to deliver on promises of economic development (Burgess 2015).

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This emergent group of Pentecostal leaders is influenced by the Ukraine-based pastor Sunday Adelaja and by a version of “kingdom” theology, called “Seven Mountain” theology, associated with C. Peter Wagner's New Apostolic Reformation in the US. “Kingdom” theology includes both the idea of sovereignty - God's present rule on earth through the church - and the presence of transformational leaders carrying “kingdom” values into the different culture-shaping spheres of society (McCain 2013; Burgess 2015). The use of the biblical metaphor of the Kingdom of God suggests similarities with Liberation Theology. However, these Pentecostals do not seek to engender change through revolutionary struggle, as some expressions of Liberation Theology have advocated (Gutiérrez 1976; Segundo 1976), but by a gradual reformation of cultural practices and by raising a new generation of leaders who will run for political office and seek employment in the public sector (Miller & Yamamori 2007).

One Pentecostal leader addressing the issue of culture is Sam Adeyemi, senior pastor of Daystar Christian Centre. Adeyemi holds sway over large numbers of people both within his church and the wider community. On a typical Sunday, his sermons to an estimated 20,000 congregants are broadcast on national and satellite television, and the church's conferences and Sunday services are streamed live on the Internet. The church runs a leadership training school called Daystar Leadership Academy and hosts an annual leadership conference, which includes sessions by experts in politics, education, social welfare, media and business.

In his teaching and publications, Adeyemi outlines what amounts to a manifesto for national development through the renewal of culture and the formation of self-governing citizens who will take moral responsibility for transforming Nigeria. Rather than blame external forces such as colonialism or capitalism, Adeyemi has identified indigenous cultural patterns and practices as the main causes of Nigeria's present predicament (Adeyemi 2010).

One of Adeyemi's concerns is to challenge popular concepts of power and leadership within church and society, an example of the way Pentecostal religion may indirectly impact politics at the level of culture. In his conferences, training

programmes and sermons, he encourages Nigerians to broaden their understanding of leadership and take personal responsibility for societal ills rather than lay the blame upon politicians. For Adeyemi, leadership is not about occupying a position of power but about the ability to influence people by solving their problems. Adeyemi's Pentecostal credentials come into play when addressing his fellow Christians. For him, the key to effective leadership is the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and the purpose of the anointing is to solve people's problems: “The proof, the evidence that the Holy Spirit is in your life is not just speaking in tongues. It has to do with the capacity to solve problems for people.” The mandate given to Jesus and his disciples, according to Adeyemi, was to solve the problem of poverty, restore broken lives, dispel ignorance, and destroy “yokes of oppression” through the power of the Holy Spirit.3

The focus on national transformation and kingdom theology is largely confined to cities such as Lagos, Ibadan and Abuja and can hardly be considered representative of Nigerian Pentecostalism. However, Pentecostal leaders associated with the movement include mega church pastors, denominational overseers, national leaders of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), university professors, business entrepreneurs, politicians, and social activists.

4. CONCLUSION

This paper has been an exercise in ecumenical engagement, intended to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between Pentecostal spirituality and political engagement. It began by discussing Pentecostal beliefs and practices that have either helped or hindered their engagement in society and politics. The Pentecostal emphasis on empowerment and lay participation enables the formation of self-governing subjects capable of taking moral responsibility for the transformation of the nation. However, it also makes the movement susceptible to fragmentation, hindering its capacity to act collectively for the common good. Associated with this is the lack of accountability of some Pentecostal leaders, making them vulnerable to political

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manipulation and corruption. Finally, the Pentecostal emphasis on evangelism and spiritual warfare rhetoric can exacerbate inter-religious antagonisms, creating an environment detrimental to peaceful political process.

Pentecostals in Nigeria have employed various strategies and techniques to influence the political sphere, ranging from conventional methods such as electoral politics to more implicit strategies such as prophecy and prayer. Despite the recent election of a Pentecostal pastor to the office of vice-President, it is argued that the more long-term strategies geared towards raising transformational leaders and reforming cultural values and practices offer the most potential to reshape politics and achieve a democratic culture, even if it may be some time before the wider society feels their impact.

3Sam Adeyemi, “Anointing for Leadership,” Excellence in Leadership Conference: Leadership & Change, Lagos, 2010. See also Aramide Oikelome, “Daystar Christian Centre set to redefine leadership,” Sunday Independent, 4 November 2012.

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Orbis Books,1988.

Hackett, Rosalind, 'Religious Freedom and Religious Conflict in Africa', in Mark Silk (ed.), Religion on the News Agenda, 2000, pp. 102-119.

Harneit-Sievers, Axel, “Foreword,” in Pentecostalism and Public Life in Nigeria: Perspectives and Dialogue, Lagos, Nigeria: Centre for Law and Social Action, 2006.

Imo, Cyril, “Evangelicals, Muslims, and Democracy: With Particular Reference to the Declaration of Sharia in Northern Nigeria,” in Terence Ranger (ed.), Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Africa, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 37-66.

Kalu, Ogbu U., African Pentecostalism: An Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Karkkainen, Veli-Matti, “The Church as the Fellowship of Persons: An Emerging Pentecostal Ecclesiology of Koinonia”, PentecoStudies, 6.1, 2007, pp. 1-15.

Lee, Matthew T. and Amos Yong (eds.), Godly Love. Impediments & Possibilities, Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2012.

Lee, Matthew T., Margaret M. Poloma, and Stephen G. Post, The Heart of Religion: Spiritual Empowerment, Benevolence, and the Experience of God's Love, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Marshall, Ruth, Political Spiritualities: The Pentecostal Revolution in Nigeria, Chicago & London: Chicago University Press, 2009.

McCain, Danny, “The Metamorphosis of Nigerian Pentecostalism: From Signs and Wonders in the Church to Service and Influence in Society,” in Donald E. Miller, Kimon H. Sargent and Richard Flory, Spirit and Power: the Growth and Global Impact of Pentecostalism, Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 2013, pp. 160-81. McClung Jr., Grant (ed.), Azusa Street and Beyond: Pentecostal Missions and Church Growth in the Twentieth Century, South Plainfield, NJ: Logos, 1986.

Miller, Donald and Tetsunao Yamamori, Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.

Obadare, Ebenezer, “Religious NGOs, Civil Society and the Quest for a Public Sphere in Nigeria,” African Identities, 5.1, 2007, pp. 135-153.

Ojo, Matthews, The End-time Army: Charismatic Movements in Nigeria, Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 2006.

Ojo, Matthews, 'Pentecostal Movements, Islam and the Contest for Public Space in Northern Nigeria', Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 18.2, 2007, pp. 175-188.

Poloma, Margaret M., and Ralph W. Hood, JR., Blood and Fire: Godly Love in a Pentecostal Emerging Church, New York and London: New York University Press, 2008.

Pomerville, Paul, The Third Force in Mission, Peabody: Hendrickson, 1985.

Segundo, Juan Luis, The Liberation of Theology, New York: Orbis Books, 1976.

Ukah, Asonzeh, “Contesting God: Nigerian Pentecostals and their Relations with Islam and Muslims”, in David Westerlund (ed.), Global Pentecostalism: Encounters with Other Religious Traditions, London and New York: I. B. Tauris& Co, 2009, pp. 93-114.

Yong, Amos, In the Days of Caesar: Pentecostalism and Political Theology, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010.

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Second UnitUNDERSTANDING HEALTH

AND HEALING

52 53

eliverance has been accepted into the mainstream of Christian activities, especially in Africa. Denominations Dwhich hesitated in accepting the deliverance ministry or

adopting it, lost members to those who were favourable to it. Thus, many denominations had to set up committees to examine the deliverance ministry and make recommendations to the leadership. Yet, accepting it comes along with its incumbent challenges, especially the liturgy, which many denominations as well as local assemblies are battling with.

As one of the Pentecostal church leaders and a theologian, I often come face to face with the challenge of deliverance praxis in many places. It is against this background that this paper is being presented. The paper examines the origins of the deliverance services and how they have metamorphosed into the contemporary deliverance ministry. It discusses the various aspects of the 'liturgy', then briefly evaluates the liturgy to find out whether the approach has enhanced Christianity or otherwise.

THE ANTECEDENTS OF DELIVERANCE MINISTRY

Before the advent of Christianity in West Africa, the traditional religion was very strong and some had their own priests who were in charge of the tutelary gods. These deities were considered very powerful, and many people consulted them from their shrines for protection, healing, and during times of difficulties. Through the priest of a tutelary god, a deity might be consulted at a shrine to find out about the nature, the cause and the cure for an illness, and other misfortunes such as barrenness, frequent deaths, and lack of

DELIVERANCE SERVICES AND LITURGIES( by Pastor OPOKU ONYINAH, Ghana)

61

prosperity. This process of going to the shrine to find out the cause of a disease was called divinatory-consultation, or stated literally, 'inquiry' with the intention of having an answer.

The first task of the priest was to find out the cause of the misfortune. This was done through the priest's ability to divine or consult the deities. There were various ways of finding out whether a misfortune was caused by the victim's own sin, an offense he had committed against the ancestors or gods, or an attack by spiritual forces, such as witchcraft and sorcery. Thus, the diagnosis of the priest was to search for the psychological or supernatural cause of

2 3the disease, before offering possible solution.

Following the tutelary deities were what was popularly referred to as the anti-witchcraft shrines. The activities of the anti-witchcraft shrines' priests were similar to those of the tutelary gods. The main difference was that their activities focused on witch-hunting, while those of the tutelary gods dealt with the welfare of the nations. Many people were attracted to the anti-witchcraft shrines because of their claim to 'catch' witches. As Osei-Agyeman, a Ghanaian anthropologist puts it, “since witches are thought to be the principal causes of illness and of all kinds of misfortunes, the anti-witchcraft shrines haunted them in an attempt

4to eliminate witchcraft from society.” Debrunner, a Swiss missionary in Ghana in the mid-twentieth centuries, rightly points out, “they claim to provide answers to new needs” and cure social

5disturbances. Once a diagnosis was made, the priest would go on to provide a solution. The solution and the methods applied to solving such issues differed from one shrine to another. In most cases, where the cause of problem was associated with a supernatural origin, witches were brought into focus — accusations were made against some people. The victim of witchcraft accusation could be anybody, but it was often directed to

1K. A. Busia, The Challenge of Africa (New York: Frederick A Praeger, 1962), 13.2Normally, it was perceived that if it was of natural cause, the administration of the herbs would have cured the

person.3The article limits itself to liturgies. For how the problems were dealt with see Opoku Onyinah,

Pentecostal Exorcism: Witchcraft and Demonology in Ghana (Blandford Forum, Deo, 2012), 60-76.4Ophasen, Osei-Agyeman,"Art and Mystical Medicine in Kwahu Culture." Ph.D Thesis, Institute of African

Studies, University of Ghana, Legon (1990), 399.5Hans W. Debrunner, Witchcraft in Ghana: A Study on the Belief in Destructive Witches and Its Effects on the

Akan Tribes (Accra: Presbyterian Book Depot Ltd, 1961), 106.

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a close relative not the sufferer. Such so-called witches were made 6

to go through 'healing' or 'exorcism'. The process of 'exorcism' is what I refer to as liturgy here. The 'liturgy' for 'exorcism' varied from shrine to shrine. However, the general procedure of exorcism included confession of sins, singing of witch-songs, revealing the names of 'witch-spirit animals' (such as a snake, lion or tiger), and submission of 'witchcraft substances' for destruction. The main ritual was sometimes followed by a specific command of 'I take out

7your witchcraft'. After this, the person was said to have been delivered from witchcraft. The distinguishing difference between the 'exorcisms' of these shrines and those of the tutelary gods was the command to 'take away' witchcraft.

The priests of the tutelary gods did not claim to exorcise witchcraft, rather, they claimed to minimise the power of the witch. Perhaps, it was the claim to 'take away' witchcraft by the anti-witchcraft shrines that attracted many adherents to their shrines. As a result of reports received on witch-hunting, torturing, and in some cases, poisoning of witches from the colonial provincial and district commissioners, missionaries, chiefs and some educated individuals, the colonial governments closed down many shrines and eventually, all anti-witchcraft activities were suppressed at

8least publicly. Nevertheless, their activities resurfaced in the activities of self-called prophets within the mission churches, and climaxed in African Initiated Churches.

LITURGIES FROM AFRICAN INITIATED CHURCHES

A good observable liturgy of the current deliverance ministry can also be traced from the early African Initiated Churches (AICs), differently referred to as Spiritual Churches in Ghana, Zionists in

6Debrunner, Witchcraft in Ghana, 126.7After the confession of sins and depending upon the demand of the anti-witchcraft shrine's god, sometimes an egg

was broken over the head of the witch after confession; then the witch was sprinkled three times with decocted water. In some places red clay was mixed with water. Then the priest dipped the broom into t h e liquid and gently struck the top of the victim's head three times saying, yeyiwobayie (“we take out your witchcraft”). In the same way, the face and the joints of such victims are struck thrice daily or either three or seven days. Then the victim was asked to stand facing the town and the spokesman for the priest pushed the victim to go home without looking behind.

8For example, see Manhyia Record Office, "The Suppression of Fetishes"; Ghana National Archives, "Kunde or Brekune Fetish - Asakraka"; Ghana National Archieves, Koforidua, "Witchcraft," May 30, 1934: D425. Ghana National Archives, Koforidua, "Kunde or Brekune Fetish -Asakraka," March 27, 1934: Adm/KD.29/6/69.

Southern Africa, Roho in East Africa, and Aladura in Nigeria. Very much of discussion has been made on the causes of the

9proliferation of these churches in Africa, specifically, sub-Sahara. They all seem to centre on the eight causative factors discussed by Barrett. These are historical, political, economical, sociological,

10ethnic, non-religious, religious and theological.Significant to the Nigerian situation are the works of the

British Social Anthropologist, John D.Y. Peel and New Zealander's Harrold Turner on Aladura, which were some of the first studies to take the African Initiated Churches serious, and by that created

11 considerable debate. Peel's study on Aladura: A Religious Movement among the Yoruba, as reviewed by Robin Horton, shows that “religion in Africa is concerned with explanation, prediction and control of this-worldly events, a worldview which tends to persist even after 'conversion' to a world religion like Christianity or Islam.”

This discovery may not be limited to Africa alone, but as missiologists often point out, an aspect of 'culture' reflects in one's newly acquired religion.

A careful examination of AICs' activities, nevertheless, reveals that the churches claim to solve problems and heal various diseases as the main attraction. For example, it can be deduced from C. G Baëta's work that 'prophetism' is the dominant causative

12 factor; and if pressed hard, it can be recognised that the divinatory-consultation aspect of prophetism is the major attraction of these churches. The purpose of divinatory-consultation is to find out the causes of problems and diseases and solve them. Deliverance and healing are central in their activities.

9For example, see Emmanuel Kenneth Browne, "A Study of Spiritual Churches in Ghana with Particular Reference to Developments in Axim." Ph. D. Diss., University of Exeter, (1983) 65-90, Harold W. Turner, "The Significance of African Prophet Movements." Hibbert Journal 61, no. 242 (1963): 112-16; D a n i e l Avorgbedor, "Cultural Display and the Construction of Ethnic Identities in a Contemporary Independent Church: The Apostolic Revelation Society," Conference on Holidays, Ritual, Festival, Celebration, and Public Display http://aaas.ohi-state.edu/dka/ars.htm (May 29-31, 1997): 1-8; LaminSanneh, Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture (New York: Orbis Books, 1989), 180-209; John S. Mbiti, Bible and Theology in African Christianity (Nairobi: Oxford University Press, 1986), 28-31; Mobley, The Ghanaian's Image of the Missionary, 112; Allan H. Anderson, "'A Failure in ove?' Western Missions and the Emergence of African Initiated Churches in the Twentieth Century," Missiology: An International Review XXIX, no. 3 (2001): 276-86.

10David B. Barrett, Schism and Renewal in Africa (Nairobi: Oxford University Press, 1968), 92-99. Cf. Browne, "A Study of Spiritual Churches in Ghana," 70-104; Turner, "African Prophet Movements," 6.

11Harold W Turner, History of an African Independent Church I:The Church of the Lord “Aladura”(Oxford: Claredon Press, 1967; History of an African Independent Church II:The Life and Faith of the Church o f t h e Lord “Aladura” (Oxford: Claredon Press, 1967. John D. Y. Peel, Aladura: A ReligiousMovement Among the Yoruba (London: Oxford University Press, 1968).

12C. G. K. Baëta, Prophetism in Ghana: A Study of 'Spiritual Churches.' London: SCM Press Ltd, 1962), 3-6.

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The methods used in deliverance and healing differ from one church to another. However, there are some commonalities. Mostly, all of them have healing camps (also called gardens or centres). Daneel reports about the Zionist and Apostolic churches among the Southern Shona, where special days, usually Fridays,

13are set aside for this ritual. These are similar to those in Nigeria and Ghana. Depending upon the revelation the prophet may have, clients, on their initial consultation with the prophets, may be given “a prescription of fasting” for some days. As Oosthuizen also observes in South Africa, such initial diagnosis may be obtained

14through dreams or visions. The diagnostic activities are closely bound up with the personalities of the leaders who are able to carry out their activities with the strong conviction that God has called them to such ministry. Turner notices in the whole of Africa that the majority of them use aids such as olive oil, crosses, incense,

15ritualistic bath, water and 'Florida water', but without any

16indigenous herbs. However, in Ghana and Nigeria, others use

17these aids in addition to the native herbs or Western medicine. The liturgy of deliverance in many of the African Initiated

18Churches is ritualistic prayer. They differ from one church to 19

another. Many of them set up camps and set aside special days of prayer, which follow that of the tutelary gods and the anti-witchcraft shrines' days of consultation of the deities. They engage in fasting, prayer and commands, which appeared to be a reinterpretation of Jesus' dealing with the demoniacs in the

20Gospels. However, there are some differences between these and those of Jesus. In the AICs, the use of psychology could be

13M. L. Daneel, Old and New in Southern Shona Independent Churches Volume 2: Church Growth-Causative Factors and Recruitment Techniques (The Hague: Mouton & Co., 1974), 201-14.14G. C. Oosthuizen, "Diviner-Prophet Parallels in the African Independent and Traditional Churches and

Traditional Religion," G. C. Oosthuizen and Irving Hexham, eds. (Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press,1992), 173; cf. Allan Anderson, "African Pentecostalism and the Ances or Cult: Confrontation or Compromise?"

Missionalia 21, no. 1 (April 1993): 128-29, 26-39. See also Allan H. Anderson, "The Lekganyanes and Prophecy in the Zion Christian Church," Journal of Religion in Africa XXIX, no. 3 (1999): 301-304.

15This is some sort of perfume which comes from the US. It is believed to have some curative powers.H i s L e t t e r s , G e r a l d F. H a w t h o r n e , R a l p h P. M a r t i n a n d D a n i e l G . R e i d , e d s . ( L e i c e s t e r : InterVarsity Press, 1993), 580.

16Harold W. Turner, Religious Innovation in Africa: Collected Essays on New Religious Movements (Boston: G. K. Halls,

1979), 167; cf. Kofi Asare Opoku, "Letters to a Spiritual Father," Research Review 7, no. 1 (1970): 1532; Robert W.Wyllie, "Perceptions of the Spiritist Churches: A Survey of Methodists and Roman Catholics in Winneba, Ghana," Journal of African Religion XV, no. 2 (1985): 157, 142-67.

17Baëta, Prophetism in Ghana, 91, Cf. Asamoah-Gyadu, "Renewal Within African Christianity," 101.18All others include churches such as the Musama Disco Christo Church, the African Faith Tabernacle

Congregation and the Church of Messiah.19 For a detailed description, see Opoku Onyinah, Pentecostal Exorcism: Witchcraft and Demonology in Ghana

(Blandford Forum, Deo, 2012), 113-123.20Fasting and praying is usually based upon Jesus teaching in Matthew 17:21 in the Authorised version.

observed. The use of psychology was perhaps unintentionally applied to plant the idea of demonization into the highly suggestible people among the congregation, as often the prophet requested those who claimed to have been delivered, to testify about what they used to do. Psychology was also implied in repetitive singing and drumming, which often stirred people's emotions in expectation of something. In addition, there was the indirect use of magical methodologies, as some moved around with sticks in their hands, recite incantations and invocations,

21which were followed by commands. Divinatory-consultation was often employed, as most of the prophets engaged in a dialogue to find out the cause of people's problems, especially those who became violent in the process of healing and deliverance.

The deliverance services of churches, enhanced by the giving of aids, apparently strengthen the personality-spirit of those who are fearful of spiritual forces such as witchcraft and demons, so that they can face life with little fear. The prophet may then ask some to testify to what they have experienced. To this, many claim to have received deliverance. Thereafter, he assures them of God's deliverance and discharges them.

Thus, the AICs emerged as an attempt to provide solutions to the African threatened felt needs of protection of spiritual powers. However, their weaknesses, such as lack of theological framework and accountability from the ministers, made some involved in some questionable practices, such as exploitation and immorality. This tendency caused a decline and paved a way for the popularity of the classical Pentecostal churches in West Africa in the 1960s and 1970s.

By this period, classical Pentecostalism had been established through Western Pentecostals as well as indigenous

22Africans. While the Pentecostal churches were addressing these felt needs through the emphasis of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as evidenced by the speaking of tongues, the Pentecostal experience entered the mainline churches. When the Pentecostal

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21Here, magic is being understood as that defined by Arnold, “a method of manipulating supernatural powers to accomplish certain tasks with guaranteed results.” C. E. Arnold, "Magic," in Dictionary of Paul and his letters, Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin and Daniel G. Reid, eds (Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 580.

22For reading on origins of West Africa Pentecostalism see Idris J. Vaughan, The Origins of the Apostolic Church : Pentecostalism in Nigeria 1931-52 (Great Britain: Ipswich Book Company, 1991); Christopher Olubunmi Oshun, "Christ Apostolic Church of Nigeria, 1918-1978" (Ph. D. Diss., Exeter College, The University of Oxford, 1981); S. G. Adegboyega, Short History of the Apostolic in Nigeria (Ibadan: Rosprint Industrial Press, 1978, 135), and Kingsley Emmanuel Larbi, Pentecostalism: The Eddies of Ghanaian Christianity. Accra: CPCS, 2001.

experience entered into the Catholic Church in 1967, through a group of Catholic scholars at Duquesne University, it was seen by many as an answer to the prayer of Pope John XXIII during the Second Vatican Council (1962-5). Catholicism provided a fertile ground for this new crop, as prayer, Bible study, healing and worship groups spread worldwide.

The research of Dr. Chinonyelu Moses Ugwu, a psychological counsellor and also master practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming research on healing in Nigerian Church, is significant here.

He reports that in Nigeria, what led to the development of prayer ministry within the Catholic Church were two. First was the development of prayer centres that were not considered as churches. Second was the introduction of Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement in 1975, which had been introduced by healing session held by Father McNutt around 1973. For him, these two incidents inspired the Nigerian Catholic Church to join the

23'healing business'.

WEST AFRICAN PENTECOSTALISM INSPIRED BY WESTERN PENTECOSTAL PREACHERS

Two trends developed within African Christianity during the 1970s and 1980s, which eventually led to the formation of a distinct deliverance ministry and its liturgy. Firstly, in the 1970s and 1980s, some books and cassettes from some Western preachers, especially Americans, including Oral Roberts, Kenneth Hagin, Morris Cerullo, Kenneth Copeland, and Reinhard Bonnke were used to enhance the preaching of many ministers. Many sermons by the pastors in Africa were derived from materials drawn from these ministers, especially Robert's seed faith principle, which was centred on prosperity, and Hagin's faith healing.

Possibly, the most significant person in terms of influence of West African Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity, who came out of this trend was the Nigerian Evangelist Benson Idahosa. It can be said that he made a turning point in the history of

Nigerian and Ghanaian Pentecostalism. Idahosa himself had been influenced to some degree by the teachings of Oral Roberts, whose University offered him and his wife honorary doctorate degrees. Idahosa established the Idahosa's Church of God Mission International Bible School in Benin City, where he offered scholarship to many people who wanted to study. Besides the school, he had a television and radio regular programme, “Redemption Hour”, which featured in Nigeria and Ghana. Many young ministers in Nigeria and Ghana came out of his ministry. Idahosa however, did not major on deliverance; he could be termed as a healing evangelist.

The second trend (during the latter part of the 1980s and 1990s), was the interest in books and cassettes (both video and audio), which sought to increase people's awareness of demons and how to deliver them. Prominent among these materials are the books (and cassettes) of Derek Prince, Don Basham, Fred

24Dickason, Charles Kraft, and John Wimber. What can be deduced from these materials is that a person can be a Christian, baptised in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues, yet one may still have demons, ancestral and other curses in one's life, until the Holy Spirit reveals them to be dealt with. Casting out a demon or renouncing a curse can be a lengthy process, and it is only forceful men who can lay hold of it. A brief review of literature on 'demons' over Africa shows that the belief was all over Africa, South of the

25Sahara. The outcome of this reformulation is what I refer to as “witchdemonology.”

The term 'witchdemonology' is used instead of the usual Western terms 'demonology' and 'witchcraft'. The reason is that firstly, the traditional definitions of the terms 'demonology' and

23Chin?nyelu Moses Ugwu, Healing in the Nigerian Church: A Pastoral-Psychological Exploration (Bern: Peter Lang, 1998), 132-136.

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24Don Basham, Can a Christian Have a Demon? (Monroeville: Whitaker House, 1971); C. Fred Dickason, Demon Possession and the Christian (Chicago: Moody Press, 1987); Charles. H. Kraft, Defeating Dark Angels (Kent: Sovereign World, 1993, John Wimber with Kevin Springer, Power Evangelism (London; Hodder and Stoughton, new edition 1992).

25Symons Onyango, Set Free from Demons: A Testimony to the Power of God to Deliver the Demon Possessed (Nairobi: Evangel, 1979); Heaven U. Heaven, How to Cast Out Demons or Evil Spirit (Lagos: Heaven and Blessing Books, 1985); Kaniaki and Mukendi, Snatched from Satan's Claws: An Amazing Deliverance by Christ (Nairobi: Enkei Media Service, 1991); Iyke Nathan Uzora, Occult Grand Master Now in Christ (Benin City: Osabu, 1993); Sunday Adekola, Understanding Demonology (Ibadan: Scripture Union, 1993); Leonard Umunna, Victory Over Temptation Part 1: Origin of Temptation and the Way Out (Lagos: WordPower Communication Int ' l . Co.,1999); Zacharias Tanee, Delivered from Demons (Yaounde: IGH, n.d.); E. O. Omoobajesu, My Experience in the Power of This World Before Jesus Saved Me (Lagos: Omoobajesu, n.d.); Victoria Eto, How I Served S a t a n Until Jesus Christ Delivered Me (Warri: Christian Shalon Mission, 1981).

26'witchcraft' do not fit into contemporary African situations. Secondly, the contemporary understanding and practices on the African scene, are arguably a synthesis of both Western and African concepts, especially that of African traditional religions

27where the witch is often the focus. Hence, 'witchdemonology' is used to describe the beliefs and practices of 'deliverance ministry' in Africa, which are considered as a synthesis of the practices and beliefs of African witchcraft and Western Christian concepts of demonology and exorcism. Its aim is to break people free or liberate them from the influence of Satan and his allied evil powers, which bring about afflictions, bad habits, curses and failures in life. Here, issues such as alcoholic addiction, sexual deviances, the use of tobacco, drugs and chronic diseases are considered demonic. Thus, there is the need for deliverance to break people free from these vices.

DELIVERANCE SESSION: LITURGY

It is against this backdrop that contemporary deliverance ministry falls. Liberation and healing can be received either through a mass deliverance or a personal deliverance session. All clients are expected to attend the mass deliverance session. The cases that are not solved in the mass session may be taken up by a team of leaders in a special session referred to here as personal—personal in the sense that special attention will be given to such people.

TESTIMONIES

A mass deliverance session begins like a normal Pentecostal service, with opening prayer, praise, corporate expression of worship in singing and praying, and the giving of testimonies.

26For example, in the West the definition of witchcraft includes the worship of Satan, the practice of magic and sorcery;

Jeffrey Burton Russell, A History of Witchcraft (London: Thames and Hudson, 1980), 8; H. E. Wedeck and W. Baskin, A Dictionary of Spiritualism (New York: Bonanza Books, 1971), 364; The definition of demonology also includes “malevolent spirits having supernatural powers and dedicated to destruction.” Hans Holzer (Introduction), Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Witches, Demons, Sorcerers, and Their Present Day Counterparts, 1970-1971, Cathay Books Edition (London: Cathay Books, 1974), 195.

Integration of 'Pagan' Ideas Into the Conceptual Universe of Ewe Christians in Southeastern Ghana," Journal of Religion in Africa XXII (1992): 98-132. Cf. T. C. McCaskie, "Anti-Witchcraft Cult in Asante: An Essay in the Social History of an African People," History of Africa 8 (1981): 137; Derek Prince, They Shall Expel Demons: What You Need to Know About Demons-Your Invisible Enemies (Harpenden: Derek Prince Ministries, 1998), 141.

27Meyer, "'Delivered from the Powers of Darkness'," 237. Further, the title of one of Meyer's articles makes the idea

clearer, “'If You Are a Devil, You Are a Witch, and If You Are a Witch, You Are a Devil': The

During testimonies, people speak of the successes in their lives, which, for them, are answers to prayers, divine interventions or

28responses of deliverance. So-called demon possessed persons and witches who claim to have had deliverance may speak of the atrocities they supposedly committed, show signs of witchcraft possession, and tell of how they were delivered. In some places, before a prayer of deliverance is made for alleged witches, they must confess all the evils they have committed and submit their

29witchcraft substances. People may also share past dreams, especially if they think that interpretations and prayers offered by the leader had helped them escape from impending dangers.

At specific times during the testimonies, the leader intersperses comments and what I term as the display of charisma. An example is a deliverance service I attended at the beginning of 2016. During the course of giving of testimonies, the leader stood up and said that he had received an open vision where he saw that two young ladies had been covered with blankets. Any man who saw them coming by-passed them. As he looked on, he claimed he saw that their faces were uncovered and they looked very beautiful. He explained that witches had covered the faces of the two unmarried ladies, and that unless the coverings were unveiled through deliverance they would never marry. But that once they were delivered, they would soon marry. Simultaneously, the congregation stood up clapping. While some were shouting 'ditto', 'ditto', others were shouting 'amen', 'amen'. By such responses, the congregation was saying he had given the right 'word of knowledge'.

He invited all single women to come forward for prayers. Lots of young women came forward. During the prayer, some of them shook, others screamed and still others fell down and struggled for some time before they calmed down. When there was silence, someone gave a word of prophecy that the Lord had heard

28For example, one of my informants, who wants to remain anonymous, said that her husband was living abroad, she had applied for visa several times without success. After a “deliverance session,” the leader requested her to apologise to her father for any wrongdoing she had done. After she did this, the authorities granted the visa the very day she reapplied for it. This turn of fate is considered divine intervention or “the result of the deliverance.”

29For example, Maame Abora informed me about the case of Maame Agyeiwaah (a woman of over fifty years) who could not get anything to confess. When she was forced to confess, she claimed that the only sin she had committed was eating part of the meat (human flesh) of Jesus. In other words she was not par of the witches who killed Jesus, but was guilty for feasting on his flesh. AkuaAbora, Personal Communication, London, January 2, 2000.

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their prayers and many would soon come to give thanks to the Lord for proving himself faithful to them. There was a spontaneous clapping and shouts of joy.

The above narrative shows the significant roles that testimonies play in the liturgy of deliverance services. Testimonies are given to encourage others who have similar problems to come forward to be prayed for. Through such testimonies, the charismatic nature of the leader is brought into the forefront and this gives the people the hope that their needs will be met if they are prayed for by such a 'powerful person' of God. The role of the leader is very important; she/he is the one who generates the interest through his/her charisma. In the case cited, the leader claimed to have seen a vision, which was subsequently 'confirmed' by a prophetic message by another person. Such testimonies by people and the display of charisma by the leaders, prepare clients for the major work ahead—deliverance. This is similar to what Milton Erickson, an American psychiatrist, describes as “indirect

30suggestion” in hypnotherapeutic technique.

PREACHING AND THE BIBLE

Preaching follows the giving of testimonies. The roles of preaching and the Bible are interesting in many ways. The Bible is considered very important. The preaching is often centred on the power of Christ to deliver people from the power of Satan. The work that the devil does is featured prominently. Jesus' dealings with demoniacs in the gospel are used. In most cases, the preaching exhibits the preachers' concept of deliverance and shows how local people do their own theology. Frequently, the audience are made to know the importance and need of deliverance through the Bible. Most preachers do this against the background that cultural practices are hindrances to people's progress, and therefore call for serious spiritual battles. Most preachers continue with the missionaries' interpretations which they think are biblical and discontinue with the areas which they feel are not favourable to their perception of

deliverance. Here, Carl Starkloff's thesis that “a theology of the oppressed cannot be written by one not of their number, however

31supportive and sympathetic the writer may be,” comes into play. This type of preaching represents the sermons that take place at deliverance meetings. By the end of such sermons, people are already petrified, yearning for deliverance.

DELIVERANCE SESSION

Following the preaching is the mass deliverance session. Those who have presented their problems to the leaders, as well as others who need deliverance, are asked to move to the front of the congregation to form queues. The congregation sings with much expectancy, accompanied by clapping and musical instruments. The leader may then pray and also give instruction on how to pray. The instructions differ from person to person. Prayer here is considered a warfare. Prayers are often said repeatedly with gestures to 'break', 'bind', 'bomb,' trample on them', 'whip with canes', 'burn with fire of God', 'strike with the axe of God', 'cast out demons' behind diseases' and 'break' curses. The blood of Jesus and the name of Jesus are used repeatedly to rebuke sicknesses, demons, and witches. These things are done with gestures, with people moving up and down while praying. Two German professors who visited Ghana in August 2016 for research were quite disturbed about this type of prayer they observed in Ghana. They felt the fear of Satan caused the people to pray with gestures as if the gestures would break Satan's power. They felt the behaviour of the people they observed were signs of Christians who lack biblical teaching.

Meanwhile, in some places, the team members move among the people and lay hands on them. As the prayer goes on people begin to sob, groan, shout, roar, fall down and struggle on the ground. The leaders pay special attention to those who show such signs without falling down, by commanding and sometimes pushing them. Unlike the Charismatics, especially the Catholic Charismatics in the West, who, according to Thomas Csordas,

31Carl F. Starkloff, "The New Primal Religious Movement: Towards Enriching Theology as Hermeneutic," in Exploring New Religious Movements: Essays in Honour of Harold W. Turner, A Andrews F. Walls and Wilbert R. Shenk, eds. (Elkhart: Mission Focus, 1990), 169.

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30This prepares a person to enter into “one's own 'self' so that unconscious phenomena appear in the foreground due to a temporary dissociation from the realities of the surrounding world.” Godin Jean, "Evocation and Indirect Suggestion in the Communication Patterns of Milton H. Erickson," in Research in Comparison and Medical Applications of Erickson Techniques, Stephen Lankton, ed. (New York: Brunner, 1988), 6-7.

32consider falling down as resting in the Spirit, here these phenomena are interpreted as manifestations of demons. Ugwu's research shows how the Church in Nigeria including the Catholics,

33is plagued with evil spirit. Therefore, when someone struggles or falls down, some of the team members continue to cast, bind or break the power of evil on them. When there is resistance, the leader engages in dialogue with the person, asking the name of the demon. In one of these that I watched on a video, the voice claimed to be the victim's sister in-law who lived in the US. Thus, although the service was being conducted in the Akan language of Ghana, the sister was speaking in English. Unfortunately, she was not good at speaking English. After speaking for some time, the leader commanded the spirit to come out. She shook vehemently and then shouted, “I am leaving, I am leaving”, and there was silence. She was then considered delivered.

As the process of deliverance goes on, people may cough, vomit or urinate. Through the teaching of deliverance proponents like Prince, it has come to be accepted that demons may go out

34through any one of the orifices in the human body. Thus, these are considered signs of deliverance.

The process may take two to three hours, until the rumpus cools down. But this is not the end of the session. After this, some leaders call those with specific needs and pray for the groups in

35turns.Once this is done, the deliverance service will be brought to

a close by the leader requesting testimonies of deliverance and healing from those who were involved. However, since it is claimed that a person needs constant deliverance, s/he may instruct them on how to do 'self-deliverance'.

The deliverance liturgy, clearly, is the mixture of a wide range of practices, including traditional—tutelary deities, the anti-

32Thomas Csordas, The Sacred Self: A Cultural Phenomenology of Charismatic Healing (London: University of

California Press, 1994), 272.33Ugwu, Healing in the Nigerian Church, 136.34Prince, They Shall Expel, 233. See also Perry, Deliverance, 102; Interview; Bobby, Interview.

35Those whose problems are not solved almost always go through a very intensive interview by the leader before a prayer of deliverance is done for them. With the self-deliverance, the person will have to be his/her own exorcist. S/he will pray like the following: Lord Jesus Christ, I believe you are the Son of God and the only way to God. You died and rose again so that I might receive eternal life. I confess all the sins I have done. (Specific sins are mentioned here). I repent of all my sins and ask for your forgiveness. By a decision of my will I forgive all who have offended me. (Specific names can be mentioned here). I put aside all bitterness and hatred. I renounce all contacts I have made with the devil and false religions. (Specific issues can be mentioned here). I take my stand with you against all demons, witches and satanic powers. In the name of Jesus I break any curses placed against me. I command you spirit…to go away from me. Cf Adu-Boahen, Deliverance from Demons, 196-99.

witchcraft shrine, Africa Initiated Churches and biblical practices. Like the African Initiated Churches, deliverance services which demand confession of sins, submission of witchcraft objects, and drumming and dancing, follow that of the traditional shrines. The fasting, prayer and command are the re-interpretation of some scriptural verses, especially those concerning Jesus' dealing with

36the demoniacs. Similar to the African Initiated Churches, the indirect use of psychology is strong here. This is implied in the confession of witches and the repetition of songs that build up pressure on the people before deliverance is carried out. In addition to this, the techniques of hypnotherapy are applied indirectly, as

37pictured through the teaching about demons and deliverance. Here, the Pentecostals take it further than the African Initiated Churches by the use of questionnaires and interviews, which make the approach similar to that of professional psychoanalysts who allow the patients to talk freely about personal experience, in order to extract information from them. Again, like the African Initiated Churches, magical methodology is apparent in the repetition of the 'prayer languages' during deliverance.

It is still apparent that 'divinatory consultation' plays the central role in these deliverance liturgies. People often visit these services to find out the supernatural causations of their problems and afflictions, to find out about their future and to seek protection. Interpretation of dreams and visions is very central to the fame or recognition of the leader/prophet. The prophet's ability to diagnose and prescribe the type of fasting usually influences the effectiveness of the deliverance. Without the ability to divine and give oracles, a deliverance ministry will not flourish.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

38There is a paradox when the deliverance liturgy is assessed. On the one hand, it takes the culture of the people into consideration, by dealing with related beliefs and threatening fears in their newly

36

37Hypnotherapy is a “term used rather loosely to denote several different therapeutic applications.” Therapeutic is “the branch of medicine, which is concerned with the theory of treatment” or which is concerned with direct suggestions oriented toward specific treatments. H. J. Eysenck, W. Arnold, and R. Meili, eds. Encyclopedia of Psychology Volumes 1 - A-K, 1972 (Bungay: Fontana/Collins in Association with Search Press, 1975), 487.

38For a detailed evaluation of “witchdemonology,” see Onyinah, “Pentecostal Exorcism”, 222-239.

E.g. Mt. 17:21 (AV.); Mk 5:1-20.

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acquired faith, through a synthesis of both old and new patterns. As Birgit Meyer, a German anthropologist, concludes in her work about the Ewe people in some parts of Ghana, “in contrast to the mission-church Christianity… [it]… offers the possibility of approaching in safe context of deliverance what people seek to

39leave behind but still disturbs them.”

Nevertheless, taking the approach into consideration makes deliverance services very much alarming. Its preoccupation with demons and witches shows that it is an affirmation of the old order of the shrines. The advocates appear to have fallen into the weaknesses of the anti-witchcraft shrines and some of the early AICs. They promise more than they are able to offer, and often give false hopes. The approach may fit well into African cultural milieu, but the emphasis is a threat to the progress of Christianity and modernity in Africa. The approach cannot bring the African out of the fear of demons, witchcraft and other supernatural powers. This does not mean that this ministry should be suppressed; suppression has never been successful. Rather, this is to suggest that it is an incomplete ministry, which needs theological analysis of the spirit-world by theologians, in partnership with the practitioners.

39Meyer, Translating the Devil, 216.

eople in Africa expect from their Church protection and help in their struggles against the calamities of life, many of Pwhich are often experienced in terms of witchcraft and

demons. They have not always found a listening ear in the Catholic Church. Priests considered people's demons and witchcraft as mere phantasms. To conquer witchcraft, people needed education, not prayers.

People often went to seek help elsewhere. Before the advent of the Pentecostal explosion, traditional healers discerned people's spiritual afflictions largely outside of the Christian framework. Often the Christian became a “half-cast”, living the Christian faith on Sundays and following the advice of traditional experts in the contexts of life-crisis. When the Pentecostals started to deal directly with the forces of witchcraft and demons from within the Christian assembly, and calling on the Christian powers to defeat them, it was a relief for many Christians who knew themselves afflicted by these strange and malevolent powers. There was no longer any need to go for healing in the cover of the night. Since then we have been witnessing the exponential growth of charismatic Christianity in Africa that is also transforming the mainstream churches.

THE SITUATIONAL CHARACTER OF SPIRITUAL NOTIONS

Spiritual afflictions come with different names and concepts which are situational, change with new contexts, and adapt to new frameworks. A Zambian example: A person whom I accompanied was diagnosed by a pastor within the context of Pentecostal worship to be hosting “marine spirits” who needed to be cast out (“spirits from the ocean”—though Zambia is landlocked!) Indeed,

SPIRITS AND THE HEALING OF BODY AND SPIRIT – PASTORAL CHALLENGES(by BERNARD UDELHOVEN MA, Zambia)

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during the exorcism she exhibited the signs of “marine spirits”—crying out their names while she imitated to be swimming while in a trance. Prior to this, the same person had gone to a traditional healer, who confirmed her own suspicions that the witchcraft of an elderly relative was responsible for her unfortunate condition. Once she accepted a diagnosis she also experienced her condition and her life in such terms. This did not prevent her to seek also medical help in a nearby hospital for the same condition. Again, the same person came to me, a Catholic priest, and eventually bought into my way of thinking, that the spiritual attack is a challenge that should lead to spiritual growth and reconciliation. Many people juggle every day with very different frames of explanation in order to make sense out of their experiences of body and soul. Concrete beliefs in demons and witchcraft may come to the forefront in certain conditions, and go into the background in other conditions. Furthermore, any given broader discourse (say a medical discourse in a hospital, or a discourse among traditional healers, or a discourse that develops in Pentecostal healing sessions) comes with numerous sub-options that enable a process of discernment and “fine-tuning” to find out the notion that resonates best with the person's own experiences.

Many Pentecostal Churches in Africa offer spiritual healing in a way that takes for granted people's experiences with witchcraft and spirits and that corresponds with their expectations of the Christian faith. By taking part in the discernment processes about the nature of these afflictions, they also look for names that match with the patients' conditions and for corresponding Christian remedies. With the advent of Pentecostalism we started to hear about territorial spirits and demonic strongholds, about elemental and astral spirits, about familiar and monitoring spirits, about the queens of the coast and the princes of darkness, about generational curses, and about Satanism. Some of these names were given by the pastors themselves and a few were taken directly from the Bible (generational curses would be an example). But many of the names, and I consider this to be an important point, came from the afflicted persons themselves, while they were in a state of trance: in a given situation, rooted in the Pentecostal practice of deliverance that provides the framework, a new name popped up and revealed itself, from within the subtle interplay between the afflicted person (now in a trance), the exorcizing

pastor and the expecting audience of the drama/performance. This name, at that moment of time, captured the inner experience of the person better than any other name. But it also captured experiences of the onlookers.

“BOKO HARAM SPIRITS”

An example: The daughter of a teacher in a rural school in Zambia started to behave in a strange way that suggested to everybody in the school as well as to her family that she was demon possessed. A pastor was called in who tried to cast out the demons and demanded their names. The girl did not respond to the names offered by the pastor but eventually fell into a trance and cried out: “We are Boko Haram!” This was rural Zambia, not Nigeria! I do not know how “Boko Haram spirits” corresponded with the girl's own inner experiences of terror. But beyond the inner experience of the afflicted person the name of the demon resonated also with the onlookers. One Christian leader commented about it: “If the demons of Boko Haram have now entered Zambia, then we will not get rid anymore of the ritual killings!” He was referring to a series of gruesome killings in Zambia in which human body parts were removed, assumingly to be used for some forms of witchcraft; these killings received much attention by the media and rippled shock-waves throughout the country that gave rise to various incidences of mob justice against foreigners and suspected people.

Appropriating the girl's utterances, the person linked the Zambian crisis to the Nigerian crisis with Boko Haram, which was also much talked about in Zambia. The whole world seemed unable to eradicate Boko Haram while it committed horrendous atrocities; equally Zambia's authorities seemed incapable of dealing with the situation of ritual crime—hence both must be sustained by the same demonic entity. The name that the girl cried out in response to an inner experience appropriated and localised the foreign “Nigerian powers” into the Zambian context, providing a vehicle also for members of the community to express a public anxiety in the face of new forms of insecurity which are experienced in spiritual terms. The Church in her discourses has

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often described the root causes of such insecurities in secular terms (poverty, ignorance, corruption, crime, nepotism, inequalities, etc.)—but spiritual terms capture better the fact that these negative conditions can have crippling consequences for the soul. Pentecostalism here can be understood as a counter position to the secularizing tendencies that look at social and economic

1conditions in isolation from the spiritual world. THE MULTIPLICATION OF DEMONS

In Africa, we have experienced a multiplication of demons (or at least of the names of demons) ever since the explosion of Pentecostalism. Critics often use this point as an argument against the charismatic experience that sees demons everywhere and that seems to produce ever new demonic worlds. The more we pray, the more they seem to be multiplying. My own answer as a priest and anthropologist is rather simple: Demonic names and entities will continue to change as long as people's experiences with evil also change. There will always be new words for the demonic because we continue to walk through new experiences with personal and social evil. The new demonic entities and worlds sounded weird to the ears of priests who were trained in a theology that is greatly marked by the Western Enlightenment, but for the victims who experienced attacks, they captured their inner state better than the carefully worded Catholic liturgical prayers. When new demonic names spread across different sections of the population and make sense to them, it is often because they can be appropriated and be applied to people's new concerns, tensions and experiences. At the same time, the audience's concerns also flow into the inner world of the “possessed”.

Walter Wink (and also other Bible scholars) made this point already long ago for some demons in the Bible, for example for the demon named “Legio” (Mark 5) whose name recalled the fears and neurosis of the surrounding community in the Decapolis in regards

1See for example Marleen De Witte, “Altar Media's Living Word: Televised Charismatic Christianity in Ghana”, Journal of Religion in Africa, vol. 33, issue 2 (2003): 172-202, or Jim Harries, “Mission to the South, Words to the North: Reflections on Communication in the Church by a Northerner in the South”, Exchange, vol. 36, issue 3 (2007): 281-298.

2to the Roman legions and their absolute military power. Wink analysed the narrative as an interplay between Jesus, a possessed person and a neurotic community who is captivated by the powers of the demon “Legio”. In many ways, demon possessed people are the artists of a community, absorbing their tensions and expressing in the possession dramas their conflicts and neuroses. In former times in African cultural traditions, people with spirits had often

3symbolised for the community their social tensions. People with spirits therefore were not marginalised into isolation, but, through ritual dancing, drumming and singing, they were given the centre stage in the communal healing rituals. In many African traditions the spirit possessed became themselves healers—wounded healers more precisely—because through their own sickness and condition they had developed extraordinary faculties to feel themselves into the conditions of other people, and feel also the tensions in the patient's family as well as the unresolved and unspoken conflicts. Their ways of healing was never purely medical in nature, but had always also a social and reconciling component. I want to draw attention to this component in possession dramas, because I consider it of great importance in the deliverance ministry that is too often neglected. Deliverance at large should focus not on some private exorcisms but on wider forms of reconciliation and community building.

CHARISMATIC HEALING IN THE CHURCH

The Catholic Church has always understood her whole mission as a healing mission. Every true prayer in the tradition of the Church and in the sacramental life of the Church should bring healing in various ways. But the fact that Pentecostal names for spiritual afflictions (Satanism, marine spirits, spiritual husbands…) made more sense to afflicted people than the Catholic vocabulary shows that the healing discourse of the Church was/is not fully

2In Walter Wink, Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament (Philadelphia: Fortress Press,

1984).3For the Zambian context see the works of Victor W Turner, for example The Drums of Affliction: Religious Processes

among the Ndembu of Zambia (1968), but also Ute Luig, “The Road to Power or to Doom: Mircopolitics of Religion among Tonga Families in the Gwembe Valley, Zambia”, Africa Spectrum, vol. 33, issue 3 (1998): 291-310; or Ute Luig, “Besessenheitsrituale als historische Charta: Die Verarbeitung europäischer Einflüsse in sambianischen Besessenheitskulturen”, Paideuma, vol. 39 (1993): 343-355.

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understood. In response to the obvious need for help against spiritual forces, the Church made efforts all over Africa in recent times trying to re-establish the ministry of exorcism where it had been dormant.

But this ministry, which needs experts on a variety of interdisciplinary matters and which remains by its nature and guidelines highly centralised, can hardly cope with the uncountable afflictions at the grassroots, where discourses on witchcraft and spirits are deeply woven into the local social networks and expressed through cultural idioms.

At the grassroots, charismatic healing has come to attain increased importance since it answers an obvious need. While the Catholic Church recognises charismatic healing, she is certainly reluctant to acknowledge it in the form of an entity that seems rather separate from the ordinary church life. To avoid abuse, official liturgical and non-liturgical prayers for healing have been carefully formalised and official prayer meetings for healing need

4to be authorised and should, where possible, be led by a priest. The Church's careful approach to healing stresses that not all sicknesses are always cured, not even by sincere prayer. While we can pray for healing and should pray for healing, we are guided by a theology that is fundamentally geared towards eternal life and towards the reshaping of one's own life to the life of Christ—God's way of responding to our prayers for healing may sometimes be very different from our own hopes and dreams. This theology, combined with a liturgical practice that is somehow overly guarded, is not very attractive to many ordinary Christians who have concrete problems that they want to be solved in this life and not just in the life to come. In any case, whatever careful position the Vatican took, in the countries of Africa that I know, the grassroots initiatives of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, following the Pentecostal explosion, have in practice long overrun the official approach. For ordinary people it was Pentecostalism which made the healing ministry visible, and at least in Zambia, the various strands of Pentecostal practice found their way also into the “cells” of the Catholic charismatic renewal. Prayers that are

marked by the Prosperity Gospel promise very tangible results in response to faith. In the Pentecostal and charismatic practice of collaborative ministries people could discover their own

5giftedness. Young enthusiasts found an easy entry into the lose structures of the healing ministries. Here things were happening. Demons manifested and people testified that they got cured. People prayed for healing, loudly, boldly, without liturgical books, but from the heart and in the Spirit, and it was here that many ordinary Christians felt that God was listening to their prayers. Healing was extended to areas far beyond physical sickness, but included protection, removal of bad luck and of curses, the finding of an appropriate spouse, prayers for promotion at work and a breakthrough to general prosperity. “God does not want you to be poor, God does not want you to be sick!” The charismatic and Pentecostal Christian believes and proclaims that God is always responding to sincere and repeated prayers for healing, and that healing takes place on all layers of the soul, including the body, the mind, forgiveness of sin, finding one's appropriate place in the world; one's life-story should be a success in the eyes of God and also in the eyes of people. In Zambia, a number of Catholic charismatic groups scorned official Catholic theology as idealising the silent sufferer and being ignorant about the demonic entities that sustain sickness. Catholic charismatic prayers of course came with official guidelines and many official restrictions, but in practice the charismatics tried to be guided by the free flow of the Holy Spirit, and at least in Zambia, many prayers and practices took place far away from the official supervising eye of the Church.

DELIVERANCE AND WITCHHUNTS

Charismatic ministries, following the lead of Pentecostal expressions, linked the healing ministry directly to deliverance from demons. In Africa, spirits and witchcraft were always seen at the root of people's sufferings. Spreading at the grassroots, deliverance became a must, because this ministry linked up with

4See the Instruction on Prayers for Healing by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of September 2000 (the text is available on the Vatican website).

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5Even in Pentecostal churches that are marked by an absolute leadership of the founding figure, we find on a lower level very often a complementary, collaborative, and communitarian structure.

people's needs and with people's responses. In Pentecostal practice, the devil is always understood in the process of his defeat. The moment the devil is named, the devil is also beaten and expelled. This can give confidence in the sovereignty of God even in the context of sickness and misfortune. But when the believer expects a miraculous healing while the condition is not easily prayed away, he/she may come to see him/herself abandoned by God—the demons have triumphed!

Demons are always totally expelled in the Gospels and in the pastor's preaching. But the identification of sickness and misfortune with demons or with witchcraft attacks can lead to

6abuses and misconceptions. Abraham Akrong warned of the “witchcraft mentality” that is often present in neo-Pentecostal worship:

It “promotes very dangerous and naive assumptions about human life and existence, which lead to an almost infantile view of life. If every misfortune must be the work of evil agents then the assumption is that life is created perfect and

7must come to fruition without any disturbance.”

That concrete dangers which emanate from these assumptions can be witnessed in the witchhunts that have arisen from deliverance services. A year ago we had an incident in our own local Catholic school, where a Diocesan charismatic team held a rally for evangelisation, which quickly turned into a rally for deliverance. During the prayers, a girl fell on the floor into a trance, and the group discerned in her the spirits of Satanism, to which the girl responded affirmatively with convulsions. Then she said, while still in a trance: “The teacher M initiated me. He holds a very high position in the underworld.” The prayer-warriors subsequently prayed over the girl and defeated the “Satanism of teacher M”, exorcising all his satanic demons. The girl went home “delivered”. But teacher M still stands accused at school of being one of the chief Satanists, even though he was not even present during the prayers.

6See especially Shane Clifton, “The Dark Side of Prayer for Healing: Towards a Theology of Well-Being,” Pneuma, vol. 36 (2014): 204-225.

7Abraham Akrong, “Neo-Witchcraft Mentality in Popular Christianity,” Research Review, vol. 16, issue 1 (2000): 5.

Other examples are more gruesome. Some years ago I was linked up to a case where a “Christian prophecy” led to the murder of two people. A man shot dead his brother and his brother's wife and then burnt down their house on account of his ten-year old epileptic daughter, who revealed, while in a trance under prayers that were led by a Pentecostal bishop, that this brother of her father, assisted by his wife “who is a Satanist” had stolen the girl's uterus so that their own barren daughter could give birth to a child. Trance revelations, including those of children, are often taken as direct prompting of the Holy Spirit that presumably reveal the truth. As a consequence, many minority groups in society have been labelled as Satanic and demonic under the impact of Pentecostal and charismatic prayers for deliverance and on account of the public testimonies that delivered persons were encouraged to give. In full churches, delivered persons testified in “eye witness accounts” about the Satanism of such minority groups and faiths whom they claimed to have seen under the ocean in the presence of the devil. A number of suspected churches or faiths were stoned or burned

8down in public riots. Too often sessions of deliverance and healing have resulted in witchhunts, unfortunately also within the

9Catholic Church in Africa.

SIGNS AND PROPHECY

Many believe that a specialist can identify demons by a study of their symptoms. General symptoms would include the avoidance of sacred objects, violent reactions to prayer, reviling language, changing one's voice or having supernatural strength while in trance during the deliverance session. On a more specific scale, different types of demons would also come with their own specific symptoms (“Dreaming of having sex means you have a spiritual spouse.” “Dreaming of the ocean means that you have been initiated into Satanism,” etc.) People naturally look for easily

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8I have given examples in Bernhard Udelhoven, Unseen Worlds: Dealing with Spirits, Witchcraft, and Satanism (Lusaka: FENZA, 2015): 327-344.

9One among the many documented examples concerns the witchfinding activities of the Catholic Ugandan Martyrs Guilt (Heike Behrend, “The Rise of Occult Powers, AIDS and the Roman Catholic Church in Western Uganda,” Journal of Religion in Africa, vol. 37, issue 1 (2007): 41-58.)

recognisable signs of their specific afflictions. In Africa many “delivered Satanists” testified to the availability of such clear signs for satanic and demonic afflictions. Upon closer inspection, however, one quickly notices that different cultural settings come up with different lists of “sure signs”. Demons seem to be not free from tribalism! Psychologists of course know that a person who believes him/herself to be possessed will also have internalised the “scripts” that contain the repertoire of the types of behaviour that is expected during prayers and exorcisms.

The ambivalence of this approach to demons gives rise to a new importance of the gift of prophecy, directly given by the Holy Spirit to discern occult forces. If demons cannot always be clearly discerned by their symptoms, one needs to have special spiritual gifts to discern their presence: “While in the Spirit we can see the witches and the demons”, the leader of one Catholic charismatic group claimed, whose practice of deliverance I was asked to evaluate. The gifted group members had no hint of doubt about their own spiritual abilities. This left the discernment solely in their own hands, which made their ministry akin to the practice of divination.

The official Catholic Church avoids both dangers with its careful approach to demons and guidelines for the ministry of

10exorcism. While the Church's teaching affirms the belief in devil and demons (against the tide of secular answers that deny their

11existence), it is extremely careful when it comes to concrete applications. Exorcists work together in teams that include next to the prayerful Christians also councillors, psychologists and at times medical doctors. The patient receives help from the priest (spiritually) but also from the other professionals, often for a long period of time, and he/she may also be referred to receive a more specialised treatment somewhere else.

This prudent practice is surely ideal, but in the African context it is not pragmatic. Where does one find a professional psychologist? And if one is found, would he/she also be competent in knowing the local cultural realities in which the beliefs in spirits

10See the Letter to Ordinaries regarding norms on Exorcism of 1985 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

11Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Christian Faith and Demonology”, L'Osservatore Romano, English Edition (1975, July 10).

unfold? The distinction between “real demonic possession” and “imagined possession” is very problematic, even if the Church upholds that there is such a distinction. A competent team of exorcists is surely helpful also in Africa, but it will not compensate for the need of deliverance teams that are found at the grassroots and that can give meaningful help in the very context where the attacks take place: in the family, the neighbourhood, at school, or in church. In Africa, demonic attacks are anything but rare.

THE NEED FOR A PERSON-CENTRED AND INCLUSIVE APPROACH

Some years ago, the Catholic Forum in Zambia, a body made up of the bishops and of representatives of the laity and religious communities, called for a study into new phenomena of demon possession, including Satanism in Zambia, and for proposals of how to deal with them. The Faith & Encounter Centre in Zambia (FENZA) was entrusted with this research. Last year I published the outcome of the study in the book Unseen Worlds: Dealing with Spirits, Witchcraft, and Satanism, in which I explained our recommended approach in detail.

In the concrete pastoral setting, we call for a departure from an either-or approach (a condition is either demonic or medical/psychological) and propose instead a person-centred and inclusive approach. We do not start with an outside definition of a demon (or of witchcraft), but with the experience of the affected person and his/her beliefs. We recognise in his/her concepts the best possible way with which the person, at that moment, can describe what is happening to him or her. Different people hold different beliefs about demons and they should all find help and a listening ear. Their own experiences should be our starting ground, even if they sound very weird to us at times.

Our approach is inclusive: Every experience that touches a human being in an existential way and that becomes part of the person's inner autobiography, any such experience is always also spiritual in nature and belongs into the realm of prayer. The experience of the patient with spirits touches intimate layers that have unfolded in the person's own frames of reference and often has roots deep in the person's childhood. We call this the inner

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world in our approach. The inner world of a person always deserves respect; it is holy ground where also God meets the person. Inner world experiences cannot be translated by outsiders into the categories of true or false.

Personally, I do not believe in demons in the same way as the people do to whom I minister. I always seek for mundane explanations where others see witchcraft and spirits. But this, I hope, does not prevent me to feel myself as far as possible into people's experiences who come to me for help. How a person allows his/her actions to be creatively shaped by the Christian vocation becomes the focal point of our approach. A grassroots team of deliverance will never be competent in psychological and medical matters. Nevertheless it can help the afflicted in crucial ways: with prayer (irrespectively of the “true” nature of the demons), with the conquering of fear that requires a departure from a victim role, and with concrete steps aimed at reconciliation. Such teams can turn a spiritual attack into an occasion for spiritual growth.

A DOUBLE SHIFT IN FOCUS

In our engagements with afflicted people we slowly work towards a shift away from a focus on outer spirits, whose existence we don't deny but whom we cannot control, towards the inner spiritual conditions that are within the person's reach and that have an affinity or a connection with these outer spirits (real or perceived). This goes hand in hand with a shift away from a focus on demons to a focus on the demonic. We call afflictions demonic not when they are painful but when they have the potential to seriously derail a person from his/her Christian vocation and source of life.

For example, many people in Africa, motivated by certain strands of Pentecostal preaching, see a demon in their condition of HIV, and they come for prayers in the hope that this demon can be cast out by a person of faith. They ask God for a miracle and have the faith that God can bring it about. Today many Christians consume on daily basis examples of such dramatic deliverance sessions and testimonies on Africa's evangelical radio and TV stations. During prayers many “manifest” demonic attacks: they

fall into trance and behave in a way in which the praying community recognises the signs of demon possession. A person trained in psychology would possibly link such manifestations to the strong wish that the sickness be a demon: The HIV virus cannot be defeated in medical terms, but a demon can be exorcised—once it is exposed as a demon in a dramatic manifestation, which the patient readily delivers to the audience.

When people who think of their medical condition in terms of a demon come to our group for prayers, we always encourage them to seek medical treatment. But we will also pray for them and with them, since any grave illness is also spiritual in nature, since it affects the person's hopes and fears in a very existential manner. It affects their inner world. While I do not believe that HIV is a demon, I do believe that the HIV/AIDS scenario can be demonic. HIV has led many people into despair, into a life of lies, the search for scapegoats, a conspiracy of silence, some into suicide and others into resignation into alcohol—bringing about the destruction not only of their own lives but also of their families. But the same virus can also be a channel of grace: It has provoked others to become more open to their partners in an effort to be remembered for something good, and make the best possible use of the remaining time to draw closer to their children and loved ones, and draw closer also to God. The response of faith in the face of the condition is the locus of our discernment. This is the shift from a focus on demons to a focus on the demonic. This applies of course not only to painful conditions. Money and success in Africa are often understood as God's blessing. But in our approach they can also be demonic: once people became rich, many forget God and also their duties towards family and society.

Deliverance then is not only something that some demon-possessed people may need. We all need deliverance and pray for deliverance every day in the Our Father. While we find many helping forces on our journey of faith, we also find many stumbling blocks, adversaries, and “Satan” who want to derail us from our vocation. Pentecostalism, by naming these forces as demonic, have made us more aware of the need for prayer and for God's active intervention to keep us on track.

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Our shift in focus offsets a strong dualistic framework within which many people view their demonic attacks. The gospels portray Satan as an agent who can derail us, but whose attacks can also strengthen us—he helped Jesus (involuntarily of course) through the temptations to find his true mission as Son of God (Mt 4:1-11). Whether Satan brings us down or up depend not so much on his nature but on our own response and on God's grace. We are also reminded of the Biblical fight of Jacob (Gen 32) with what seemed to be an evil force, but which turned out to be an encounter with God himself. Jacob wrestled with the intruder until he released a blessing. Interestingly, the spiritual attack is sandwiched into the narrative of Jacob's reconciliation with his estranged twin-brother, whom he greatly feared. The spiritual attack leads to a story of reconciliation. In the same way, our recommended approach is not about praying away spiritual attacks, but about wrestling with them until they release a blessing—which often translates into direct efforts towards reconciliation with estranged parties.

We apply the same logic also to witchcraft attacks. In our approach we remain unable to ascertain whether a certain person uses witchcraft against a client who feels bewitched. Our starting point is that the client believes to be attacked by witchcraft. This fear is existential and deserves to be part of our prayers. However, instead of focusing on neutralising the external witchcraft, we focus on the Christian obligation to make sincere efforts to mend broken relationships, including the relationship with the witch. This hopefully leads to a change in the inner dispositions of the client that make witchcraft work, that “activate” it, so to say, and allow it to affect his/her soul. To use the metaphor of spiritual warfare that is often used in Pentecostal ministries: in our approach we direct this warfare not at some external demons and witchcraft attacks, but at broken relationships and obligations to which the attacks often point as well as at the corresponding negative emotions that need to be transformed where a person wants to accept the Kingdom of God. We explain to people who come for help that in as far as witchcraft is spiritual it needs to attach itself to some corresponding inner spiritual conditions, like hatred, fear or guilt. People who do not fear the witch, and who have no outstanding issue with the witch, who do not even hate the witch, and who do not use any form of witchcraft themselves, are much less likely to be affected by witchcraft attacks than those who do.

THE DISCERNMENT OF TRUTH IN THE INNER WORLD

The inner world plays a crucial role in our approach. Here a person experiences witchcraft attacks and demons, but hopefully also God's interventions. The inner world contains a person's experiences, dreams, thoughts, inner autobiography, sense of belonging and ways of making sense of what is going on. The outer world in our approach is not so much a world of outer facts (which is often impossible to ascertain in contested witchcraft disputes—though of course we try to do so). Instead, it is the world that proves itself in communication between people of different beliefs and worldviews—between people on both sides of a divided community. The outer world therefore is far from being static; it is a world that constantly evolves and that we always try to enlarge so as to find more common ground between fractured zones. The awareness of spiritual truths arises from the inner world, where the person knows God to speak sometimes in direct ways. Biblical examples would be Isaiah's vision in the temple (Is 6), Stephen's vision of the heavenly Jesus prior to his death (Acts 7:55-56) or Paul's conversion when meeting with the risen Christ. Encounters with spiritual truths pass through the inner life of a person, and are also filtered through this inner life, linking up with its symbolic frameworks. Both Paul and Stephen saw the risen Christ, but they did so in different ways: Stephen spoke of Jesus as sitting at God's right hand, Paul as an overpowering light. Saint Teresa of Avila knew that God can speak to us in the inner world, but so can the devil. Today we know of course that also the whole of our unconscious worlds express themselves in our inner worlds.

In the Catholic Church, the process of discerning spiritual truths is in the hands not of an individual person, but of the Church at large, which is guided by the bishops. Thereby the Church makes a distinction between an inner experience of an individual and the discernment process of the spiritual truths that are linked to this experience. This distinction is crucial in our approach, both in regards to spiritual attacks but also in regards to the prophetic gifts of the helper.

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A BOY IN A MOUNTAIN

To give examples from the Zambian background: We have a support group for people who are or who feel afflicted by witchcraft or spirits. Once we prayed over a boy and his sister who had come to the group for help. After we had prayed and the people had gone, one of the women of the prayer group, a member of the Charismatic Renewal Movement known to have the gift of prophecy, stayed behind to share with me a vision she had during our prayers, a vision of seeing the boy locked up in a mountain, unable to come out, while the girl was struggling with a snake. I told her: “It is not the mountain of the boy; the boy did not see the mountain. It is not the snake of the girl. It is your mountain and your snake!” At first, the woman was shocked, and refused, “The boy was in the mountain, not me!” I told her that the prophecy is not necessarily about the boy and the girl; it may even be about the woman herself or about our own group. The woman did well to tell me about the vision, and I did not doubt that she had seen in her vision what she narrated. But to say that the boy was locked up in a mountain in a spiritual sense would be to project a truth of the inner world into the outer world. While the visionary is the owner of his/her inner experience, he/she is not the owner of the spiritual truth of this experience as far as it concerns others. The woman was at first not happy with my response. But then I decided to take her symbols into prayer with our group (without the boy and the girl, of course). I felt that the symbols were very powerful, and in the prayer service we applied them to ourselves: We shared what being trapped in a mountain would mean for each one of us and for our group as a group. The sharing became very personal, and even the woman herself spoke about her own ways of being trapped. It was one of our most powerful prayer events within our group. Though we denied the symbols to be applied directly to the specific boy and girl, we allowed them in another way to be truly prophetic. A playful attitude with visions can give room to a creative engagement with its symbols and an interpretation that leads to growth rather than blame.

INNER EXPERIENCES AND OUTER TENSIONS

In my ministry I was privileged to gain a glimpse into the inner lives of many demon-possessed people and confessing “Satanists” who shared their rich experiences with me and with our support group. Through listening to these experiences, two convictions formed in me: The first one is, and this is not really something new, that demon possession often (but not always!) is related to an inner terror that people experience, that can sometimes be seen as a response to trauma, sometimes to abandonment, and very often to an awareness that they are not really belonging to their families and to the parts of society to which they would like to belong or should belong. Demons attach themselves to these conditions, whether they be outer demons or inner, “psychological demons”, which we can never ascertain in our approach.

But apart from these painful inner conditions, many people who experience themselves as demon-possessed and are recognised by the community as such, also have an extraordinary ability to absorb tensions that also the community experiences and to re-enact these tensions in dreams, visions, and also while in trance in the presence of an audience. Such tensions can be on the level of the family, but they can also be located on a much wider scale. The following examples may illustrate this point:

“BEING ATTACKED BY THE SPIRIT OF MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER”

One young woman suffered from regular, violent attacks, many of which happened in my presence. She would at one point stop speaking, even in the middle of a sentence, stare at something on the wall, and then fall to the ground. There she passed out into bodily convulsions (not imitable), continuously squeaking with a soft voice, during which she grabbed her own throat with both hands, as if trying to strangle herself with all her strength. It took several adults to overpower her. The family members recognized in these manifestations a family drama of a past generation. Her paternal great-grandmother had been killed by hanging as a witch by her own family. Her mother gave me this interpretation: “My daughter has the same name as her father's grandmother. She

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inherited her bad spirit. Now the spirit wants to initiate my daughter into the same forms of witchcraft.” The mother was deeply afraid of the witchcraft of her late husband's family. After the death of her husband (ten years prior to the onset of the attacks), she avoided all contact.

The family tried out various solutions that were offered within the Catholic Church. The condition of the daughter was not resolved by saying Mass for the late great-grandmother. Nor was it resolved by prayers of the charismatics, who tried to “bind” the bad spirit of the great-grandmother. It was however greatly eased by re-entering a relationship with the father's family. They had not met for ten years! After extended prayer and a house Mass together with the two estranged parties for the late father of the girl (who was the link between the two families), followed by a common meal, the attacks somehow ceased. For us, the possession dramas pointed towards family memories that had been silenced by the rest of the family. The girl's own heightened sensitivities (after all, she bore the same name as her great-grandmother) manifested these tensions and became a spiritual call for reconciliation for the family. “DREAMING OF MY LATE MOTHER”

One middle-aged woman had a recurring dream that was compellingly real, and which frightened her. She dreamt of her mother. Her mother had died many years earlier. Now, in the recurring dream, she saw her mother as if she had just died. The whole family was gathered around the coffin, aggrieved and sad. Waking up, she knew that her mother had appeared to her and wanted to say something. At first she thought in negative terms: “Maybe my mother is warning us that witchcraft attacks are at work in our family. Soon somebody will die!” But a Christian councilor managed to give the dream experience a positive direction. He asked the person several times to narrate the details of the dream: “Who was at the coffin? How did they look like?” The woman then recalled that there was also her niece, the orphan-daughter of her late brother. She was standing there at a distance, not really part of the group, and she looked sad and also very poor. The elder then asked more questions about this niece. The woman

explained that she was kept by her mother's relatives, but that she was not well cared for. She did not even go to school. The elder told her: “The dream is clear. Your mother is telling you that you should care for your niece! This is a question of life and death!” The woman felt instantly that the explanation was correct. It prompted her to welcome her niece to live in her house and to bring her to school. She feels today that she has appeased her mother—one appeases the dead by caring for the living. Everybody in the family had known that the niece was not well cared for; positive action, however, was only taken when this woman with a heightened sense of awareness of a neglected family duty responded to a compelling dream.

“HAUNTED BY DREAMS OF HAVING SEX WITH MY LATE HUSBAND”

Another woman came to our group for help. She was dreaming of her late husband. He had died ten years earlier. But now he came back in her dreams to force himself on her and have sex with her. These dreams were very uncomfortable. She was Catholic and went at first to a priest, who offered to say Mass for her late husband. But she continued to be disturbed by his figure whom she experienced now as a negative shadow who brought disturbance to her day-to-day activities. She then asked prayers from members of the Charismatic Renewal. These members discerned that she had a “spiritual husband”, a demon in form of her late husband, who needed to be exorcised. Several times they prayed over her, but the dreams and negative experiences with this “shadow” did not seize. Next she went to a traditional healer. He told her that she was still with the shade of her late husband. In Zambian cultural traditions, once a spouse dies, the remaining spouse needs to be cleansed by the late spouse's family, else the shade will continue to meddle into the spouse's affairs. The traditional healer offered private cleansing rituals with a number of herbs and a ritual bath. Again, it did not seem to help. When the woman came to our support group, asking for prayers, we learnt that she had been offered already various different explanations for her condition. Instead of trying to put forward yet another interpretation, we asked her what she herself

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thought was the cause. She replied that the answer of the traditional healer made a lot of sense to her. “I am with the shade of my late husband.” Now the healer had tried to cure her with a private healing ritual. But according to the cultural dynamics, it is only the family of the late spouse who has ritual control over the shade. The cultural dynamics pointed to a broken relationship with her late spouse's family. One member of our group then asked her how she was going on with them. She mentioned that all had been well for the first five years after her husband's death. Tensions arose after she changed the ownership of the house to her own name and the name of her children. The member of our group asked: “When did the shade of your late husband first appear?” Only then did she realise that it was at the same time!

We said that she needed to talk with her late husband's family. This was very difficult for her. But finally she got in touch with them and invited some for our prayer service. Before we prayed, we talked about the issue of the house. The members of her late husband's family shared with her their frustrations, saying that the woman was wrong to register the house in her own name. “Why did you not discuss this first with us?” But at least they again talked with each other. We then prayed together, and they even blessed her. The experience of the bad dreams and of the interfering shadow stopped from one day to the next.

What could not be solved by prayers for the dead (looking at the shade purely as a spiritual force) or by prayers of deliverance (praying for the troubled woman just by herself), was fruitfully addressed by the process of re-entering relationships with the family of her late husband.

In our approach we do not pretend that cultural notions of the spirit world and affected people's images of their afflictions are always perfect. But where we develop a sense of playfulness with cultural and with personal notions, we should always find a way of working with them instead of working against them, because cultural concepts usually allow for an interpretation to be pulled into different directions. Uncomfortable dreams or spiritual encounters have often been used in Africa to accuse others of witchcraft. But the same dreams can also be given a positive and

life-giving direction, if one applies cultural discernment patterns in an intelligent way. Success in the deliverance ministry should not be counted by the numbers of exorcised demons but in view of attempts towards reconciliation.

TESTIMONIES OF SATANISM

It would be rather limiting to apply witchcraft symbols and images of the demonic only to the realm of close interpersonal tensions. They can become a mirror for tensions also on a wider scale and reveal fracture zones in society that many feel but few can express. The perception of “Satanism” in many African countries is an example. Empirically speaking, Satanism does not exist in Zambia

12as a formal, organised group of any substantial degree. However, during the moral panic of Satanism in Christian Zambia, which peaked ten years ago and which is far from having died out, many people testified publicly in churches about their past involvement in Satanism. Many narrated that they had joined the satanic world involuntarily, “without knowing what it was”, and confessed to crimes such as “worshipping the devil with other Satanists in hidden places where only the initiated can reach”, “sacrificing family members and drinking their blood”, “causing road accidents through satanic tools” and “manufacturing consumer goods in satanic factories which make them irresistible on the market.” Audiences of such testimonies asked themselves how youths and sometimes children would make up such detailed stories, if they were not true. In other times, such images would have been dismissed as teenage freaks of the imagination. But while the satanic panic prevailed, and still today, the stories seemed plausible for many people across the educational divide in Zambia. Apart from looking at the inner experiences of the affected people, we also have to ask why such testimonies pull large crowds, why so many people speak about them, and why many want to believe in them. The stories must offer something which people find not

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12I refer to Unseen Worlds (2015) for more information on various researches on the types and perception of Satanism in Zambia.

addressed in the normal and domesticated religious expressions. Confessing Satanists have turned the testimony of their own life story into a revolting and repulsive autobiography; they graphically expose the unseen dangers of Africa's fast-changing societies and, since all testimonies end in a demonstration of the superior power of Christ and of the Christian community, they also confirm the believer in his/her Christian faith. Maybe it is because of this tangible demonstration of the superiority of the Christian powers that many people want to believe in such testimonies in times of great uncertainties. Beyond that, however, they also want to wake up society from its sleep, including their priests and pastors: Normal politics, normal economics and normal prayers do not reach the bottom of their problems.

Following our method of allowing such images to be disturbing, without objectifying them in the outer world, we compare the testimonies with works of art from wounded artists—even if they are abhorrent and revolting. Art is not so much about truth and falsehood. It rather gives us tools and images to think with. When Satanists are said to drink the blood of their family members, we ask about the social forces and realities that drain people of their life-forces and that destroy today the African families. When Satanists are said to meet in places to which the uninitiated have no access to, we ask about the opaqueness of the economic conditions, where access to a job and even to education depends only on the right connections. When Satanists are believed to fabricate consumer goods with the help of human body parts which make them irresistible, we ask about the powers that ever new consumer goods hold over us and over the youth. But while we ask these questions and relate the concepts of Satanism to social and economic issues, we do not secularise these notions. We acknowledge them to be spiritual in the sense that these forces impact on people's inner lives and souls—they belong as much in the religious discourse and in the realm of prayer as they belong in the secular. The panic of Satanism is a wake-up call for a better moral discourse to deal with modern life and its dreams, where

“normal politics” and “normal prayers” after the erosion of traditional values have failed to reach the depth of people's

13alienation.

SPIRITS AND GENDER

14Women and men do not perceive spirits in equal terms. Spirit possession is much more common among women. While deprivation and compensation theories start with a perceived lack that a possessed person is presumed to experience in “real life”, in our own approach we prefer to look for the inner potential of the person that is underutilised or idle. Instead of asking, “What is wrong with this person?” we ask about the gifts that are calling to break through and bubble out into public life. In our approach, we do not deny that experiences of possession by spirits or demons can be mixed with experiences of trauma, abuse, a lack of belonging, and other negative and limiting factors. Nevertheless, even here the ultimate aim is the discovery of the person's hidden potential. People possessed by spirits have a message that needs to be heard. Trauma exiles many people into silence. The spirits, in contrast, force the person to cry out, become a public figure, and leave the solitary confinements imposed by oneself or by society. The possessed start a process of symbolisation of invisible forces that many other people also experience without being able to put this into words. We help them to do this in a Christian framework.

For many young women social life can become very limited with the onset of marriage. While the man sees his role as going out into the world, the role given to many young married women is to stay at home and look after the children. “I am asked to be the lock of the house,” said one young woman who eventually came to be possessed by spirits. Before getting married, she had been active at church and at school. She had been an object of desire for many. Now she could no longer attend the choir, have

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13This interpretation is adapted from the work of Birgit Meyer, who proposed to look at Satanism as a new moral discourse that outlines the right and wrong ways of getting rich in the context of the wide acceptance of the Prosperity Gospel in Africa. For example Birgit Meyer, “'Delivered from the Powers of Darkness' Confessions of Satanic Riches in Christian Ghana,” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, vol. 65, issue 2 (1995): 236-255, or Birgit Meyer, “The Power of Money: Occult Forces and Pentecostalism in Ghana,” African Studies Review, vol. 41, issue 3 (1998): 15-37.

14I have elaborated the following descriptions in greater depth in Unseen Worlds (2015): 167-182.

friends, be admired and play a public role. The spirits gave her back a public role, taking her out of the confinements of the house. Any attempt to free such a woman from the spirits or demons must go hand in hand with seeking an alternative way of bringing her out of the confinements of the domestic unit and giving her a meaningful role in the community, thus building on her talents and potentials.

If more women are afflicted by the spirits than men are, certain questions need to be asked about the platforms given to women in the social, political and religious spheres, including the Church. We need to acknowledge that women's experiences with the spirit world (and with God!) cannot be translated directly into non-gendered expressions. If many women find it easier to gain access to the spirit world than men do, and if they find this access in different ways than men do, then their experiences need to be given also a unique voice and place in the Church. Only then can we say, as a Church, that we are dealing meaningfully with the problem of spirit possession.

HEALING AS A DRAMA

So far I have linked the possessed persons' inner world experiences to the fracture zones of their surroundings to which they developed extraordinary sensitivities. But if this remains an abstract and intellectual exercise we miss a point. My own experiences with the healing ministry teaches me that some people, who experience themselves to be demon-possessed, are greatly helped by a form of public drama, which becomes a rupture. Here we come back to the heart of the charismatic and Pentecostal experience, which should by its very nature also be a healing drama.

Hans-Urs van Balthasar is one of the theologians who looked at God's actions and human responses in the terminology of the divine drama. The whole of the Catholic liturgy can be regarded as a re-enactment of this drama: God's coming into the world, his abandonment to his salvific death on the cross, his entering into the underworld or into Hell on Holy Saturday, and his resurrection, ascension and the outpouring of his Spirit. In the Western Catholic celebration of the liturgy, this drama is unfolding largely on the cerebral level, where carefully pre-formulated and approved

prayers are meant to lead the believer to accept this Divine drama, again and again, and allow this drama to shape his/her inner and outer life.

In the African, Pentecostal and charismatic setting, this drama unfolds not just on the intellectual, cerebral level but is mediated by the whole human body. In charismatic worship the believers stand and raise up their hands. They pray loudly and boldly. They call on the Lordship of Jesus Christ, with their own voice and words. They surrender, believe in His power to forgive sins, and believe that they receive as a community of believers the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This goes hand in hand with the deliverance from evil forces, which is not always sober and would not always fit into the rubrics of the liturgical books. It often includes the element of catharsis, the purgation and purification of very strong emotions, which should be experienced as disturbing, as the demons did in the time of Jesus, but which in the unfolding of the drama should also lead to relief, after the person has experienced the deep emotions that may be associated with events in the past which had been repressed, and had never been adequately expressed, experienced or addressed. In some churches and groups the drama is ecstatic, accompanied by shouting, stamping, falling and crawling in a trance; some vomit out “demons” and “mystical objects” in dramatic expressions; others are “slain by the Holy Spirit” and experience his inner peace when he takes control over their tongues, bodies, and senses. Charismatic worship has to do with drama, in which everybody participates, and where the believer wants totally to surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Catholic theologians will find a number of pitfalls to criticise in many charismatic and Pentecostal deliverance practices in Africa, for example a strong dualistic framework, an uncritical acceptance of a blunt prosperity gospel, or the whole-sale demonization of African religion and cultural practices from a rigid born-again framework. In a heightened sense of awareness, many may confuse the Holy Spirit or demons with their own feelings and with trance experiences, including hypnosis. Ethical dilemmas in the healing ministry, reaching from subtle forms of group pressure to explicit forms of exploitation of people who come with very high hopes but in very vulnerable states, should not be neglected.

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But we should not overlook a point that may well be missing in the main-stream Catholic practice, namely the intense experience of the divine drama with one's own body. I know of a number of people who, as if drawn by a magnet, found healing in charismatic prayers through this element of catharsis. They needed a form of public drama for their deliverance which they could not find in the sober prayers of the usual liturgy.

Are there ways through which one can limit the dimensions of such drama that are most vulnerable to abuse and to misunderstanding?

In our own healing ministry we avoid the terminology of spiritual warfare that circles around the powers of some individual charismatic “prayer-warriors” or exorcists. Alternative rituals can bring out more clearly the dimension of the power of the believing community's faith, while also providing a peaceful atmosphere of prayer with an emphasis on growth, not extraordinary spiritual battles.

We have made very positive experiences with rituals that invoke a symbolic burial rite, reminiscent of baptism: where the demon-possessed were symbolically buried by their relatives so as to rise again to new life in the Church, a life without the demons. Demons left without any formal exorcism and even without any extraordinary battles, just by the flow of the ritual within the setting

15of a supportive community.

Well-prepared rituals that engage the Christian community can give the support that people need at the time they feel overpowered, without falling into the trap of a showdown between the powers of the devil and the powers of the healer or pastor. The healing rituals that we advocate are community-centred. All members play a role: some listen to the stories of the possessed long before the ritual is arranged. Others help them to reflect on their meaning. Others prepare the Bible texts, others prepare the songs. Many eventually will lay hands on the sick and pray for them and with them in their own way. The possessed are allowed to fall into trance. But they are also allowed to stay calm and remain themselves. After the ritual, others will revisit the respective families. My experience is that a well prepared healing ritual will

renew as much the church community as it renews the individual sick to whom it is administered. When such a ministry of healing also looks at the social tensions that are revealed in the possession dramas, then prayers for deliverance will always go hand in hand with efforts of reconciliation, community building, and addressing the tensions brought about by injustice. Precisely because of the ability to express social tensions in the dramas of possession, the charismatic ministry can bring a certain prophetic role also to the ministry of Justice and Peace. Where demons remind us of our neglected responsibilities towards family, marriage, parenthood, work and society, to which they often point, prayers for deliverance should empower a person and the supportive community to address these issues. Where such concerns are bypassed, we should not even pray for deliverance—let the demons continue to haunt and do their job!

15See Unseen Worlds (2015): 190-206 for an extended narrative of such a symbolic burial rite.

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Third UnitREADING THE BIBLE

IN THE AFRICAN CONTEXT

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he Bible is Good News for all People and also for Africa. But, before the Second Vatican II Council, Catholic TChristians were not used to reading the Bible. In fact, as we

know, the 16th century Reformers had insisted on the Holy Scriptures. In reacting to this, the Catholic Church insisted on the sacraments and was reluctant to place the Bible in the hands of the faithful. Fortunately, with Vatican II and the ecumenical relationships, the Catholic Church revalued the Word of God. The dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum talks about the two tables which nourish our Christian life: the table of the Word of God and the table of the body and blood of Christ (Dei Verbum, 25).

In Africa too, the Catholic Christians began to read Bible. They try to find in the Holy Scripture a light on the way of their life and the responses to their so many problems. But reading the Bible as the word of God is not so easy. The problem already arose in the newly-born Church. Let us remember what is said in the second letter of Peter: So we have confirmation of the words of the prophets; and you will be right to pay attention to it as to a lamp for lighting a way through the dark, until the dawn comes and the morning star rises in your minds. At the same time, we must recognize that the interpretation of scriptural prophecy is never a matter for the individual. For no prophecy ever came from human initiative. When people spoke for God it was the Holy Spirit that moved them (2Pet 1:19-21 NJB).

That is why we need to indicate the role and hermeneutics of Bible reading in the Catholic Church in Africa. What I am going to say is not new. There are so many hermeneutic principles of reading the

Bible in Africa. Let me retain only four of them:

- reading the Bible while respecting some methodological exigencies,

- reading the Bible as a whole,- reading the Bible in the Church and with the Church,- reading the Bible in the perspective of inculturation.

Finally, the word of God turns us to Jesus, God made flesh, this is the principal hermeneutic key for reading the Bible.

1. READING THE BIBLE IN AFRICA:METHODOLOGICAL CHALLENGES

The challenge of African readings of the Bible started earlier with the first African Churches, in Egypt and the Northern parts of Africa. That challenge continued with the African indigenous Churches born during colonialism. They read the Bible in the perspective of liberation. For these Churches, taken over by the numerous reawakening movements, foreign or indigenous, the Bible, source of salvation, protects and heals.

We know also what I call the informal readings of the Bible. They don't come from authorities of any Church. But, they flow from the present-day craze of the Bible. This can be seen in the popular music that influences and shapes life. The informal reading of the Bible is also reflected by public and private vehicles, in the form of stickers with Biblical quotes.

Despite important reservations, it must be noted that the Afro-Christian Churches testify to the really liberating capacity of the Bible. For them, the Bible liberates from Western oppression as well as from that of traditional society. The informal readings indicate at the same time a desire of the Christian life, a quest for protection, a proclamation of faith or a fashion. Sometimes one aspect overlaps the other. But those readings need protection against fundamentalism.

In fact, fundamentalism, the literal reading of the Bible, is the main danger encountered in biblical hermeneutic. For fundamentalists, the inspired Bible needs neither the mediation of the tradition nor the tools of science. For them, tradition and

THE ROLE AND HERMENEUTICS OF BIBLE READING IN THE CATHOLIC

CHURCH IN AFRICA(by PAULIN POUCOUTA, UCAC, Cameroon)

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exegesis denature the Word of God which becomes a human word subject to human will. Fundamentalism is not only an intellectual error. It can have serious existential and ethical consequences. In times past, a fundamentalist reading of the Bible was used to justify slavery, colonisation and apartheid. Today, in some parts of Africa, it leads to the approval of war and its atrocities. So, the Pontifical Biblical Commission is right in assimilating it to intellectual and existential suicide:

The fundamentalist approach is dangerous, for it is attractive to people who look to the Bible for ready answers to problems of life. It can deceive these people, offering them interpretations that are pious but illusory, instead of telling them that the Bible does not necessarily contain an immediate answer to each and every problem. Without saying much in many words, fundamentalism actually invites people to a kind of intellectual suicide. It injects into life a false certitude, for it unwittingly confuses the divine substance of the biblical message with what

1are in fact is human limitations.

We see the necessity of an exegetical approach. But there are various methods and approaches of reading the Bible. The Pontifical Biblical Commission describes many of them. We can

2resume them in two tendencies: diachronic and synchronic.

In that way, some African scholars use diachronic analysis, concentrating on the genesis of the texts. Others prefer the synchronic methods (semiotic or narrative approaches). The diachronic approach makes it possible to perceive the subversive dynamics of the Word of God for every people and its culture. The synchronic approach allows for paying attention to the biblical text and the richness of cultural proximity between the African world and the biblical world.

Anyway, the Catholic African readings of the Bible must be rigorous and critical for all readers of the Bible, even the most

3simple ones. But, these readings must give priority to a contextual, existential and ethical perspective. They must be completed by pastoral methods.

The pastoral methods of Bible sharing are varied and rich. The BICAM – Biblical Centre of Africa and Madagascar – proposes a syllabus for the formation of future pastors in biblical

4apostolate, in English, French and Portuguese. Nevertheless, the most famous of such methods is that of Bishop Oswald Hirmer, known as the Lumko method from South Africa, but today employed by Christians and the biblical circles all over the world. The seven stages of the method are: inviting (the Lord), reading (the Word of God), looking in astonishment, listening, (the Lord speaks to us), sharing (the word with brothers and sisters), plan of action (deciding together), praying (spontaneous prayers and

5songs).

2. READING THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE

Secondly, the Bible must be read as a whole. Here arises the delicate problem of the relationship between biblical theology and exegesis. That is why the Pontifical Biblical Commission recommends a canonical exegesis:

So, one interprets each biblical text in the light of the Canon of Scriptures, that is to say, of the Bible as received as the norm of faith by a community of believers. It seeks to situate each text within the single plan of God, whereby the goal is

6presentation of Scripture truly valid for our time .

In fact, without biblical theology, exegetical studies are limited to nourishing intellectual curiosity about the social, political and cultural life of antiquity. The Bible is above all a theological book. Applying exegetical methods mechanically is to betray not only the aim of the Bible but also of exegesis itself.

But Biblical Theology runs the risk to look up exegesis in ideological or confessional propositions. Exegetical research would rather be above such considerations. It intends to favour dialogue with other sciences, thus showing the universality of the

1Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, Nairobi, Paulines Publications Africa, 2011, p. 64.

2Cf. Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, Nairobi, Paulines Publications Africa,

2011.3 thSee 12 Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, The Message of the Synod on the Word of God, n. 5.

4Cf. BICAM / CEBAM, Biblical Apostolate in Priestly Formation. Syllabus / Cours d'Apostolat Biblique dans la Formation des Prêtres- Programme / Apotolado Biblico na Formaçao sacerdotal Syllabus, Cotonou, Publications du CEBAM / BICAM Publications, 2009.

5O. Hirmer, The Pastoral Use of the Bible: Gospel Sharing Methods, Delmenville, Lumko Missiological Institute, 2003.

6Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, p. 79.

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Word of God. Also, critical methods lead to a better perception of the many dimensions of the text, the different possibilities opened by a passage, and the complexity and richness of the Bible.

Thus today few scholars think in terms of separating biblical theology and exegesis. The two are intertwined. Exegesis leads to uncovering God's adventure in history. Better still, it penetrates the tradition of the Church.

Finally, if the Word of God is the soul of theology, theology reminds us that the Bible is a theological book. In Africa, this rediscovery of the link between the Bible and theology allows for building a bridge between biblical studies and theologians. It assures a cross-fertilisation and the unity in reading the Bible.

That is why we have to discover the message of Holy Scripture, the different books and letters of the Bible, its different parts as one unity. Faith is the basic principle of this unity and the starting point of biblical theology. For the Jews it is the Lord who gives unity to the whole of the Old Testament. For Christians, Jesus Christ is the Principle of that unity. He transforms all the biblical books, which are linked to one another, into an organic whole. So as it was written by Bolaji Idowu:

The Bible must be read as a whole book. You cannot split up the Bible into parts, and for the Christian the Old and New testaments form a unity. Neither is complete without the other. The relation between the Testaments is like someone speaking to a friend. You have an idea to express which is greater than your mind and then you begin to gesticulate and finally you say to your friend: you see what I mean, don't you. And he will say yes, because he sees what you mean without your verbalizing it. The New Testament is telling us that in the incarnation that is connected with and follows from it, God is saying, as it were, “You see all that I mean in the Old Testament?” The Bible must be taken as a whole if we are to use

7it profitably.

3. READING THE BIBLE IN THE CHURCH

Thirdly, for African Catholic Christians a good reading of the Bible must be done in the Church and with the Church. The third part of

8the Message of the Synod on the Word of God underlines it.

In fact, the text evokes the four pillars of the House of the Word and of the Church: the apostolic didachè, breaking the bread, prayers, and koinonia. These are the pillars on which the first Christian community was built, as the Book of Acts testifies: ''they devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers'' (Acts 2:42).

Luke underlines the place and unique role of the twelve in the community: they are at the service of the Word. The faith of the Church is born and grows in depth in reference to the life and teaching of the group of those who have been the direct witnesses of the life and teachings of the Lord. They have a responsibility of the first order in the proclamation and interpretation of the Good News. That means we have to read the word of the Lord in communion with the whole Church and the successors of apostles.

The life of the Church is also built on the breaking of bread, klasistouartou. In the New Testament, klasisas noun is found only in Acts 2, 42 and Lk 24, 35. The verb klaô, used in Acts 2:46, occurs 15 times in the New Testament, notably in Luke. It explicitly means to break. The two terms evoke the meal where the head of the family breaks the bread to distribute it to family and guests. The breaking of bread is different from the fraternal agapé, the ''love feast'' of Jude 12. It is Eucharist, thanksgiving, celebration of the death and resurrection of the Lord. As in Lk 24:25-27, the breaking of bread is tied to teaching. Following Dei Verbum, the Message underlines the link between the two tables, that of the Word and that of the body and blood:

The Church has always venerated the divine Scripture just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since, especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread

9of life from the table both of God's word and the Christ's body. The community is also built on prayers. In Acts 1:14 and

Acts 6:4, it is a question of proseuchè, in the singular. In Acts 2:42, the plural proseuchai certainly refers to the Jewish liturgical prayers in link with the temple (Acts 2:46). The first Christians of Jewish origin who lived in Jerusalem followed the rhythm of Jewish liturgy: morning, afternoon and evening.

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7Bolaji Idowu, ''The Teaching Of The Bible To African Students'', in Mveng E., / Werblowsky R.J.Z. (ed.), 2Black Africa and the Bible / L'Afrique noire et la Bible, Yaoundé, PUCAC, 2013 , p. 211.

8 th See 12 Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, The Message of the Synod on the Word of God, n. 4. 9Dei Verbum, 2.

But this did not exclude other moments of prayer in Christian homes, such as the regular meetings, daily or more probably weekly, and the day of the Lord after the Sabbath. Until today, the disciples of the Lord meet for prayer outside this regular rhythm, at important moments in the life of the Church. In fact, the community acts like its Lord, whom the third Gospel shows as being constantly in prayer.

Listening to the word together and breaking the bread are linked also to koinônia. In the Book of Acts, this term is only used in 2:42. In the other summaries we have the adjective koinos. The name koinônia means intimate sharing, as in marriage. Elsewhere in the New Testament, the word is used to indicate the sharing of goods, an expression in the concrete of the spiritual union among believers.

Hence, to celebrate the word and the body and blood of Christ is to commit oneself to building one fraternal Church-family, formed by all those who believe in the Lord Jesus. It is a family assembled in community prayer and in the breaking of bread, united by mutual love translated into solidarity and sharing in the concrete. This lifestyle clashed with that of the surrounding society and the spiritual presence that animated the community provoked questions and exerted an undeniable attraction. So, reading and living the Word of the Lord in the Church and with the Church makes us bear fruit, a hundred, sixty, or thirty fold (cf. Mt 13: 8).

4. READING THE BIBLE IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF INCULTURATION

In this last part, let us come to a very important step of reading the Bible in the African Catholic Church, that is, the inculturation, as understood in Ecclesia in Africa:

Inculturation (. . .) seeks to dispose people to receive Jesus Christ in an integral manner. It touches them on the personal, cultural, economic and political levels so that they can live a holy life in total

10union with God the Father, through the action of the Holy Spirit.

In that sense, inculturation is a way of conversion. It guarantees a true fidelity to the past and really opens upward the future. It assures a fruitful realization of new practices and other values. It liberates the imagination of a society that is wounded and stuck. It brings a Christianity of death to meet the Lord of life, who proposes not new dogmatic or ethical recipes, but introduces a new historical dynamic.

According to M. Dumais, this inventive dynamic supposes three moments: the encounter with realities, the critical confrontation with them, and their transfiguration. So, inculturation is the continuation of the mystery of Christ which is incarnation, death and resurrection:

In the process of evangelization, one can find three stages of the Christian mystery: the incarnation in the cultures, the critical confrontation with them and the death of some of their elements, and finally the resurrection, i.e., their inner transfiguration. In Jesus the three stages are part of the same movement, even though the incarnation does not reach its fullness until the resurrection, after the obligatory passage through death. Removing one of these three elements is like truncating the Christian mystery. The same can be said about the evangelising

11mission of the Church .

All in all, the Word of God invites us to assume on the one hand our own culture, and on the other hand, the interculturality which is necessary in an increasingly mutlicultural Africa confronted with globalisation. It is a question of allowing the spirit of the Word to regenerate our history, our culture, our imagination and our action from top to bottom. The Bible should, therefore, be known and studied by all, in account of its extraordinary profile of beauty as well as human and cultural fruitfulness.

So, we discover that the originality of any reading of the Bible consists in the experience of walking together with the Risen One. He is the true exegete, the true hermeneutist. And when he explains the Scriptures, ''hearts burn'', eyes and intellects open up. Then we feel concerned with this Word. It makes us stand up to invent something new together. The heart explodes with joy, the joy of meeting a brother, the joy of meeting the Spirit of the Risen

11M. Dumais, Mission et Communauté. Une relecture du livre des Actes des Apôtres, Bellarmin, Fides, 2000, p. 165.

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10John Paul II, The Church in Africa (Ecclesia in Africa, 62) Nairobi, Paulnes Publications Africa, 1995, p. 47.

One. That is why the Word of God pens up Africa to the universal adventure of Pentecost in union with each religious community, with each people.

In that perspective, from the 20th to 30th of April 1972, E. Mveng organised the Congress of Jerusalem. The topic was: Black Africa and the Bible. E. Mveng threads together biblical passages or images that evoke African reality one after another, the starting point of his meditation. He makes use of an inductive method to set in motion his immense African, biblical and universal scholarship. He does not at all shun the scientific rigour of his being a historian. But the existential and spiritual vision of his reading of the Bible bursts out of the limits of exegetical demands. Furthermore, he claims a right and a duty to read the Bible differently. He laboured under a deep conviction: the need for an African reading, in the mode of the Fathers.

E. Mveng's message was well understood by African Biblical Scholars. Some of them organized the first meeting of African Biblical Scholars on African soil, in Kinshasa, in December 1978. And there was created an association called in French: Journées Bibliques Africaines. In 1987, in Yaoundé, that Association changed to Panafrican Association of Catholic Exegetes (PACE). Their aim is ''to give an expression to our vision of what the task of the Church in Africa ought to be from the

12Biblical point of view''.

We don't forget the translation of the Bible as a very important step in hermeneutic and inculturation. A bad translation can give a bad understanding of the Word of God. For example, E.A. Dahunsi reveals some linguistic and hermeneutic problems

13met by the translator of the Bible to African languages.But the work of translation includes also the local foreign

languages, such as English, French, Portuguese or Arabic. So, the so-called African Bible reproduces an English translation with

14introductions and contextualised notes.

CONCLUSION: JESUS OUR HERMENEUTIST

To conclude, let us say that African Catholic Bible reading includes some Methodological exigencies inorder to avoid fundamentalist readings and ideological appropriations. And then we can read the Bible as unity, in and with the Church, and in the perspective of inculturation.

So, we discover that biblical hermeneutics is at the same time kenosis and self-dispossession, a listening to and an opening up to otherness. As a science of interpretation and communication, hermeneutics invite us to an intellectual and existential adventure.

We discover also that the Bible itself is a hermeneutic process. In fact, the text inspired by the Spirit of God impels us to interpretation. The hagiographer had to translate the inspired message into a human language understable by the audience. In this sense, the Bible inspires the rules for an African interpretation of the biblical message. So, as Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo puts it:

The phenomenon of interpretation stimulates the gradual formation of the biblical message; interpretation is the skeleton of the progressive development of the biblical text. Without a permanent process of interpretation, the biblical text would never have existed. The process of interpretation is inherent to the very formulation of the message and the inspired text. In other words: the Bible was formed by and for interpretation. Interpretation is an integral part of

15development of the biblical text.

The Synod on the Word of God goes back to John's prologue. So, Jesus, the Logos made flesh, is the Son of God through whom God speaks to us. Then Jesus is the true interpreter, the true hermeneutist of the Father. In him, history becomes a dialogue between God and humanity. This adventure of love invites men and women of all countries and cultures to a common journey, in mutual enrichment through each other's diversities.

That is why, for any people and any community, reading the Word of God must lead us to the One who fulfils the Scriptures,

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12Panafrican Association of Catholic Exegetes (PACE), Universalisme et mission dans la Bible. Universalism and Mission in the Bible, Nairobi, Katholische Jungschar Oesterreichs / Catholic Biblical Centre for Africa and Madagascar (BICAM), 1993, p. 12.

13See E. A. Dahunsi, ''The problem of Translating the Bible into African Languages'', in Mveng E. /Werblowsky

(ed.), Black Africa and the Bible / L'Afrique noire et la Bible, p. 117-120.14See Zinkuratire V. and Colacrai A. (ed.), The African Bible, Nairobi, Paulines Publications Africa, 1999.

15L. Monsengwo Pasinya, “ Herméneutique et interprétation africaine de la Bible” in E. Mveng/ R.J.Z.Werblowsky (ed.), Black Africa and the Bible / L'Afrique noire et la Bible, Yaoundé, PUCAC, 2013, p. 246.

Jesus Christ. He is the only one who fulfills the scriptures and makes them fruitful and gives us life. Today, that message touches Africa and our countries. So, let me conclude by this quote from the African Bible:The whole gospel of John is stressing abundant life. In African traditions life is the fundamental principle. If Christ came to give life abundantly (see Jn 10:10), he is confirming the African culture and bringing it to its perfection. Wars, corruption, bribery and the like, are destroying life and must be banished from our communities. Life concerns not only our relatives or ethnic groups, but is

16offered to all human beings.

16V. Zinkuratire V. and A.Colacrai A. (ed.), The African Bible, p. 1783.

UNDERSTANDING AND LIVING THE APOSTOLIC WAY: ORAL CULTURALITY AND HERMENEUTICS AFTER PENTECOST

( by PROF. AMOS YONG, Fuller Theological Seminary, USA)

9

ow do Pentecostals read and interpret the Bible? How should Pentecostals do so? The former can be empirically

1Hdetermined, and what may be discovered may not be defensible, desired, or warranted from a normative Christian point of view. This begs the questions of how Christians in general read and interpret the Bible, and how they should do so. And again, we can conduct empirical investigations to answer the former

2question, and what we find may also not be recommended as worthy of emulation. The overarching issue, of course, concerns whether there are norms of biblical interpretation that are relevant for all Christians and, within that frame, also for Pentecostals. The related question then is whether there are distinctive pentecostal

3ways of interpreting scripture that might be justifiable, and then whether such would also be feasible for non-pentecostal Christians. This initial round of considerations seems preposterous in a post modern, post colonial, and even post-Christendom world: aren't there many ways of reading and understanding the Bible, especially across the majority world and so-called global South, each contextually relevant? Isn't there not one biblical hermeneutics but many?

This essay makes the bold claim that there is a pentecostal way of reading and interpreting Scripture that has normative implications for all Bible believers and practitioners in the third millennium, and does so in conversation with African pentecostal perspectives. The two parts of this essay move from the descriptive

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1For instance, Philip Jenkins, The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South (Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2006).

2See for instance the anthropological study of James S. Bielo, Words upon the Word: An Ethnography ofEvangelical Group Bible Study (New York: New York University Press, 2009).

3I uncapitalize pentecostal when used as an adjective, but capitalize Pentecostalism and Pentecostals when used as nouns (to refer to the movement and to believers).

(what is) to the prescriptive (what can be and even ought to be). We start with a longer discussion of African Pentecostal hermeneutics as understood within oral-cultural matrices, and then briefly outline a pentecostal proposal for biblical hermeneutics that will be argued as viable for the twenty-first century global context. The key, it will be seen, is to unfold the pentecostal model according to its biblical frame, following specifically clues within the Day of Pentecost narrative (Acts 2) that sheds light on apostolic ways of

4understanding and living sacred scripture.

ORAL CULTURES AND THE BIBLE: PENTECOSTAL HERMENEUTICS IN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

This first section seeks to understand how pentecostal Christians read and engage the Bible and we will attempt to do so by way of looking at the African context. I will be relying here on the scholarship of others who are familiar with the African region in

5ways that I am personally not, although I believe the generalizations that follow will be plausible as a point of entry into the hermeneutical issues at stake in large part because of the oral

6cultural framework of analysis that is being deployed. Hence we begin by delineating what oral culturality entails and then elucidate what might be called a phenomenology of African pentecostal interactions with the Bible from such an orality perspective before sketching the contours of a pentecostal hermeneutic for the third millennium.

ORAL CULTURES: THEORETICAL AND AFRICAN FRAMINGS

Over the last generation and more, Walter Ong, an American Jesuit scholar, has opened up the nature of human orality as an

7interdisciplinary discussion. In brief, the appearance of the printing press precipitated an increasingly intensifying chirographic and typographic world, bringing with it a shift from reliance on intersubjective modes of personal relations to dependence on literary forms of communication. Thus traditionalist or premodern sociality was facilitated primarily by voice, sound, and hearing, and even if these have not been displaced into the modern and late modern periods, in Western contexts with high literacy rates the authority of the spoken word is subordinated to that of the printed text that is visualized and read. Hence also the import of literacy: only the elite who have had access to education and are able to read can participate in and contribute to the important discourses that shape public life. Yet our immersion in the literacy of modernity has excluded the potency of the oral cultural imaginary that persists and may now be resurging in our post modern context. A brief analysis of the epistemological and ontological underpinnings of these distinct modalities of human intercourse highlights the important issues for our consideration.

Epistemologically, the differences amount, for starters, to that separating primarily communal and predominantly individualistic ways of knowing. Oral interactions engage two or more persons over time, whereas texts are now read privately and

8even silently. In the former, meaning emerges from out of the embodied, affective, facial, and other dynamics that constitute social relations, but in the latter, meaning is mentally constructed and hence more abstract, theoretical, and even speculative. Thus, oral cultural forms of literature are narrative oriented – e.g., poetry, epic, drama – whereas modernist discourse is, generally, analytical, linear, and propositional. The communicative power of orality accentuates rhetorical performance whereas that of textuality enables both logical argumentation and descriptive

4This essay is intended to complement, deepen, and extend the argument I have made elsewhere about pentecostal

hermeneutics: “The Science, Sighs, and Signs of Interpretation: An Asian American Post-Pentecostal-al Hermeneutics in a Multi-, Inter-, and Trans-cultural World,” in L. William Oliverio, Jr., and Kenneth J. Archer, eds.,Constructive Pneumatological Hermeneutics in Pentecostal Christianity (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), forthcoming.

5I have worked with others on African Pentecostalism – e.g., Vinson Synan, Amos Yong, and J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Global Renewal Christianity: Spirit-Empowered Movements Past, Present, and Future, vol. III: Africa (Lake Mary, Fla.: Charisma House Publishers, 2016); cf. Estrelda Alexander and Amos Yong, eds., Afro-Pentecostalism: Black Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity in History and Culture, Religion, Race, and Ethnicity Series (New York: New York University Press, 2011).

6My initial foray into the literature on oral cultures was in an essay on pentecostal preaching: “Proclamation and the Third Article: Toward a Pneumatology of Preaching,” in Myk Habets, ed., Third Article Theology: A Pneumatological Dogmatics (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2017), forthcoming; our focus here shifts from proclamation to reading and interpretation.

7

and London: Yale University Press, 1967), and Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word (London and New York: Routledge, 1982), for starters; much of the next three paragraphs derives from my reading of Ong's work.

8Recall that in the patristic and medieval periods, texts were read aloud, with Augustine even commenting about St. Ambrose reading silently: “But when he was reading, his eye glided over the pages, and his heart searched out the sense, but his voice and tongue were at rest”; see Augustine's Confessions, book 6 ( P u s e y t r a n s . ) , available at http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/augconf/aug06.htm (last accessed 13 May 2016).

See Walter J. Ong, The Presence of the Word: Some Prolegomena for Cultural and Religious History (New Haven

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and thus invite a more fluid (Heraclitean) view of the world. If textuality thereby locates meaning in words, orality engages communicative subjects in the fullness of their perceptual interiority; voices, after all, derive from agents, and are carried by sound waves, thus inserting human communicators into the overall cosmic soundscape. Texts are static, carried by the materials upon which they are printed, whereas voices are vital, breathed out by human spirits, and thereby resonate sonically within a sound-filled and in that sense spirit-filled world.

The preceding moves far too quickly over somewhat contested terrain and does not even begin to properly explicate the relationships between traditionalist orality, modern textuality, and

11postmodern digitality. But enough has been said to alert us to why contemporary hermeneutics ought not neglect oral cultural modalities of interpreting texts, particularly when considering the

12encounter with and use of Scripture in global Christian context. And if our scholarly understanding of oral culturality has been advanced so far primarily in the Western academy, majority world and subaltern voices are slowly but surely chiming into the discussion. More specifically, scholars have also begun to insist that the contribution to global philosophical and other scholarly conversations in the humanities from the African region of the world cannot be appreciated without attentiveness to the orality of

13human life.

For instance, African thinkers have been calling attention to the import of oral literatures for comprehending not just the African worldview but also the African mode of thinking and form

14of life. Thus the literary genres of narrative, stories, fables, folktales, lyric, song, chants, poetry, proverbs, riddles, sayings,

depth. It needs to be emphasized that these divergences are not hard and fast, as if oral cultures are absent in modernity or that there are no overlaps in orientations. Yet these broad brush strokes clarify where the emphases are placed and make explicit how modern literacy has shaped current preoccupations.We can therefore be better attuned to how more social and dynamic ways of knowing contrast with Cartesian and Kantian epistemological concerns that are focused on engaging subjective minds with

9objective things in the world. The disparate ontological presuppositions can now also be

clarified. Whereas the distance between the subject and the object is presumed in visual perception, such is absent in the aural dimension since sound surrounds and is felt within the hearer. Hence if textuality not only prioritizes but also distinguishes authors and their intentions, not to mention the objects of their textual references, then orality foregrounds the dynamic sociality between speakers and hearers, between communicative agents and their vocalizations. It is not as if orality is more audience or reader-oriented, as might be emphasized in (postmodern) hermeneutical constructs, even if this is not entirely incorrect. More accurate would be to say that textual referentiality enables focus on the particular and the determinate while oral interrelationality presumes a more open ended and even cosmic situatedness within which communicative speech acts are sounded. Textual representations thus proceed as if reality is stable enough, sufficiently mechanistic, even, to be reducible to words while oral communication is funded, arguably, by an organic and even

10animistic cosmos. Ironically, even if texts are linked to authorial intentions, they can convey meanings apart from authorial presence; voices, however, are carried only sonically by speech

11

Web of God: An Essay on the Third Information Transformation (London: Guilford Press, 1998).12I say this with full awareness that Pentecostalism in the Western world is fast minimizing its earlier oral sensitivities

and instincts – see, e.g., Scott A. Ellington, “'Can I Get a Witness': The Myth of Pentecostal Oralityand the Process of Traditioning in the Psalms,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 20 (2011) 54–67, esp. 55-59 – but the emergence of a global pentecostal conversation alongside other theological discussions and explorations bodes well for now thinking more specifically about these matters.

13E.g., Richard H. Bell, Understanding African Philosophy: A Cross-cultural Approach to Classical and Contemporary Issues (New York and London: Routledge, 2002), ch. 6, and F. Abiola Irele, The African Imagination: Literature in Africa and the Black Diaspora (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), ch. 2.

14Isidore Okpewho, African Oral Literature: Backgrounds, Character, and Continuity (Bloomington and

Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1992), and Victor Ahamefule Anoka, African Philosophy: An Overview and a Critique of the Philosophical Significance of African Oral Literature (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2012).

On the electronic turn and its implications for the orality-textuality field, see Alan C. Purves, The Web of Text and the

112 113

9Preliminarily this is why modern biblical criticism asks different types of questions about the nature of scripture than the ancients; an initial foray into the biblical world informed by oral cultural perspectives is Werner H. Kelber, The Oral and the Written Gospel: The Hermeneutics of Speaking and Writing in the Synoptic Tradition, Mark, Paul, and Q (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983).

10Ong (The Presence of the Word, 227-28) suggests that “earlier man, under the influence of oral-aural or preliterate communications media, the world tended to be vaguely animistic…. Economies of thought built around the study of nature are thus vaguely animistic, for natura means at root birth”; by contrast, the scientific and Newtonian revolution, especially with its “accompanying exaltation of the sense of sight at the expense of hearing, spelled the end of the feeling for a vitalized universe…. The old more or less auditory syntheses had presented the universe as being, which was here and now acting, filled with events. For the new, more visual synthesis, the universe was simply there, a mass of things, quite uneventful.”

aurally: how something is uttered and heard is not to be subordinated to what is said.

Attentiveness to the oral modality highlights that the Bible is understood not just as a source of information but is a medium for experiencing the saving work of God. The words of scripture are therapeutic for the healing of persons in communities, are potent for protection against malevolent forces, and are productive

17of success (as opposed to setbacks) in life. If western hermeneutical interpretations focus on divining the meaning of texts in their original contexts, oral cultural approaches address contemporary opportunities and especially challenges, and are thus more like to trouble the status quo, whether that be physical, relational, economic, or other needs, and more likely be

18transformational in instinct. The point is that if textuality invites hermeneutical guidelines designed to assist in historical interpretation and understanding, orality derives such meaning from use: how the sacred text is sounded, chanted (to invite the Spirit's presence), sung (to express devotion to God), prayed (to make known human needs), recited (to reorient the soul), retold (to be reminded of the divine story), memorized (to edify and nurture the soul's character), ritualized (to express obedience to divine injunctions), claimed (as coming to pass), pronounced (to ward off evil forces), declared (for its promises and blessings), or otherwise

19deployed toward various ends.

PENTECOSTAL ORALITY AND THE SCRIPTURAL IMAGINATION: AN AFRICAN PHENOMENOLOGY

Clearly what is needed is not what the Western hermeneutical tradition calls interpretive rules for exegeting texts since such presumes a sharp distinction between former meaning residing in authors and contemporary application in the hands of readers. It is

tongue twisters, dramas, etc., are carriers of African values and commitments. What is therefore needed is a kind of hermeneutics of ordinary language use that can engage African wisdom with wider discursive traditions (philosophical and otherwise). As, if not more, important, oral literatures clarify how African cultures identify their problems and resource their cultural traditions for resolutions to their situations. In short, such oral literary forms operate both analytically and teleologically: to query and to repair existing conditions.

Although African theologians have begun to engage with the dogmatic traditions of the church and hence have developed hermeneutical strategies capable of probing the conceptuality of

15these ecumenical, predominantly Western, frameworks, we are still a long way from thinking with and through oral literatures for not just the African but also the world Christian theological task, especially to the degree that global Christianity is largely now a majority world phenomenon. Toward that end, then, oral literatures have relevance not just for local theological reflection but also for the church worldwide. Nevertheless, oral literatures themselves are not generic but particular, and any theology of orality will need to be regionally focused in order to build, from there, toward a more catholic paradigm.

And such indigenous African theological initiatives featuring the centrality of oral literatures are, fortunately,

16underway. In these arenas, African oral literatures are not only sources for theological reflection but also central both to authentic inculturation and effective mission and evangelism across the continent. But access is needed therefore both to the literatures that emerge from oral discourse, and to the latter in their original forms: sermons, prayers, testimonies, liturgies, and other generators of the African literary corpus within the churches. What needs to be emphasized is that theological and other content cannot just be extrapolated from these oral literatures but that the forms of the latter are intrinsic to any message that might be deciphered. Put

15

Theological Hermeneutics and the African Intellectual Climate, Studies in Reformed Theology 14 (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2007).

16E.g., Joseph Healey and Donald Sybertz, Towards an African Narrative Theology (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996).

See James Henry Owino Kombo, The Doctrine of God in African Christian Thought: The Holy Trinity,

17See David Tuesday Adamo, Reading and Interpreting the Bible in African Indigenous Churches (Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, 2001).

18See, for instance, how the biblical Proverbs is received to counter the felt poverty on the African continent: Lechion Peter Kimilike, Poverty in the Book of Proverbs: An African Transformational Hermeneutic of Proverbs on Poverty, Bible and Theology in Africa 7 (New York: Peter Lang, 2008).

19Thus from such a perspective, there is an “interpenetration” between the spoken and written word that persists even into the present time; for discussion of these oral modalities of Christian scriptural engagement, see William A. Graham, Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), 62-55 and 123-25 (more historical assessment of orality in the Desert fathers and mothers, and in Luther is in chs. 10-11 of this book, and the reference to “interpenetration” is on p. 157).

114 115

not that oral cultures collapse the distinctions between speakers and hearers but that the exegesis-eisegesis binary is less applicable to the dynamic gateway within which orality reverberates. Hence what is more urgent is a kind of hermeneutics of sound and speech, one that can discern how oral communicative forms empower salvific meaning and redemptive faith and action in a broken

20world. Toward this end, we explore in what follows two case studies of African pentecostal-charismatic biblicism in order to see how its message is received, enacted, and performed.

I begin with the Masowe Apostolics of Zimbabwe not because they are ideally representative of pentecostal-charismatic Christianity in the African context but because their oral biblicism puts the issues we are considering into stark relief. Also known as the Friday Masowe (because they congregate on Fridays) and formally as the Gospel of God Church, this group was founded by Johane Masowe (ca. 1914-1973) in the 1930s as part of a wider reaction by native Christians not just to the political upheavals of colonial rule but also to the religious elements that were deemed to

21support the European agenda. As such, the Friday Apostolics rejected all indicators of colonial religion including sacraments, institutional hierarchies, and even church buildings (they meet in open air environments). Part and parcel of such an immaterial faith is that, by their own conviction, they are “the Christians who don't

22read the Bible.” It is not that they do not know the biblical contents, but that as an object the printed Bible potentially inhibits, rather than mediates, the presence and activity of the divine.

In what sense then can the Friday Apostolics be considered to be part of the Christian tradition that depends on scriptural authority? In the sense that they receive the word of God not through printed biblical texts but through prophesy, (non-instrumental) singing, and other oral activities. If literate cultures rely on the printed medium for reception of tradition, oral cultures depend on mnemonic devices to enable recitation and memory.

23

scriptural admonition, “for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6), and as embodying the biblical conviction, “the word of God is living and active” (Heb. 4:12); all scriptural references in this essay are to the New Revised Standard Version unless otherwise indicated.

24Thomas G. Kirsch, Spirits and Letters: Reading, Writing and Charisma in African Christianity (New York and

Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2008).25Kirsch, Spirits and Letters, 145, writes: “'Aurality is distinguished from 'orality' – i.e., from a tradition based on the

oral performance of bards or minstrels – by its dependence on a written text as the source of the public reading….”; here quoting Joyce Coleman, Public Reading and the Reading Public in Late Medieval England and France (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 28 (italics Kirsch's).

Englke, A Problem of Presence, 206. In these respects, the Friday Apostolics can be understood as embracing the

The group's prophets thus become human megaphones that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, render the word of God for the people, while the singing of the people, again regarded as Spirit-inspired, sound out the divine word through standard or routinely sung verses (often times saturated with scripture), local favorites (in which scriptural allusions have contemporary application), and special improvisations (through which personal testimonies echo scriptural themes). As people of the ear, the material Bible is ineffectual as the word of God; instead, the Spirit of God uses human voices as “the proper material channel through which God becomes present. It is live and direct in a way that a written text or

23musical instrument is not.” Another indigenous independent group from Southern

Africa is the Spirit Apostolic Church (a pseudonym) researched by 24

anthropologist Thomas Kirsch. If the physical Bible is sounded out but not otherwise used by the Friday Apostolics, the scriptures in all their physicality are pervasive among the Spirit Apostolics even as they are also performed orally in various ways. Here the reaction to the colonial powers is not at the material level but the power of the printed word is understood to sustain and perpetuate alternative – read: local – forms of African agency. Hence, it is not just that the Bible enables spiritual authority but its local tactility and articulation legitimizes homegrown – read: African– hierarchies and bureaucracies. If classic Weberian theory of the charismatic opposed spirituality and the institution, for the Spirit Apostolics bureaucracy is spiritualized and respiritualized continuously via biblical enunciation, and spirituality is generative of bureaucracy when undergirded by the verbal appeal to written scripture. In that sense, the institutionalizing trends of the Spirit Apostolics is inconceivable apart from the public reading of and

25open appeal to the scriptural text. Central here is the aural interaction between the utterance of speakers and the reception of

116 117

20Stephen H. Webb, The Divine Voice: Christian Proclamation and the Theology of Sound (Grand Rapids: B r a z o s Press, 2004), initiates such a project in the Western context although it has been largely marginalized as a

homiletical theology rather than as having hermeneutical and even dogmatic import.21The most comprehensive study of the Friday Apostolics is by Matthew Engelke, A Problem of Presence: Beyond

Scripture in an African Church (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), upon whose research I depend.22Englke, A Problem of Presence, 4.

not just inspired the words of scripture in their original authorial context but inspires ongoing enactments of scripture among

28believers in various reception contexts in every age.

Oral cultural transmission in the African context presumes textual impotence apart from their inspiration and exhalation. But verbalization through (human) breath catalyzes interpersonal

29causality, in effect activating other breath or spirit-beings. However we might want to envision the interrelationality between human and extra-human or spiritual domains, oral culturality presumes an intersubjective ontology and morality in the sense that the fluctuations of the spoken word do not merely fade into

30oblivion but spark cosmic forces and reactions. The preceding phenomenology of African pentecostal-charismatic scriptural practice, then, has ontological implications for how the “word of God” works to bring about divine answers in the creational sphere.

BIBLICAL ORALITY AND AFRICAN PENTECOSTAL HERMENEUTICS

To my knowledge, there are no book-length discussions of African 31

pentecostal hermeneutics. However, canvassing the journal literature in this area confirms the assessment of Walter Hollenweger, doyen of pentecostal studies, that the core of pentecostal-charismatic Christianity is informed by what he calls an “oral root” that he traces to the African continent via the slave

32spirituality of William Seymour at the Azusa Street revival. The following survey of the emerging field of African pentecostal hermeneutics is consistent with the preceding phenomenological overview, indicating how the pentecostal orality sketched above is

hearers as mediated through the congregational reading and exposition of scriptural texts. Spirit

Apostolic speakers and preachers unleash the biblical content orally with the belief that the Holy Spirit thereby endows these scriptural words with life-giving powers. The congregation in effect completes these proclamations or declarations not only in the call-and-response rhythms of the homiletic context but in discerning the relevance of the word of God as applied to their existential situations and lives. Exemplary in this regard is how, when addressing specific communal anxieties about witchcraft, the prophet utilizes biblical allusions, tropes, and even concrete texts – for instance: Rev. 19:20 and 1 Sam. 17:35 was cited in this case, thus linking biblically a witch (at Endor) with a geographic reference (the lake of fire) – leaves open ended the contemporary references, and assumes that the audience would be able to discern how to apply what is said for their purposes. In this instance, the congregation was led by these scriptural cues to identify the perpetrator so that, “For the elders of African-initiated Pentecostal-charismatic churches …, referring to and quoting Biblical verses allowed the shifting of responsibility for the identification of witches from themselves to the authority of the Bible and to the listeners, who were burdened with the hermeneutic task of making

26sense out of seemingly disparate verses.”

The point is that on its own the text of scripture does nothing. Yet from the mouths of prophets, or through the vocal chords of those filled with the Spirit, the biblical letter becomes the life-giving word of God. The Spiritual Apostolics are thereby people of the book, but the book is understood as not just opened

27and read but expressed and said. Hence God's word may impart knowledge for Christian to believe, but more importantly invites for participation, performance, experience, and interaction. In that case, beyond hermeneutical guidelines for interpreting the biblical text, the people of God need discernment principles for deciphering such scriptural practices. In the end, then, the Spirit

28

location, whether in the Bible or in any other object of Christian practice”; Kirsch, Spirits and Letters, 141.29For more on such personal causative potency stimulated by speech in the African context, see Stephen Ellis and

Gerrie ter Haar, Worlds of Power: Religious Thought and Political Practice in Africa(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).

30See also in this regard Elias Kifon Bongmba, African Witchcraft and Otherness: A Philosophical and Theological Critique of Intersubjective Relations (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2001), 130-32.

31The closest thing here is the work of Assemblies of God missionary scholar, Del Tarr, Double Image: Biblical Insights from African Parables (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1994), although the hermeneutical discussion in this book is constrained, even as the pentecostal perspective is more under the surface than explicit; see, however, Tarr's argument for the importance of attending to oral worlds given our literacy bias in ch. 6 of his book.

32See Walter Hollenweger, Pentecostalism: Origins and Developments Worldwide (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997), part I.

“Against this background, the Holy Spirit was presumed never to reside permanently at any particular material

118 119

26Kirsch, Spirits and Letters, 99.27See also Peter Horsfeld and Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, “What Is It about the Book? Semantic and Material

Dimensions in the Mediation of the Word of God,” Studies in World Christianity 17:2 (2011): 175-93.

then in this case there might be qualms that African Pentecostals relate the scriptural message too directly to and for their

37contemporary contexts. No one can say African Pentecostals believe the Bible to be too far removed from their life affairs and situations.

Yet, the applicability of the Bible to the material, existential, and real lives of believers depends precisely on the indigenous conviction that the historical and spiritual planes are intertwined. The biblical message about the spirit world is hence not about another or non-terrestrial realm but about real world human interactions. Precisely because what happens on earth is interrelated with what happens in the spiritual fields of reality, the power of scripture is needed to address, control, and transform these interwoven domains. Precisely because of intuitions regarding the “mystical causality” of biblical worldview as perceived through African lenses, the scriptural word is sounded out to counter cosmic principalities and powers and their presumed

38destructive aims for human lives.

On the one hand, pentecostal believers around the world, including those in the Western and Euro-American orbits, are convinced that such African biblicism more accurately comprehends the scriptural worldview and message than secularized discourses and this explains, from such a perspective, the expansion and even explosion of pentecostal Christianity in the majority world. On the other hand, others are concerned that such approaches not only remythologize indigenous traditions in a time when scientific forms of rationality are needed for economic and

39political development, but even exacerbates precisely the fears

translated into hermeneutical theory in the nascent African pentecostal scholarly discourse. We see that pentecostal scriptural locutions extend in at least three interrelated pathways: the personal, the spiritual, and the political.

At its foundational level, African pentecostal hermeneutics can be considered as a form of reader-response hermeneutics, particularly in the sense that its emphasis lies not on the world of or behind the text, but on that in front of the text, on the world of the contemporary readers and hearers of the biblical word. Thus, African pentecostal hermeneutics is a “reader-centred, faith-oriented approach. That aims at concretising the Word of God” for

33their context. The Bible's promises of blessing are declared in order to realize and actualize wealth and prosperity; the scripture's imprecatory prayers are intoned to pronounce judgment on perceived enemies; the healing stories of sacred writ are designed

34to nurture faith in a healing God for those who are sick, etc. The Word of God, in other words, orients hearers toward and enables encounter with the divine, and this in turn empowers human responses to life's dilemmas, and this happens in their voicing and

35intonation.Yet this “performative” and “declarative” feature of the

scriptural world and reality means that its efficacy depends not just on the part of biblical speakers but on the responses of their

36audiences. The biblical narratives are true both because they accurately recount what happened so long ago and because they provide present opportunities to receive, experience, and actualize the power of God for today's challenges. This means that the proclamation of the word of God demands choices, decisions, and allegiances from those within earshot. If there are concerns that western scholarship relativizes the Bible to its original context,

33

in World Christianity 19:1 (2013): 50-70, at 67; note that our authors are actually critical that pentecostal hermeneutics – what they call in their article “neo-prophetic hermeneutics” – is over-literalized or over-spiritualized, and that leads to excess in various respects (an issue we return to later in this essay).

34See Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit: Ghanaian Perspectives on Pentecostalism and Renewal in Africa (Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2015), ch. 4, on pentecostal prosperity hermeneutics.

35Cf. John Gallegos, “African Pentecostal Hermeneutics,” in Clifton R. Clarke, ed., Pentecostal Theology in Africa (Eugene, Ore.: Pickwick Publications, 2014), 40-57.

36J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Contemporary Pentecostal Christianity: Interpretations from an African Context

(Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2013), 163.

Cephas N. Omenyo and Wonderful Adjei Arthur, “The Bible Says! Neo-Prophetic Hermeneutics in Africa,” Studies

37

Vinson Synan, Amos Yong, and J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Global Renewal Christianity: Spirit-Empowered Movements Past, Present, and Future, vol. III: Africa (Lake Mary, Fla.: Charisma House Publishers, 2016), 166-85, esp. 180-84, with Madipoane Masenya (ngwan'a Mphahlele), “Foreign on Own Home Front? Ruminations from an African-South African Pentecostal Biblical Scholar,” in same volume, 380-94, esp. 384-89, both of whom highlight variously, for good or ill, how such approaches expecting of immediate encounter with the divine are far from critical approaches to the Bible in the theological academy that keep divinity at arm's length.

38J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, “Pulling Down Strongholds: Evangelism, Principalities and Powers and the African Pentecostal Imagination,” International Review of Mission 96:382-383 (2007): 306-17, at 316.

39African traditional animistic lines what St. Paul's principalities and powers leave more vague and general; see also Samuel Zalanga and Amos Yong, “What Empire? Which Multitude? Pentecostalism and Social Liberation in North America and Sub-Saharan Africa,” in Bruce Ellis Benson and Peter Goodwin Heltzel, eds., Evangelicals and Empire: Christian Alternatives to the Political Status Quo (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2008), 237-51, and David Tonghou Ngong, The Holy Spirit and Salvation in African Christian Theology: Imagining a More Hopeful Future for Africa, The Bible and Theology in Africa 8 (New York: Peter Lang, 2010).

Compare Alfred Olwa, “Pentecostalism in Tanzania and Uganda: A Historical and Theological Perspective,” in

120 121

43socio-political or economic impact. Even if there were biblical themes and ideas related to the coming reign of God that could be drawn upon to prophetically critique and correct the socio-economic status quo, pentecostal reception of scripture by and

44large avoids issues the churches suppose to be too “political.” Communal pentecostal hermeneutics thus remains by and large focused on the scriptural relevance for ecclesial life at most, with the well being of individual believers here prioritized. And even here, pentecostal biblical consideration generally marginalizes social or systemic issues even when they impinge on the day-to-day struggles of more than half of the members of their churches: women and children. Along this vein, they allow instead what is thought to be the clear canonical teaching about the role of women to remain uninterrogated, even when there are texts from the center of the pentecostal canon within the canon – the book of Acts and the Day of Pentecost narrative for instance – that just as clearly

45teach otherwise.In any case, the shortcomings of African pentecostal

hermeneutics in this direction are consistent with oral-cultural instincts and sensitivities. The Bible remains a potent resource for guiding human social interactions, at least with regard to protecting believers and enabling their success, if not in terms of empowering socio-political witness and mission. In these ways, the hermeneutics of orality is concerned first and foremost with the sonic field wherein the biblical message is pronounced: put charitably, the powers are neutralized or exorcized, lives are touched and transformed, and the word of God attains and accomplishes good things for hearers who receive such in faith.

and apprehensions that beset the masses when they perceive threatening spiritual forces in their midst. The point, however, is that in oral cultures, the vitality of the spoken and sounded word relates to the prominence of the sonic dimension of human being-in-the-world, and such foregrounds the pneumaticism that sustain both, even interlaces the dynamics of breath and vocalization on the one side and the metaphysical reification of spiritual beings and

40entities on the other side.From this, then, we can see that not only are the personal

and the spiritual intermingled, but these together are also not divorced from the social and public ground. There is here a communal aspect to pentecostal Bible reading and hermeneutics that recognizes how a scripted word of God can nevertheless address the present realities of believing communities in places

41and times far removed from the original utterances. Such a communal approach to and engagement with scripture could precipitate liberative transformation not only at personal but also at ecclesial and even social levels, at least that is the promise of

42African pentecostal communal hermeneutics. This is an urgent question across the continent, particularly when it is understood in light of failed African states and the need for the rule of law in the political sphere, and for effective solutions for the economic and social development of the region. Palpable Pentecostal resurgence amidst the African public square raises hopes that these churches might contribute to political stability and the economic betterment of the continent.

Yet the verdict thus far is ambiguous at best and negative at worst in that pentecostal Bible reading and application remains more personalized and individualized than catalytic of wider

40Thus some African scholars believe that a kind of “conflationist” hermeneutic blends too easily retain both testaments and the indigenous African worldview; see Joseph Williams Acheampong, “‘I Will Pass over You’: The Relevance of the Passover to the Understanding of Salvation in Contemporary Ghanaian Pentecostalism – A Critical Reflection from an Akan Perspective” (D.Theol. dissertation, UniversitätHamburg, 2014), 211-12, electronic version available at http://d-nb.info/1076359868/34.

41See Louis Jonker, “Towards a 'Communal' approach for Reading the Bible in Africa,” in Mary Getui, Knut Holter, and Victor Zinkuratire, eds., Interpreting the Old Testament in Africa: Papers from the International Symposium on Africa and the Old Testament in Nairobi, October 1999, Bible and Theology in Africa 2 (New York: Peter Lang, 2001), 77-88.

42Sarojini Nadar, “'The Bible Says!' Feminism, Hermeneutics and Neo-Pentecostal Challenges,” Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 134 (2009): 131-46, at 145, thus notes that pentecostal communities read the Bible “for transformation” in these various spheres.

43For instance, Chitando, Ezra, Masiiwa Regis Gunda, and Joachim Kügler, eds., Prophets, Profits and the Bible in Zimbabwe:Festschrift forvAynos Masotcha Moyo , Bible in Africa Studies 12 (Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press, 2013), reveal how the Bible is drawn upon to develop prosperity teachings but is not, at least not yet, viewed as related to economic growth and development on a wider scale; on a more hopeful note, albeit not ignorant of the fact that much needs to be done to bridge pentecostal spirituality and socio-economic transformation, see the chapter by The Center for Development and Enterprise, South Africa, “Under the Radar: Pentecostalism in South Africa and Its Potential Social and Economic Role,” in Katherine Attanasi and Amos Yong, eds., Pentecostalism and Prosperity: The Socioeconomics of the Global Charismatic Movement, Christianities of the World 1 (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), 63-86.

44See the insight and bold stance of pentecostal biblical scholar, Madipoane Masenya (Ngwana Mphahlelej), “The Bible

and Prophecy in African-South African Pentecostal Churches,”Missionalia 33:1 (2005): 35-45.45Rosinah Mmannana Gabaitse, “Pentecostal Hermeneutics and the Marginalisation of Women,” Scriptura 114 (2015):

1-12, argues that in this sense, pentecostal hermeneutics is presumptively fundamentalistic, reading proof texts in isolation rather than according to pentecostal perspectives or priorities.

122 123

On the Day of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Spirit was upon “all flesh” (Acts 2:17a), indeed on human bodies. There is audiality: “suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind”; visuality and viscerality: “Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them”; and aurality: “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:2-4, emphases added). The point is that the pentecostal message was not only heard, although it surely was, but also perceived and experienced in and through human bodies. The divine word is received not merely cognitively but

50affectively. Thus this embodied aspect of encountering the divine, of primary import in oral cultural perspective, ought not to be minimized. Instead, it is prioritized in considerations of encountering, sensing, and perceiving the divine manifestation, all of which are a prelude to interpreting and understanding its

51significance.Orthopraxy, related to right actions, behaviors, and agency,

is much more prevalent in theological discourse especially in the wake of liberation theology and its impulses that have been forcefully felt in the last generation. Yet if liberation theologians emphasize moving from theology to praxis, for pentecostals the concerns for right activity are the prior side of the aural field: before theology is applied practically, words are heard via their performance or enactment. Thus, praxis calls attention to how language not just inspires practical implementation but can be effective in achieving intended changes in the world. If oral communications in this vein are in general speech acts that bring about, potentially or actually, new states of affairs, orthopraxic utterances – that which are right according to certain theological

APOSTOLIC FAITH AS AURAL PRAXIS AND C O N F E S S I O N : T O WA R D A 2 1 S T C E N T U RY PENTECOSTAL PARADIGM

In this concluding section, I want to briefly delineate the contours of a pentecostal hermeneutic in light of the above analysis. My goal here, however, is not to assume I speak for African Pentecostals, but to be attentive to and build constructively upon the preceding perspectives in crafting a hermeneutical orientation that potentially has global purchase. Hence I want to return to the Day of Pentecost narrative at the heart of pentecostal spirituality in order to think through such a hermeneutical posture that is related to, albeit capable of navigating what might be reckoned as

46excessive of, oral cultural sensibilities. Our goal is to do no more than denote the contours of a hermeneutical framework that, grounded in the scriptural witness, has the capacity to address the challenges and opportunities confronted by contemporary global Christianity. I urge that there are three interrelated facets of such a Pentecostal and Christian hermeneutic and that these can be explicated in terms of orthopathy (right feeling), orthopraxy (right

47actions), and orthodoxy (right belief).

Orthopathy, related to right affections, passions, and emotions, concerns the heart, which in religious language connotes

48what is central to human embodiment. Orality attends to how the human voice sounds out the desires, hopes, fears, aspirations, etc., deep in the human spirit, even if often times such can be no more than “sighs too deep for words” (Rom. 8:26b). This is the language of human interiority, communicated audibly but also through the touch, the smile, the groan, etc. If there is no minimizing the unique personal characteristics of the biblical authors as contributing to their texts, there is also no marginalizing of these aspects from

49readers and users of these scriptures in succeeding generations. It is also the language of the spirit, and the portal through which the human and the divine resound.

124 125

46Complementing the following briefer sketch is a more extensive meditation of pentecostal hermeneutics in dialogue with the Acts narrative: Yong, “Reflecting and Confessing in the Spirit: Call to Transformational Theologizing,” International Review of Mission 105:2 (2016): forthcoming.

47Here I supplement from the perspective of oral culturality what I have developed elsewhere, specifically in Renewing Christian Theology: Systematics for a Global Christianity, images and commentary by Jonathan A. Anderson (Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2014), ch. 1 and passim.

48For elaboration of the otherwise obscure notion of orthopathos, see Yong, Spirit of Love: A Trinitarian Theology of Grace (Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2012), part II.

49Hence the focus on the readers' and communities' responses is not only appropriate but imperative, as has been done by postmodern pentecostal scholars such as Bradley TrumanNoel, Pentecostal and Postmodern Hermeneutics: Comparisons and Contemporary Impact (Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, 2010.

50Pentecostal scholars are thus slowly but surely developing the notion of affectivity as part and parcel of a biblical hermeneutics for the contemporary world. A preliminary formulation is Robert O. Baker, “Pentecostal Bible Reading: Toward a Model of Reading for the Formation of the Affections,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 7 (1995): 34-38. Leading the way among pentecostal biblical scholars otherwise is Lee Roy Martin: “Psalm 63 and Pentecostal Spirituality: An Exercise in Affective Hermeneutics,” in Pentecostal Hermeneutics: A Reader, ed. Lee Roy Martin (Leiden: Brill, 2013), chapter 15; “'Oh Give Thanks to the Lord for He Is Good': Affective Hermeneutics, Psalm 107, and Pentecostal Spirituality,” Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 36 (2014): 1–24; and “Rhetorical Criticism and the Affective Dimension of the Biblical Text,” Journal for Semitics 23 (2014): 339–53.

51Other pentecostal scholars – e.g., Kevin L.Spawn and Archie T. Wright, eds., Spirit and Scripture: Exploring a Pneumatic Hermeneutic (London: T & T Clark, 2012) – have been emphasizing that the inspiration of the Spirit not only preceeds behind the text with its authors but also follows beyond the text with readers; my point is that the Spirit's role beyond the text is not limited to enabling interpretation but in the prior reception and use of sacred scripture.

follow from its encounter with the triune God and concomitant 55

practices. Yet in oral cultural perspective, right beliefs are not limited to propositions but are carried in a full range of sayings and genres: proverbs, laments, songs, narratives, and the like. This is the language of intersubjective interrelationality, forged from out of the interpersonal interactions that constitute human being-in-the-world, expressed not only volubly but with the full scope of communicative gestures and actions available to embodied agents. In the ancient church, the Latin motto lex orandi lex credendi – loosely: the law of praying is the law of believing – captures the basic thrust that speech acts are directed not only to other creatures on the horizontal plain but also addressed to the deity that is

56vertically transcendent, and as such, the orality of orthodoxy is multi and trans-dimensional.

The Day of Pentecost was not devoid of orthodox explication. The manifestation of the Spirit resulted in bewilderment, amazement, astonishment, and perplexity (Acts 2:6, 7, 12): “What does this mean?” (2:12), the crowd wondered? Peter's response appeals to the Old Testament prophet Joel, explicating Joel's vision of the divine response to the plague of locusts as being eschatologically fulfilled with the Spirit's outpouring (2:16-21). From there, Peter – via St. Luke the author of this account – connects the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to the story of David, his persecution at the hands of Saul and other enemies and the resulting laments, song, and narrative (2:22-36). Here the apostolic believers located the significance of their own experiences in the collected scriptures of ancient Israel. That which had been handed down from childhood orally from generation to generation (2 Tim. 1:5, 3:15) was now “useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). The apostolic community would continue to rely on these orally transmitted accounts as guided by the Spirit, in their discernment when disputes arose in the following years and

57decades (e.g., Acts 15:12-29). The pentecostal people of the Spirit

standards – as such accomplish divinely intended objectives. This is the language of human exteriority that enables human agents to realize divine aims in the power of the Spirit. In effect, the prophetic performance precedes prophetic speech or the latter receives its authorization precisely through the former.

The Pentecost narrative here not just tells of a historic event inaugurating the church (as in conventional accounts) but invites participation in the ongoing mission of the Spirit of the living God. If Acts 1 promises the power of the Spirit to bear witness to the ends of the earth (1:8), then Acts 2 indicates that the outpoured Spirit occurred initially among those gathered from these geographic ends in Jerusalem, and the rest of the Acts narrative unfolds how these sojourners returned to the far corners of the known world to carry out the messianic message. Pentecostal reading thus presumes the lavish gift of the Spirit is intended for “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord [to] be saved” (2:21), and that its ongoing relevance is “for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him” (Acts 2:39), precisely in order to enable involvement in the divine mission. Hence the Acts narrative continues after the final 28th chapter so that each successive generation writes out a new 29th

52chapter of the ongoing story of the mission of God. In this way, pentecostal praxis assumes that the biblical message (the that of the scriptural witness) maps onto or undergirds the experiences of all believers in the post-apostolic era (the this of contemporary life

53and mission).Orthodoxy, right beliefs and confessions, is located third

not because it is least important – note that in this account, orthopathy, orthopraxy, and orthodoxy are interlinked strands of a

54three-fold cord – but because historically, the church's teachings

55See here the derivation of the fourth century creeds in Yong, Hospitality and the Other: Pentecost, Christian Practices, and the Neighbor, Faith Meets Faith series (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2008), ch. 2.

56See Christopher A. Stephenson, “The Rule of Spirituality and the Rule of Doctrine: A Necessary Relationship in Theological Method,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 15:1 (2006): 83-105.

57Thus during the first Jerusalem council (Acts 15), the apostles drew from the Old Testament prophet Amos (15:15-17), and reasoned therefrom toward a resolution as “it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (15:28).

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52One version of this Acts 29 account is by pentecostal feminist theologian Pamela M. S. Holmes, “Acts 29 and Authority:

Towards a Pentecostal Feminist Hermeneutic of Liberation,” in Michael Wilkinson and Steven M. Studebaker, eds. A Liberating Spirit: Pentecostals and Social Action in North America (Eugene, Ore.: Pickwick Publications, 2010), 185-209.

53For more on this pentecostal version of the “this-is-that” hermeneutic, see my essays,“The 'Baptist Vision' of James

William McClendon, Jr.: A Wesleyan-Pentecostal Response,” Wesleyan Theological Journal 37:2 (Fall 2002): 32-57, and “Reading Scripture and Nature: Pentecostal Hermeneutics and Their Implications for the Contemporary Evangelical Theology and Science Conversation,” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 63:1 (2011): 1-13, esp. 4-6.

54I and other pentecostal scholars have developed a range of hermeneutical correlations for these three domains, all framed pneumatologically: e.g., Yong, Spirit-Word-Community: Theological Hermeneutics in Trinitarian Perspective, New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies Series (Burlington, Vt., and Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2002); Kenneth J.Archer, A Pentecostal Hermeneutic for the Twenty-First Century: Spirit, Scripture and Community (London: T&T Clark International, 2004); and Roger Stronstad, Spirit, Scripture and Theology: A Pentecostal Perspective (Baguio City, Philippines: APTS Press, 1994).

text in ways essential for comprehending its ongoing power to address human lives and affairs. If traditionalists are concerned about the subjectivity of oral approaches to the Bible, they need to be reminded that historical critical analysis is not entirely objective even as the myth of scientific positivism and objectivism has also been exposed. More importantly, as the preceding hints at, the criterion for correcting excessive interpretations and applications of scripture will always be contested ecclesiologically (vis-à-vis the historic and ongoing unfolding Christian tradition), theologically and christologically (as the Spirit is not free-floating but is always the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus), and missionally and practically (assessed according to the fruits of the

60Spirit, for instance), even as these more general norms will also 61always be contextually and culturally adjudicated. The point is

not to dispense with historical, grammatical, linguistic, and other staples of traditional biblical criticism, but to realize that the power and significance of scripture for any age is only half grasped when that is accomplished. Orality dynamics help us to appreciate that the concentrated effort on the other half of the equation brings orthopathic and orthopraxis perspectives to bear on the task of being transformed by the Spirit of the triune God so as to more

62faithfully move into and live within the apostolic witness.

in all subsequent generations have these apostolic exemplars as models of not just what to believe and confess but how to discern,

58formulate, and forge such belief and confession.

CONCLUSION

My claim in this essay is that orality perspectives help us to appreciate both what the Bible says and how such is said. Pentecostal hermeneutics, then, resounded through the African continent, concerns not just the orthodoxy of biblical interpretation but also the orthopathy of how the Bible is received and the orthopraxy of how it is used in relationship to the ultimate mission and purposes of God. I have attempted therefore to reflect on the phenomenology of oral cultural engagement with sacred writ in dialogue with the Day of Pentecost narrative in order both to illuminate the orality inherent in the biblical text and to elucidate how the performance of scripture also participates in that oral traditioning. Along the way, I have also suggested how developments in pentecostal biblical and theological hermeneutics in the last generation have made explicit commitments otherwise embedded in the orality and spirituality of the global movement.

Yet beyond clarifying pentecostal practices to scriptural interpretation, the wider goal attempted in the preceding pages is to make plausible the suggestion that an orality orientation – articulated in the preceding in conversation with pentecostal perspectives – might also be helpful for thinking about biblical

59hermeneutics in global, intercultural, and transcultural contexts. Traditionally formulated, biblical hermeneutics thus responds to the transmission side of the sacred text, illuminating the world behind the text in critical ways. The hermeneutical accents focused upon in this essay, however, explore the reception side of the biblical message, explicating the world beyond or in front of the

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58See the application of this apostolic Acts 15 model for normative purposes by John Christopher Thomas, “Women, Pentecostals and the Bible: An Experiment in Pentecostal Hermeneutics,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 2:5 (1994): 41-56; a more descriptive but no less informative account of pentecostal Bible reading in communal and ecclesial contexts is by Jacqueline Grey, Three's a Crowd: Pentecostalism, Hermeneutics, and the Old Testament (Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, 2011).

59As such, I consider this paper as complementing the argument for a pneumatological hermeneutics and methodology

recently made in Yong, The Dialogical Spirit: Christian Reason and Theological Method for the Third Millennium (Eugene, Ore.: Cascade Books, 2014).

60As unpacked in the concluding chapter of Yong, The Missiological Spirit: Christian Mission Theology for the Third Millennium Global Context (Eugene, Ore.: Cascade Books, 2014).

61For instance, see Ernst Wendland, “Study Bible Notes for the Gospel of Luke in Chichewa,” in Ernst R. Wendland and Jean-Claude Loba-Mkole, eds., Biblical Texts and African Audiences (Nairobi: Acton Publishers, 2004), 103-49, at 144.

62I am grateful to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria and the German Bishops' Conference, Research Group on

International Church Affairs, for the opportunity to present a previous draft of this paper at their International Conference,“Pentecostalism and the Catholic Church: Challenges in the Nigerian Context,” held in Abuja, Nigeria), 14-17, November 2016. Nimi Wariboko gave me immensely helpful feedback on an earlier draft of this chapter and saved me from many embarrassing mistakes. I am alone responsible for the version here.

Fourth Unit:PROSPERITY OR POVERTY?

CONSEQUENCES FOR THE ROLEOF THE CHURCHES WITHIN SOCIETY

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E. Hagin (1917-2003) who is considered a pioneering figure in what came to be known 'Prosperity Gospel' put it in the following words: “Prosperity is not an 'American gospel`. It will work in Africa, India, China, or anywhere else where God's people practice the truth of His Word. If it is not true in the poorest place on earth, it's not true at all!” (Kenneth E. Hagin 2000: 200)

The quotation reveals the inspirational potency of prosperity promises across geographic and socio-cultural spaces. It encapsulates the global spread of prosperity theology and hints at local expressions of a specific religious economy. Paraphrasing Thomas Csordas - an influential American Catholic anthropologist - Prosperity Gospel – “travels well”. Csordas theorized the modalities of transnational religion, and offered two characteristic aspects of successful religious mobility. These he defined as the “transposability of religious messages”, and “the portability of religious practises” (Csordas 2009: 5). With Prosperity Gospel we are mapping an ideal-type of a religious complex comprising of the flows of theologies of hope within transnational networks, and the local shaping of prosperity promises and ritual practises.

According to some core statistical findings, an almost canonized notion of Prosperity Gospel has spilled over from Pentecostal milieus to other forms of African Christianity within the last two decades. A 2010 survey on 'Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa' highlights a number of statistical trends. The data provided by the renowned PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life (2010: 2) show that “in most countries, more than half of Christians believe in the Prosperity Gospel – that God will grant wealth and good health to people who have enough faith.” Even more remarkably is the transmission of core Prosperity Gospel formulae into the wider relief of African religions. The emergences of trans-religious beliefs and practices around concepts of material salvation have created what I have called elsewhere “religio-scapes of Prosperity Gospel” in Africa (Heuser 2015a). By this, I understand Prosperity Gospel as a resourceful “theological locus with porous boundaries” into non-Christian terrains (Heuser 2015b: 22). Recent observations indicate such trans-religious osmosis of Prosperity Gospel rhetoric, metaphors and practises into African folk-Islam as well as into some layers of traditional African religion. This new

1. MAPPING AFRICAN PROSPERITY GOSPEL, OR: PROSPERITY GOSPEL IN AFRICA

African Pentecostal theologizing has captured centre-stage in present-day public spaces by a disputed language of desire. Commonly termed as Gospel of Prosperity it has popularized controversial claims of this-worldly success and material well-being as signs of divine grace. A rather undefined concept in systematic theological terms, Prosperity Gospel centres on a complex liaison of speech acts surrounding faith, wealth, health and victory, combined with ritual practises around secondary evidences of divine blessings. An exemplary description comes from the Lausanne Theology Working Group Statement on Prosperity Gospel published in 2010. As a result of a two-year consultation the statement rejects the 'unbiblical notion that spiritual welfare can be measured in terms of material welfare'. Despite such harsh theological critique the Lausanne Theology Working Group (2010: n.p.) defines Prosperity Gospel as:

The teaching that believers have a right to the blessings of health and wealth and that they can obtain these blessings through positive confessions of faith and the

1'sowing of seeds' through the faithful payments of tithes and offerings .

This broad description condenses several theological codes ingrained in Prosperity Gospel. The appeal of such definition lies in its focus on generic themes which in other words discloses the quality of prosperity theology as a transposable message. Kenneth

DIVINE MONEY – PROSPERITY THEOLOGY'S MATERIAL ECONOMY OF BLESSIN G

( by ANDREAS HEUSER, University of Basel , Sw itzer land)

10

1This article is an abridged and amended version of Andreas Heuser, Charting African Prosperity Gospel economies, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 72/1, 2016, a3823. http://dx.doi. org/10.4102/hts.v72i1.3823.

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this erratic 'health-and-wealth' complex the prosperity aspect merged with the concept of 'seed-faith'. The theological construction of 'sowing and reaping' imaged an intimate link between divine blessing and financial contributions to God and the church; it quantifies blessings by preaching that the more you sow the more you will reap. Elaborated rituals of gift exchange with its postures on divine giving and tithing characterised the new style of Pentecostal worship.

In systematic terms Prosperity Gospel deploys a contracted bond of faith, which Kenneth Hagin referred to as the 'law of faith'. As one of the key terms in prosperity theology the 'law of faith' involves a cause and effect relationship between a believer and God. If Prosperity Gospel might be rightly defined a “legal spiritual system” in theological perspective (Bowler 2013: 46), it however stresses the potency of faith, in other words the potentiality, vitality, persistence, and pragmatism of Christian hope. In its core Prosperity Gospel theologizes on the interplay between faith and action; it is practical theology, so to speak, with a strong call to enactment. Such faith in action is experimental. Yet, the experimental character of Prosperity Gospel cannot be limited to ritual inventions; its economy of faith action articulates in a quest of re-invention.

Indeed, Prosperity Gospel indicates a decisive, if not paradigmatic change in Pentecostal theologizing. The paradigm consists of two radical breaks in Pentecostal theology: the first is connected to a reframing of being in the world; the second is connected to the discovery of the spiritual value of material substance and wealth. These two radical shifts in Pentecostal theology were accompanied by a completely new feature in Pentecostal history: the professional use of new mass media.

The first paradigm shift relates to an innovation in Pentecostal social ethics. In short, the new gospel message cultivated the classical “prospects of faith-healing and well-being and counted on the self-motivation of a believer to act against all desperate reality” (Heuser 2015b: 17) – and by implication to refrain from the retreatist ethics dominant in Pentecostal circles so far. In epic wording Kate Bowler indicates the potential relevance of Prosperity Gospel in American society. She praises its emergence in the post-war period as “both a siren song and a battle cry” for those

cartography of Prosperity Gospel in sub-Saharan Africa highlights the Pentecostalization of African religious landscapes. The genealogy of such transposable message deserves some explanation.

2. GENEALOGY OF A TRANSPOSABLE MESSAGE

The decisive historic point of reference is the post-war/cold war Pentecostal reinvention in America. This crucial phase in Pentecostal history “has gained comparatively little academic attention so far” (Heuser 2015a: 17). In his study of transnational Pentecostal networks, German missiologist Moritz Fischer identifies the 1950s as the context of intensified efforts to globalise American versions of Pentecostalism. Following his analysis, the American genealogy of Prosperity Gospel is part of an era in which “the Pentecostal movement (…) was invented for the second time” (Fischer 2011: 240). The 1940s and 1950s saw the beginning of a movement across denominational lines. Following the historical account by Kate Bowler (2013) diverse theological strands ranging from Pentecostals, Holiness evangelicalism, American Methodism, African-American Baptism, or Dutch Reformed Calvinism melded into American Prosperity Gospel. The idea to receive 'blessings through positive confessions of faith' refers to the 'word-of-faith' movement. In the 1940s and 1950s this so-called faith gospel movement coined an explicit religious rhetoric focused on mind power. Exemplified as positive thinking in mainstream Protestantism of the day, and dubbed 'positive confession` in Pentecostal reception it reflected the spoken 'word', the declaration of securing God`s blessing.

This “idea of a religious speech act that creates reality (Gen 1; John 1) empowered a born-again to take directions in life” (Heuser 2015b: 3). Innovative language of 'naming and claiming` divine blessings merged ideas of faith healing, purity and protection with visions of prosperity for born-again believers. Pentecostal confidence in faith, thus, signified a double-blessed gospel of health and wealth. Theological terminologies and confessions of faith demonstrated a triumphant mode of belief, or – seen more positively – calculate the outcome of a successful life “making material reality the measure of the success of immaterial faith” (Bowler 2013: 7). In

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organisation. The basic formulae of what became branded 'Prosperity Gospel' were popularized in the new media of mass communication, such as radio programs and TV broadcasts. From the 1950s onwards the new modes of communicating the gospel became characteristic features in groupings of individual prosperity preachers. Newly founded independent ministries formed alliances and spread prosperity gospel messages through invitation policies in exchange. The inspirational use of mass media climaxed in the setting-up of joint conferences and in representative staging of mass-crusades. The establishment of independent single ministries was backed-up by the emergence of how-to-do manuals, authored by the new caste of prosperity preachers, and the rise of bible schools and fellowships.

These networks enabled the interchange of persons and the flow of ideas in North America (Christerson and Flory 2017). If mobility was already a key to the national spread of Prosperity Gospel imagery, the ever expanding discursive networks helped to de-localise the movement. Prosperity ministries were setting up global network structures. From around the 1960s Prosperity messages were made to travel internationally. Neither confined to the institutional history of a single body of (Pentecostal) churches nor restricted to influences from a single theological tradition, had prosperity preaching experienced its breakthrough on international scale. The messages of Prosperity Gospel de-localised from its American background and re-localised in contexts of what is now termed the Global South (Fischer 2011: 219-41).

If we look briefly at the historical passages of prosperity theology in Africa: prosperity theology turned up in the eminent transition into a post-colony. In the first recognisable phase of prosperity preaching from the 1970s to 1990s, single individuals of the stature of Nigerian Benson Idahosa (1938-1998) or Ray McCauly (b. 1949) in South Africa, were recognized as representative voices of this new kind of Christian theology. Almost all of them had received their theological education in North American Faith Gospel milieus. Within few years only the African recipients of American prosperity theology evolved as prosperity megastars of their own, visible in the international clusters of Prosperity Gospel conferences. And they mentored numerous

at the margins of society (Bowler 2013: 54). In the past, Pentecostal theology insisted on the retreat from 'this world', thereby promoting an escapist motive to erect “counter-societies of the saved-ones immunized against the vicious operations of the devil in society” (Heuser 2013b: 57). But now and specifically for African-American Pentecostals “locked out of the boom years by segregated housing and a discriminatory labour market, divine prosperity promised an end-run around the political, economic, and social forces of oppression” (Bowler 2013: 53).

The second radical break from classical domains of Pentecostal theology refers to the characteristic material attributes of Prosperity Gospel. Prosperity Gospel undertakes grand efforts to theologize material richness, and to manifest and keep the spiritual control over money. An early indication of the acceptance and the handling of 'dirty' money, more precisely of demonic money is the foundation of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (FGBMI) in 1952. As an association of Pentecostal minded businessmen, FGBMI can be considered an ideo-financial centre to delineate prosperity theology. FGBMI forms a strong actor in the global rise of the Pentecostal movement and experiences a virtual explosion in many parts of the African continent since around the 1980s (Kalu 2008: 125).

The ingenuity of Pentecostal prosperity theology is evident in the most striking resignification of 'mammon` into financial blessing. Otherwise speaking, Prosperity Gospel de-spiritualizes poverty (Heuser 2013a).

In sum: Born-again prosperity theology claims material wealth and breakthroughs of success in life by a double-binding argument: it spiritualizes richness and wealth (instead of and in overt opposition to the well-established liberation theology 'option for the poor') on the one hand, and it purifies money in seed faith and tithing policies on the other hand. It is, I argue, only by way of ritualizing prosperity theology that the highly ambiguous normative value vested in 'money' becomes dominant part of Pentecostal imaginary and a legitimate aspect in Pentecostal ecclesial structures.

The genealogy of prosperity theology in American immediate post-war religious history coincided with still another revolutionary concept in Pentecostal self-presentation and social

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argument expresses outright scepticism over sustainable engagement in society - and even denial of any Pentecostal effects on social change. However, in broader comparative empirical perspective, these findings deserve some corrections.

3. TRANSFORMATIONAL SOCIAL AGENCY

In comparative terms Prosperity Gospel shows three types of social profiles, each one is connected to a different social milieu and context:

?What we find is, first, a kind of metropolitan, middle-class “Progressive Pentecostalism”;

?A second version may be termed a Pentecostal “theology of survival” in urban and rural impoverished contexts;

?A third variant is an education-oriented “Pentecostal Business Management Ecumenism”.

In a first global survey of Pentecostal churches Donald Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori (2007) have identified an urban-based “progressive” Pentecostalism. By this category they signify middle-class churches that are located in metropolitan, urban and peri-urban areas, emphasizing active social ministries. Members are upwardly mobile and rather well educated. They firmly heed to the image of religious entrepreneur and raise enormous funds. According to Miller and Yamamori (2007: 2) a number of these progressive Pentecostal churches are “addressing the social needs of people in their community.”

The correlation of Pentecostal prosperity theology with an ethics of social responsibility (cf. Musa Gaiya 2015) has triggered a key debate guided by 'modernity'-assumptions. The urgency to define a certain set of behavioural codes as markers of Pentecostal socio-economic potential and mobilizing social ambition revitalizes Weberian concepts of the protestant capitalist ethic. Such positioning is strongly advocated by Peter L. Berger's “simple but far-reaching, proposition” made in a public lecture at the University of the Witwatersrand on 'Faith and Development' in March 2008: “Pentecostalism should be viewed as a positive resource for modern economic development” (Berger 2008: 5). The confidence in view

African prosperity theologians themselves and in their own theological seminars. The 'grown-up' African Prosperity Gospel celebrities were operating independently of American networks from around 2000 onwards (Bowler 2013: 258-59). They were forming increasing clusters of international conferences, crusades and autonomous circuits of their own.

By consequence, Prosperity Gospel circulated within diverse networks and on different levels, be they international, national, or be they regional and local. The theological codes remain quite uniform and resemble in all these circuits, while the ritual enactments of prosperity messages, or else their liturgical settings adopt an enormous range of varieties. But what about the practical results of prosperity messages? How do they affect the life of believers? In this respect, we immerse into a heated debate on Prosperity Gospel. Empirical research on African Prosperity Gospel is raising severe doubts over its social capacity.

A sceptical intervention comes from Catholic Nigerian sociologist of religion, Asonzeh Ukah. In his compact research oeuvre on Nigerian megachurches, he detects a “sacred secrecy” surrounding finances (Ukah 2005: 272). According to Asonzeh Ukah, Nigerian megachurches have turned into mere business empires lead by “prophets for profit” (Ukah 2013), business-minded religious entrepreneurs. The 'prophets for profit' adopt marketing strategies to mobilise and organise funds; they would act as “economic missionaries” with a prime interest in generating rent instead of supporting spiritual aims (Ukah 2013: 151). Church hierarchies are dominated by founding leaders or their representatives. In organisational terms they lack accountability and financial transparency. Relating to incidences of fraud, Ukah deplores the opaque handling of finances and dubious fiscal accountability. He even locates the systemic structure of such a financial 'sacred secrecy' in the global appearance of Nigerian mega-churches, let`s say in the Nigerian diaspora. In the final analysis Asonzeh Ukah identifies an instrumental usage of prosperity theology by founders of mega-churches in order to “transform them into economic, financial and entrepreneurial empires which are completely controlled by their families.” (Ukah 2013: 145) What he basically describes is a Pentecostal kleptocracy. The overall

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of entrepreneurial praxis. They are characterized by long-term networking beyond the range of the same church or church family. Such interaction is basically generated between African Progressive Pentecostals and Afro-American churches of the evangelical left, i.e. churches with a stronger socio-political profile. Their common target is to impacting society by practical aspects of prosperity theology. For this reason, they engage in business education programs.

David Daniels (2015) exemplifies one such joint venture between African and African-American prosperity oriented mega-churches. The interchanges between American televangelist Bill Winston of Living Word Christian Centre (Chicago) and Nigerian megachurch ministry of Samuel Adeyemi of Daystar Christian Centre (Lagos) support entrepreneurial ambitions by favouring business educational projects. This includes the founding of educational institutions with a priority on economics. Their mission statements stress personal responsibility for acquiring business skills and strategic business behaviour for realizing material wealth. In such intentional cooperation between single African-American and West African mega-ministries, Daniels observes the move from consumption of wealth to entrepreneurship. According to these recent observations the pragmatic revision of Prosperity Gospel takes place when Prosperity Gospel doctrines merge with business education.

This educational oriented prosperity message still represents a much smaller section of African Pentecostalism. Whether Pentecostal prosperity theology exerts lasting impact on structural parameters of society, and in which ways and dimensions, is still in need of closer empirical investigation. Even the social capital expressed by urban, progressive Pentecostalism remains ambiguous. Miller and Yamamori qualify the kind of social praxis of progressive Pentecostals as “heroic intensity” (2007: 127). Such puzzling phrasing leaves impression of activism rather than long-term effects in handling social projects (cf. Paul Gifford 2015). Consequently, Pentecostal social ministries might still lack a profound sense of professionalism. Thus far, and in contradiction to Peter Berger`s plain assumption, it remains declamatory.

of the transformational quality of Pentecostal prosperity theology is great. In her influential contribution on “the Pentecostal ethic and the spirit of development” in Africa, social anthropologist Dena Freeman stated in 2012 that the Pentecostal features of individual transformation of believers would efficiently result in an ethic of sustainable development. The background of her research is Ethiopian rural highland Pentecostalism. Pentecostal churches would be “more successful in bringing about change that is effective, deep-rooted and long-lasting” than historically established (orthodox and western mission derived) Christianity or even secular NGOs (Freeman 2012: 24).

The debate is still ongoing. Generalizing statements on Prosperity Gospel churches as modern agents for socio-economic transformation need to be tested by comparative case-study approaches in different social contexts. In insecure local environments, the Pentecostal theology of prosperity bears the contours of a more introverted message. For instance, in impoverished townships or slums the social reach of Prosperity Gospel messages is oriented to meet existential needs. Small Pentecostal churches form neighbourhood support groups that are reactive rather than proactive in nature; they might create small networks of solidarity such as funeral societies or bursary funds for the education of their children, however with little structural impact on society at large. Harri Englund rightly observes that it is the “quest for security rather than for prosperity” that “animates the Pentecostal imagination.” (Englund 2011: 17) In a typology of prosperity oriented Pentecostalism in Africa, the Prosperity Gospel in small-scale peri-urban (and possibly most rural) socio-economic milieus articulates, according to my own view, a “silent theology of survival” (Heuser 2013a: 163-64).

4. CONCLUSION

By way of conclusion, I point to the most recent phenomenon: the shaping of a Pentecostal Business Management Ecumenism, the third expression of practical Prosperity Gospel. So far, measurable proof of African Pentecostal agency to improve social life is small. Some initiatives, however, direct towards strategic implementation

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Gaiya, M.A. B., 2015, “Charismatic and Pentecostal Orientations in Nigeria”, Nova Religio 18(3), 63-79.

Gifford, P., 2015, “The Prosperity Theology of David Oyedepo”, in A. Heuser (ed.), Pastures of Plenty: Tracing religio-scapes of prosperity gospel in Africa and beyond, 83-100, Frankfurt: Lang.

Hagin, K.E., 2000, The Midas Touch: A balanced approach to biblical prosperity, Tulsa, OK: Kenneth Hagin Ministries.

Heuser, A., 2013a, ''Refuse to Die in Poverty!” Armutsüberwindung und Varianten des Wohlstandsevangeliums in Afrika”, Theologische Zeitschrift 1-2(69), 146-171.

Heuser, A., 2013b, “Trajectories into the World: Concepts of 'development” in contemporary African Pentecostal Christianity, in K. Mtata (ed.), Religion: Help or Hindrance to Development? 51-68, Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt.

Heuser, A. (ed.), 2015, Pastures of Plenty: Tracing religio-scapes of prosperity gospel in Africa and beyond, Frankfurt: Lang.

Heuser, A., 2015a, “Religio-scapes of Prosperity Gospel: an introduction”, in Heuser, A. (ed.), Pastures of Plenty: Tracing religio-scapes of prosperity gospel in Africa and beyond, 15-29, Frankfurt: Lang.

Kalu, O., 2008, African Pentecostalism: An Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lausanne Theology Working Group, 2010, A statement on the prosperity gospel, viewed 14 May 2016, from https://www.lausanne.org/content/a-statement-on-the-prosperity-gospel.

Miller, D.E. and Yamamori, T., 2007, Global Pentecostalism: The new face of Christian social engagement, Berkeley: University of California Press.

ReferencesBerger, P.L., 2008, Faith and development: a global perspective,

Centre for Development and Enterprise Public Lectures,March 2008, viewed 20 May 2016 from t t p : / / w w w . c d e . o r g . z a / w p content/uploads/2013/02/Faith_and_Development.pdf.

Bowler, K., 2013, Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Christerson, Brad / Flory, Richard, 2017, The Rise of Network Christianity: How Independent Leaders are Changing the Religious Landscape, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Csordas, T.J., 2009, “Introduction: Modalities of transnational transcendence”, in T.J. Csordas (ed.), Transnational transcendence” Essays on religion and globalization, 1-29, Berkeley: University of California Press.

Daniels III, D.D., 2015, “Prosperity Gospel of Entrepreneurship in Africa and Black America: A pragmatist Christian innovation”, in A. Heuser (ed.), (2015) Pastures of Plenty: Tracing religio-scapes of prosperity gospel in Africa and beyond, 265-277, Frankfurt: Lang.

Englund, H., 2011, “Introduction: Rethinking African Christianities. Beyond the religion-politics conundrum”, in H. Englund (ed.), Christianity and Public Culture in Africa,1–24, Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.

Fischer, M., 2011, Pfingstbewegung zwischen Fragilität und Empowerment: Beobachtungen zur Pfingstkirche 'Nzambe Malamu' mit ihren transnationalen Verflechtungen, Göttingen: V&R Unipress.

Freeman, D., 2012, “The Pentecostal Ethic and the Spirit of Development”, in D. Freeman (ed.), Pentecostalism and Development: Churches, NGOs and social change in Africa, 1-38, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

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PREAMBLE

The topic as originally couched and given to me is P E N T E C O S TA L I S M : W O M E N A N D C H I L D R E N VULNERABILITY. I thought deeply on the topic and probably in my seeing it is not too clear, I found that it is open to a number of interpretations or coinage, one of which is: IMPACT OF PENTECOSTALISM ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN. After ruminating on that coinage and its possible perspectives, I thought within me that that coinage may not comprehensively reflect the essence of the topic. Since presenters have some liberty to rephrase and approach a topic from a viewpoint adjudged to be the considered view of the topic proponent, I therefore seized that liberty and rephrased my given topic to be what is now reflected as the topic for our discourse at this Colloquium.

It will be observed that the children component is downplayed or omitted in the newly couched topic. This is deliberate, because it is my considered opinion that children are ab initio vulnerable and it is not limited to the dictates of Pentecostalism. And as we shall see when we consider the definition of vulnerability, children will always remain vulnerable to anything, at any place and at any time. By the time they come to a stage when they are of age and are no longer helpless, then they are not open to the vicissitudes of vulnerability by default, except by choice.

But does this reflect the definition for children, especially going by age delineation? Yes, I am aware of two main definitions in literature. One that defines a child as a human being between the stages of birth and puberty characterised essentially by inability to

PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life, 2010, Islam and Christianity in Sub-saharan Africa, Washington.

Ukah, A.F.K., 2005, “Those who trade with God never lose: The economics of pentecostal activism in Nigeria”, in T. Falola (ed.), Christianity and Social Change in Africa: Essays in honor of J.D.Y. Peel, 253–74, Durham: Carolina Academic Press.

Ukah, A.F.K., 2013, “Prophets for profit: Pentecostal authority and fiscal accountability among Nigerian churches in South Africa”, in A. Adogame, M. Echtler & O. Freiberger (eds.). Alternative voices: A plurality approach for religious studies, 134-159, Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht.

WOMEN'S VULNERABILITY IN RELIGION:THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF PENTECOSTALISM

(by PROFESSOR NIKE EMEKE, Ibadan)

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and missionary activities that were led by Europeans and later their converts, including evangelized slaves. Established mission schools educated generations of African elites in Christian theology, and supported evangelical efforts across the continent.

The term Pentecostal is taken from the account of the coming of the Holy Spirit in the second chapter of Acts. The Disciples of Jesus Christ were “filled” with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other tongues in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-13). After receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples underwent an empowering transformation (Acts 2). This transformation is believed to occur to Pentecostal Christians so that Pentecostal churches emphasize salvation as a transformative experience brought about by the Holy Spirit (Anderson, 2010).

Pentecostalism started as a movement - the Pentecostal Movement, that is a movement whose intent is to recreate, so to say, the Pentecost event. The movement grew out of a so-called "Holiness Movement" in the 1800s in the United States of America. As documented in Aniagwu (2016), the Pentecostal movement actually originated on the 1st of January 1901 in the Bethel College in Topeka, Texas, United States of America, when certain members of the Holiness Movement began to speak in tongues. The Pastor, a certain Charles Fox Parham, seized the occasion to announce the birth of a new movement, the Pentecostal Movement. He added a new element to the original two "acts of grace" of the Holiness Movement, conversion or being born again and entire sanctification or second blessing. What he added was "Spirit Baptism" or "Baptism in the Spirit". By the 1920s, the movement had gone into the doldrums. It was revived after the Second World War with a strong emphasis on faith healing. Thereafter, it was promoted by a number of "charismatic" preachers in the United States, such as Oral Roberts, Jim and Tammie Bakker, Jimmy Swaggert and Pat Robinson.

THE CHALLENGE OF PENTECOSTALISM - A PASTORAL RESPONSE

However, the surge in Pentecostal and other charismatic churches emerged in the 1970s, spurred in part by American evangelists targeting Africa as part of their agenda of saving souls. They

take informed choices. Then, the second that extends the age to 18 years of life. But how can anyone say that a person under 18 years of age is someone who is not matured and who cannot take informed choices? Biological studies and brain development experts would have us believe that an individual's brain develops to over 80% of adult size within the first five years of life. Thereafter the brain matures and enables the individual to coordinate a number of thoughts, activities, actions and events. A child well below the age of 18 years goes to school, learns difficult concepts, and in social life interacts meaningfully with peers and adults. As a person, I pitch my tent with the view of seeing the child as a being between the stages of birth and puberty. Puberty sets in for females at 9 years and males at 10 years and the onset age is even decreasing (m.kidshealth.org > kids > puberty; www.medicinenet,com). So for me a child up to the age of 9 years is by default vulnerable not only to religion but to anything and everything. I therefore consider that dwelling on children's vulnerability as a consequence of Pentecostalism will be striking a discordant tune and will be unfair to Pentecostalism. Nonetheless, I shall make passing references to Pentecostalism and the vulnerability of young ones (who may be considered or viewed as children). Thus the major focus in this discourse will be on women.

A BRIEF LOOK AT PENTECOSTALISM

Pentcostalism traces its root to Christianity which itself has its history. Historically, Christianity started after the day of Pentecost and promptly, the Apostles swung into action to carry out the dictates of Jesus that they should preach the gospel to all nations (Mark 16:15, Matt 28:19), and ever since, the spread of the gospel has been on the move. Christianity was first brought to Africa in the 1st and 2nd centuries. Its entry into Africa led to the establishment and spread of Coptic and Orthodox churches in the North and Horn of Africa. Portuguese explorers and colonialists laid the foundation for the spread of Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa in the 15th century. The 16th to the 19th centuries witnessed the spread of both Catholic and Protestant Christianity spread across sub-Saharan Africa. This was made possible through European colonization

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An attempt at typology of Pentecostal groups as far back as 1978 (Kalu, 1978) gave the following: (1) Interdenominational Fellowships, (2) Evangelistic Ministries, e.g. Deeper Life Bible Church, (3) Deliverance Ministries, specializing in exorcism, (4) Prosperity or Faith Ministries e.g. Zoë Ministry, Idahosa's Church of God Mission, (5) Intercessors for Africa, (6) Missionary and Rural Evangelism, e.g. The Christian Evangelical Social Movement, Christian Movement Foundation (Rural Evangelism Outreach (REO) Ministry belongs to this group), (7) Bible Distribution Ministries, e.g. Gideon Bible International whose members must be born again and must be active in their churches, (8) Classical Pentecostals such as Assemblies of God Mission, Four Square Gospel, etc., (9) Children Evangelism Ministries whose branches have mushroomed nationwide from late 1980s. The demarcating lines between the Pentecostal groups are between fellowships and churches and between holiness and prosperity groups.

WHAT VULNERABILITY IS

It is time to turn to this aspect of our discourse. The concept is relative and dynamic. Vulnerability arises when people are isolated, insecure and defenceless in the face of risk, shock or stress. Vulnerability can be defined as the diminished capacity of an individual or group to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impact of a natural or man-made hazard. It also refers to the inability (of a system or a unit) to withstand the effects of a hostile environment.

But in a more fundamental way, vulnerability is basically a state of being weak and defenseless, a state of being easily hurt physically or emotionally. When vulnerability is seen from this perspective, then it can well be said that all human beings are susceptible in one way or the other and are thus vulnerable. I am therefore of the humble opinion that, the interpretation of vulnerability must be one's inability to either resist, or flee danger - physically or emotionally. For me, children are by default vulnerable because they do not possess the comprehensive capacity to resist or flee physical or emotional dangers. This

expounded a form of prosperity theology that proved appealing to Africans who were dealing with economic disenfranchisement in the post-independence era. Without an orthodoxy or centralized governance structure, Pentecostalism and charismatic Christianity presented a platform for people to found churches and begin to fashion new forms of worship and church structures. Unlike earlier waves of African Christian leadership drawn from social elites, the new Pentecostal and charismatic churches have been led by people from across the class spectrum, including lower socio-economic classes. As pastors have amassed wealth, some have also focused on expanding their infrastructure of influence among elites, including founding universities and drawing high-ranking government officials and business leaders into their congregations (Gaiya, 2002).

In Nigeria, the beginning of proliferation of Pentecostal churches could be traced to the period after the Nigerian independence. The political independence of Nigeria seemed to have in turn encouraged religious independence in the country, giving rise to a situation whereby the strong tie of membership of the mainline churches was loosened. The Anglican Church and her other mainline sister Protestant churches were the major victims of this development. Consequently, Christians in Protestant churches began to see themselves more as individual Christians than as part of the corporate body, the church. Following this development, there sprang up independent Christian groups with evangelical and Pentecostal persuasions, most of which initially claimed to be non-denominational or inter-denominational, only to turn round and become churches and even mega churches later.

Thousands of Pentecostal churches have sprung up in Nigeria since 1970. From mere tens in the 1970s, the number grew to 1,108 in 2001 as reported by the Newswatch Magazine (December 3, 2001: 26 – 30). As church business appear to become more lucrative, the number grew even more and by 2015 (a space of 14 years), the number has grown to 2,135 pentecostal groups/churches going by the pyhsical count I made from names of churches and their addresses provided in the Nigeria Bussiness Directory (2015), and the count is on since new ones keep coming up almost on a daily basis.

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Women have made remarkable progress in both emancipation and empowerment. In the past few years for example, we have seen women take on the mantle of leadership in the political arena at the highest level as President/Prime Minister in such countries like Liberia, Malawi, Britain, Germany.

All the issues and feats raised above could not have been achieved if women were inherently vulnerable like men would want to make the world believe. The world terrain is becoming increasingly more level for women to play their roles and contribute their quota. But the conditions and opportunities for women that have improved it is because there was a conscious effort through a sustained struggle to improve them - and that struggle became possible when sexism and discrimination were recognized, faced and confronted, championed by the women themselves. Assuming without admitting that women are vulnerable; it is because men are viciously domineering, and not because women are inherently vulnerable.

In spite of the views that I have expressed above, it is important to state that in practice, the traces of vulnerability exist among women and it will do more good rather than harm to take an objective look at this phenomenon. That x-ray will go a long way in making women's emancipation to be on the fast lane and make vulnerability to be on the decline.

WHY ARE WOMEN VULNERABLE? WHAT HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THEIR VULNERABILITY?

There are myriads of factors responsible for why women, but women in particular appear vulnerable. A few of them will be enunciated in this section.

Society's Role on Women

Today's society degrades women. Women have started to treat themselves as how they are projected by media and society - weak and vulnerable. They lack confidence because society has set almost impossible standards for the "perfect" woman to achieve. So women always feel they have to lower their expectations or give themselves to people to satisfy, to feel a sense of belonging.

informs my agreement with Norgah (2013) who submitted that 'until, and unless one is unable to naturally perform an activity, using any part of the body as a result of a mal-function of that part - including the brain (cognitive vulnerability), that person ought not to be considered vulnerable'. Adult women without disabilities, of course, do not fall into this category. The word vulnerable should strictly speaking be used to refer only to children and those who actually are vulnerable (i.e those who have disability/illness or who are not capable of resisting or fleeing from danger).

WOMEN VULNERABLE?

But are women really vulnerable in the strict sense of the term? Are they really hapless, helpless and cannot defend themselves or flee from harm and danger? My straight answer is capital 'NO'. The reason is simple; women are surpassing men on a number of fronts, women have made it to the top and wield power in the worlds of business and politics which hitherto remained but a dream. Women are systematically and sustainably breaking all bonds and boundaries in the socio-politico-economic arena, thus, defying all odds and gradually taking over the once-man's-world.

The cliché that unlike men, women couldn't rely on their natural instincts to compel them to grab opportunities when they presented themselves, has now been proven wrong with the passage of time. Women these days are getting selected and elected, and are balancing work and family. Gone are the days when men had absolute control over the world's wealth, and considered women as being merely parasitic, enjoying an indifferent domesticity - especially in Africa.

The hard fact these days is: demographics of the world have changed in the process of time, providing opportunity for more women to take up leadership roles. And believe it or not, they are now making as much, if not more impact, than men. This has invariably brought about a significant increase in the frequency of wives earning more than their husbands, - and have now even taken men's place as main 'breadwinner,' especially in conventional homes.

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that we succeed further than men, even those are used against us. Women are subjected to sexual abuse, violence and verbal lashings more than men because we don't have the physical strength to protect ourselves and in a lot of cases, (not all), our emotional attachments get us into trouble. It's so unfair that life did not distribute the strength equally between both genders as this actually exploits us. In other words, I don't see the benefit of having a stronger and weaker gender. We should have been made equal.

Seeking identity

Young women are trying to redefine themselves, and a sense of identity . . . Young women are worried about their careers, new relationships . . . And want places of solace.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN PENTECOSTALISM

Whatever may be the view regarding vulnerability of women and children in religion, and in Pentecostalism as required specifically in this discourse, a fact that is incontrovertible is that women and children through the strategic position they occupy and the population they wield in churches, deserve to be given spotlight, focus and attention. These groups (women and children), are crucial to the maintenance and expansion of Pentecostal churches. Little wonder that whether genuinely or otherwise, Pentecostal pastors and leaders curry the attention of women and aggressively organize activities for them. Some of these activities include Singles & Unmarried fellowship, Pregnant/Expectant Mothers' Prayer Meeting, Mothers' Prayer Session for 1st Born Sons. The pastors devote considerable time to these groups.

Regardless of where Pentecostal churches are found in Africa, one of their distinguishing characteristics is the prominent roles for women and younger persons of both gender. Some scholars (e.g. Spinks, 2003) have argued that Pentecostal movements are especially attractive to women because they contrast cultural marginalization of women in Africa's traditionally patriarchal society. Consequently, there are many women founders and co-founders of Pentecostal churches in Nigeria and across Africa.

Women's Conceptualization of themselves

Women conceptualize and have varying views of themselves, some of which are captured in a qualitative survey. One such view represents desperation as can be seen below:

Unfortunately it is and always has been a Man's world. If we look at how nature has defined us, we stop being able to bear children at some point but men still have the ability to procreate throughout their lives, which could suggest we are surplus to requirements once we have reached an age, but men can drop us, go forth and sow even more of their seed. It's unfair and seems successful women have to lose their femininity and adopt male traits so as not to be perceived as weak or vulnerable. Maybe in the scope of things we were only ever meant to be here to produce new life, like machines.

Some views represent the tone of 'hold your fate in your hands' as exemplified below

There's no free rides in life, even people who seem to have everything have troubles; you might think it's cool being a woman because you're weaker, but guys learn pretty early in life that there's always someone bigger and stronger than you, . . . most of us have been hit by strangers for no reason and have been verbally assaulted. The only thing to do is rely on your own strength and those rare good people we all meet throughout our lives. Being a woman is no reason to think you need to be weak.

Still in line with the above view, another participant said

None of these assumptions of being the weaker sex, being victims of domestic violence etc are restricted to just women. It all depends on the individual. A lot of women could be stronger than the average man. Also just as many men are victims of domestic abuse as women. The only difference is that a lot more women come forward to talk about it than men.

Some views blame it all on creation as can be picked out from the excerpt below

It's very unfair. As a woman, I see that we have so many traits that are often exploited and used against us. While I realise that we can be very caring and comforting and nurturing - the few good traits

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Women identify easily with the pentecostal and charismatic movement probably as a result of two key factors. First is that the pentecostal movements' rejection of the socio-cultural status quo appeals to those aspiring to escape from marginalization in patriarchal societies, the perceived racism and sexism of mainline Churches and the disinterest of state and society in recognizing women's needs. It is thus not surprising that the originators of most African Pentecostal movements tend to be women and young men, who have fewer stakes in the old order and are thus willing to challenge socio-cultural structures. The second key factor has to do with prosperity teaching which supports and legitimizes ambitious young women seeking to break traditional bonds (family ties and traditional forms of wealth distribution) in order to achieve economic, social, and political independence. For disillusioned African women, becoming “born again” offers new hope alongside personal and community strength to overcome hardships and secure socio-economic independence.

It will however be myopic to stop at the two respects mentioned above in explaining women's participation in and embracing of pentecostalism. Women join Pentecostal churches not only because they reject established Christianity and patriarchal structures but as Anderson (2001) pointed out, it is also because they are attracted to the proclamation of a relevant message that provides an indigenous biblical interpretation relevant to their socio-economic aspirations. Way back, Marshall (1992) pointed out that Pentecostal African women are not simply passive objects of push and pull factors, but active creators of a culture-in-the-making.

THE IMPACT/CONTRIBUTIONS OF PENTECOSTALISM TO WOMEN

Since I do not ideologically and consciously believe that women are vulnerable, I will not therefore definitively focus on the contributions or impact of Pentecostalism on women's vulnerability. I will simply focus on the impact or contributions of Pentecostalism on Women and leave the reader to determine whether those issues I will raise are in the precinct of vulnerability

or otherwise. One thing very clear in my mind is that the contributions of Pentecostalism or its impact on the lives of women are enormous, and the contributions, when closely examined, have been both positive and negative.

POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS

There are a number of age old truths which the Bible and the tradition of the Church uphold which Pentecostalism or Charismatic Renewal has brought to the fore caused to be renewed and revived and made active in the modern world.

Equality of bearing God's image

The Bible teaches that men and women were created by God and equally bear His image. God's intention was for the man and woman to be one with each other in His image, thereby reflecting the intimacy and love that exists between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:27). Man and woman each had a direct relationship with God and they shared equally in having dominion over the created order (Gen. 1:26-28). However, this perfect union disappeared when Adam and Eve sinned. The struggle for power and the desire to rule over another is a result of human sin. Genesis 3:16 is a prediction of the effects of sin's entrance into the world and not as a prescription of God's ideal order.

God has through Christ brought redemption to human beings, male and female alike (Gal. 3:26-28), and has made a way for people to once again be one with him in a community of believers, the Church. The Apostle Paul exhorts Christian husbands and wives to submit to one another, to love and respect each other that they might be one with each other. In this way, they model God's ideal, intimate unity among members of the body of Christ as well as the unity between the Church and Christ, its head (Eph. 5:21-33). Jesus prayed that the Church would model oneness (John 17:11, 20-23). This means we are all children of God, we are one with each other, and we are one in Christ Jesus. Jesus accepted women as disciples and supporters of his ministry in his life on earth (Luke 8:2-3, 10:38-42). He interacted with women in a way

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churches. Young men feel free to relate to ladies, and vice-versa in the Pentecostal churches where they are encouraged to demonstrate love towards one another and to marry one another. Most Pentecostal churches have a well-planned marriage scheme which attracts young boys and girls to them. For the above reasons, people, especially the youth, who have lost interest in the rigidity and monotony of church life in mainline churches easily call it a quit from such churches and make their way to the Pentecostal churches (Benjamin and Nkechinyere, 2014).

Opportunity for Women and the Young to lead the CongregationThis is borne out of the avowed belief that there is no sector of the people of God that is endowed with the monopoly of the spiritual gifts, and that the Church grows where there are manifestations of spiritual gifts, irrespective of age or gender since it is for the good of the whole community. There is an awareness that there is one Spirit but many gifts (1 Cor.12: 8-13). Each gift is meant for the good of the whole community and it is therefore both a dis-service to the Holy Spirit when anyone endowed with spiritual gifts is restrained from leading and ministering to the congregation. In the same vein, it is considered an affront to the Holy Spirit, if any member of the community refuses to make his/her charismatic endowments available to the community. With such beliefs, both the young and the women have great latitude to lead the congregation.

Social Impact

The Churches provide a network of support at a time when extended family support has been fractured by mobility and change. Pentecostal networks are both global, where “saved” members identify with an international community of “born agains,” and local, where support takes root in the wake of weakening family ties and consequent uncertainty (Marshall-Fratani, 1998). Pentecostal movements provide a “new world” for members, offering a secure “social space” away from the harsh realities of poverty and social marginalization (Van Dijk and Pels, 1996). Members are equal and free individuals within a mutual

which was drastically counter to the culture in which he lived (John 4:9). His behavior could be interpreted as a message from God about his acceptance of women. The few texts that appear to restrict participation of women in the Church (such as 1 Cor. 14:33 and 1 Tim. 2:11-12) were written in letters to particular churches with specific problems. These verses must be interpreted in relation to the broader teaching of scripture beginning in Gen. 1-3. Also, the cultural and situational contexts in which they were written and the contemporary cultural context in which we are compelled to apply them must be taken into account. This requires that we seek, from the context, the purpose of an instruction written to an early church.

When the church was established at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on women and men alike, as had been predicted long before the coming of Christ (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:18). In the New Testament, women as well as men prayed and prophesied in the church (Acts 2:17-18, 1 Cor. 11:4-5, and 1 Pet. 2:9-10). Furthermore, the Spirit bestows gifts on all those in the community of believers, without giving preferential treatment based on gender (Acts 2:1-21, 1 Cor. 12:7, 11). Every believer is to offer his or her gifts for the benefit of the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:4-8, 1 Pet. 4:10-11).

Enhanced role

Women are involved in various activities in the Church which include fundraising, evangelization, social welfare, maintaining the church, holding women's services. While much of these activities simply replicates women's domestic roles, they may also enhance their status within the church. Moreover, such activities more often than not, give women greater skills and enhance their sense of efficacy in bringing about change.

Marital Impact

One of the factors of Pentecostal church growth is chances of getting married easily especially on the side of women. No wonder it is mostly women and young people that throng to Pentecostal

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For Pentecostals, priesthood and prophethood are perceived as universal for all Pentecostal Christian believers simply borne out of the belief that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to Christian believers is open to all regardless of gender, social status or age as indicated in Joel 2:28. In fact, for a number of the Pentecostal groups, the only qualification needed to serve in the office of a priest or bishop is the testimony of a call and an evidence of a spiritual gift (Yong, 2007), as if these are all that such office entails.

The Catholic Church till today has not allowed this abberation and will likely not ever allow it, with this issue appearing to have been elevated to the status of a Dogma in the Church as clarified by Pope Francis recently, when he declared 'Ban on female priests is forever' (Catholic Weekly Independent, pg. 2, 6th Nov, 2016). In my considered opinion, this restriction in role of women in practice by the Catholic Churches is in line with Biblical principles, since there is nowhere it can be seen in the Bible that women were ordained priests and bishops. Though the belief in women's equal religious potential provides grounds for enhanced status in both church and family (Van den Eyke, 1996), it would appear that women are carrying this rather too far, claiming religious inspiration and justification for challenging male authority with regard to the priestly ministry. It is in this regard that I pitch tent with Cecilia Lawless who through her empirical work has shown for example, that American women Pentecostal preachers exploit the tension between the God-given inferiority of women submissive to men and the belief in equality before God to pursue independent, nontraditional paths (Lawless, 1988).

The pouring of the Holy Spirit to Christian believers is believed to be open to all regardless of gender, social status or age as indicated in Joel 2:28. Stanley (2007) observes that this is the primary basis for the support of women in ministry among most Pentecostals. Priesthood and prophethood are thus perceived as universal for all Pentecostal Christian believers (Clifton, 2009). The only qualification needed to serve being the testimony of a call and an evidence of a spiritual gift (Benvenuti, 2004, Yong, 2007).

support system, thus enabling individuals to take charge of their lives (Gifford, 1995). This network of support is obviously attractive to insecure females unable to attain economic or social independence yet keen to rise above their circumstances.

NEGATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS

Literal interpretation of the Bible

Part of the practice or tenet of Pentecostalism is the literal translation of the Scriptures as well as the carrying such interpretation too far. Many times, Pentecostal leaders and teachers, may be as a result of the limited training and education of a number of them in theology, take quotes from the Bible in isolation and out of context. They fail to realise that verses must be interpreted in relation to the broader teaching of scripture, remembering that some passages were written to particular churches with specific problems. They also often fail to recognise that the cultural and situational contexts in which those verses and passages were written and the contemporary cultural context in which we are compelled to apply the passages must be taken into account. This requires that we seek, from the context, the purpose of instructions written in the scriptures.

Ordination of Women as Priests

Pentecostals accept the 'priesthood of all believers', indicating that men and women are called to preach. Yes, though men and women are both called to evangelize and may do so with paralled and equal enthusiam and charismatic display, but definitely not with equal public role authority. Pentecostalism's scriptural notion of equality before Christ more directly contradicts female subordination. The fact that women are equally called to preach and spread the faith does not imply equal public roles for them with men, and does not translate that they occupy the same public roles or positions as men. The ordination of women as priests, bishops and archbishops as seen today in many Pentecostal churches is a case in this regard.

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Churches and traditional African cultures preserve leadership positions for men and the elderly, but in Pentecostal Churches women and youth are encouraged to exercise responsibility, under the guise of providing opportunities for [women and youth] … to assert themselves (Uchem, 2007). With time, the possession of spiritual gifts leads to socio-political status, and it is used to claim moral superiority over traditional male elders who are not considered “real” Christians.

The legitimization of women's rejection of traditional patriarchal society, as encouraged inadvertently by Pentecostal churches has long-term negative implications for family bonds, cultural continuity, and social stability. Indeed, the almost absolute commitment required by Pentecostalism may cause women to feel a stronger obligation to Church than to family. For teenage women and even teenage men, this undermines parental authority, while for adult women it antagonizes family structures.

Sentimental and Sensual Exploitation of the Human Body for Experience

However, the impact of Pentecostalism might be negative on women and young ladies; this is due to the fact that Pentecostalism is an experiential religion. Faith is said to be real only when it becomes experience, and a man with experience is acclaimed more useful and successful than a man with doctrine. This quest for an experiential religion is transforming religiosity and spirituality into sentimentalism. Everything is being reduced to feeling and touching. Both the leaders and the led are imbibing this culture unconsciously in the country. Music and religious practices or rituals must terminate at the level of experience: feeling good and being touched. The body is par excellence a medium of experience. Even when there is no precise sacramental understanding or backing of a particular sign or symbol or ritual, it is a general tendency of practitioners of faith healing to explore the body maximally and much of these explorations are meant to let loose the unconscious eroticism. It is precisely here that many faith healers following the examples of some Pentecostal healers are departing from the ethics of pastoral cares of the sick and the needy in the Church.

Undue adherence to faith healing

The argument on health is that most Pentecostal churches are so rigid when it comes to the health issue. Although, some established hospitals and clinics but many others maintain that it is only the prayer of faith that will heal the sick, with resultant loss of many lives among women and children, especially pregnant women. In a number of cases, early diagnosis of ailments that are preventable is missed because of the denial syndrome found in the expression of 'I am strong' when it is obvious to any fool that this person is very sick, weak and needs medical attention. Some delay medical treatment and use of appropriate medicine because of the doctrine 'that sickness is not your portion', 'hold out your faith and just positively confess that you are healed'. Permit me to say that as a faith person myself and as a professional in the field of psychology, I do not fail to recognise the power of the mind and the interface of the mind and body functioning. But I also do not deny the fact that medical intervention has its place in the health condition of man. I firmly recognise that God as the author of all knowledge has given knowledge to the medical field and accessing it with reason and wisdom is not against faith in God.

Loosening of cultural and family bonds

Pentecostal emphases on personal inspiration as the true source of power and authority rather than institutional hierarchies provide the means for women and young people to challenge traditional African social structures. Though, some people have argued that pentecostalism helps women and children to remove the frustration they experience with marginalisation, but it needs to be remembered that female and children frustration with marginalization is not necessarily new. What plays out is that Pentecostalism provides a platform to exercise this frustration, with the “born again” identity legitimizing the rejection of patriarchal gerontocratic authority (Van Dijk, 1992). In the same vein, the Pentecostal churches accentuate gender tensions and seek to “re-order society” for the benefit of women, in the guise of empowering women.

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The appropriation of pentecostal and spiritualist bodily exploitation in the context of faith healing necessitated Achunike (2004)'s caution that: The holy oil is meant to be applied to sick person on the forehead. Anointing of the holy oil should not be administered in the sacred parts of the human body, particularly the opposite sex. This “intimate anointing” desired by clients and offered by practitioners in a context of faith healing, is a provocation of the erotic, in order to foster feeling and experience in a religious context.

POSTSCRIPT

Though the topic under discourse makes no allusion to Catholicism, but since the Colloquim is not just taking place within a Catholic setting, but is organized by the Catholic Church in Nigeria, it will not be out of place to say a word or two about Pentecostalism and the Catholic Church. As a Catholic myself, I will like to state categorically that the Catholic Church is pentecostal in origin and has always been pentecostal in orientation. It is erroneous to believe anything contrary to this expressed view. Yes, there had been periods of lull in the Church, periods that called for a reawakening of the Spirit given to the Church, just like Paul had to call on Timothy to fan into flame the spiritual gifts he was endowed with when hands were laid on him (2 Tim:1:6). But a lull period does not translate to a non exististence of the entity or phenomenom that went comatose. It is therefore a blessing that the Catholic Church realised a lull period in the not too distant past and flung the doors open asking for a re-entrance of the Holy Spirit as coordinated by Pope John XXIII, so that the Holy Spirit will again take His pre-eminent place in the Church that belongs to the Godhead.

CONCLUSION

Paying attention to women is not a misplaced priority. For women in a special way are pivots of any society (civil or ecclesial). Otherwise, how does one understand the expression 'mother tongue' which describes the basic language of people. Women and

children are intimately linked. Obviously, vulnerability of women, especially mothers, will aggravate that of children. This paper is an attempt to furnish some insight that will enable the Catholic Church to critically review the phenomenon of contemporary pentecostalism. The paper reflected on women's vulnerability, considering the positive and negative contributions of pentecostalism. The Catholic Church is in fact the true foundation of Christ traceable to the Pentecost event, 'descent of the Holy Spirit.' Maybe those who today arrogate to themselves this title 'pentecostal church', upon close examination appear to make the true Church of Christ introspect on her identity and mission. Firstly, by their positive contribution, the pentecostal churches highlight areas that need to be addressed. Do you not think that the Church needs to retrieve and bring to the fore certain aspect of Catholic Theology? For instance, Mariology (the theology of Mary, the Mother of God) which is a vast treasury not fully harnessed. Is it not time to address gender equality issues (value of feminity), along with updating our approach to the formation and ministry of the laity (inclusiveness within proper limits)? No doubt the Catholic Church has the best articulation of the notion of marriage and family. Is it not right to facilitate relationships among faithful that may foster good marital commitments and viable networks of support in our parishes? These areas exploited by the pentecostals can no longer be ignored, if the Church wants to address the vulnerability of women. Regrettably, the negative contribution of pentecostalism is a source of scandal to Christ faithful. The literal interpretation of the Holy Bible, ordination of women, exploitation of human sentiments in worship, undue adherence to faith healing, etc. must be addressed also as unacceptable deviations. We must always remember that people only settle for junk food, when well prepared dish is not served. The pastoral ministry impels the Church to feed the flock of Christ with evergreen Gospel. When women's vulnerability is addressed, the children will be well cared for.

162 163

References

Aniagwu, John. (2016). “The Challenge Of Pentecostalism - A Pastoral Response”. Paper presented at the Conference on Pentecostalism, held at the Dominican Proiry, Samonda, Ibadan , October, 2016.

Clifton, S. (2009). “Empowering Pentecostal women”. Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies [AJPS], 12(2), 171 – 179. Retrieved from www.app.eduon the 8th November, 2016.

Lawless, E. J. (1988). Handmaidens of the Lord: Pentecostal women preachers and traditional religion. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Stanley, S.C. (2007). “ Wesleyan/Holiness and Pentecostal Women Preachers: Pentecost as the Pattern of Primitivism”. In A. Yong and E. Alexander, (Eds.) Philips daughters: Women in Pentecostal- charismatic leadership. Eugene: Pickwick Publishers.

Van den Eykel, M. (1986). A comparative study of the political and social activism of new religious groups in Colombia. Ph.D Dissertation, George Washington University.

Yong A. (2005). The spirit poured out on all flesh: Pentecostalism and the possibility of global theology. Grand Rapids: Baker.

THE OPTION FOR THE POOR AS A LASTING CHALLENGE

TOWARDS SOCIETAL TRANSFORMATION(by VERY REV. FR. RAYMOND OLUSESAN AINA, MSP,

St. Paul Seminary Gwagwalada)

12

while ago, I came across a Latin American expression, which I found both intriguing and unsettling: “The Catholic Church opted for the poor, and the poor opted for A

1the Pentecostals.” I recalled this expression as soon as I received the invitation to reflect on the topic “The Option for the Poor as a Lasting Challenge towards Societal Transformation.” Assuredly, I shall attend to the audacity of the claim that the Church's 'option for the poor' is an enduring challenge for societal transformation. Yet, I will revisit this Latin American expression as I attempt to critique the claim implied in the topic assigned to me. What is responsible for the paradox in the Latin American expression? How can the Church in Nigeria avoid this paradoxical lack of synergy between Roman Catholicism and the Poor in the 21st century?

CLARIFYING 'THE POOR'

'Option for the poor' is one expression since 1970s that has found its way into Catholic Social Teaching (CST). This phrase articulates the locus of the Church's liberative proclamation.There is no univocal understanding of the category 'the poor'. Even in the synoptic Gospels there is a difference between 'the poor' as an unqualified category and 'the poor in spirit' (Matt 5.3//Luke 6.20). So, when the Church speaks of 'the poor' in 'option for the poor', who is the Church referring to? What category of the 'poor' is the church referring to? What does the church mean by 'poor' in 'option for the poor'?

164 165

1There are at least two variants of this statement. First, there is a variant in Latin America, “Liberation theology opted for the poor, and the poor opted for Pentecostalism.” Second, there is another at least in Southern Africa, “The Catholic Church opted for the poor, but the poor opted for the Evangelicals.” Gideon van der Watt, " '...But the Poor Opted for the Evangelicals!'- Evangelicals, Poverty and Prosperity," ActaTheologicaSupplementum 16 (2012): 35-53, at 36.

5bank withdrawal or borrowing.” Cash safety margin has a lot to do with where people are on the Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI is measured thus: Long & healthy life + Education +

6decent standard of living, divided by 3. Based on this measurement, 2015 Human Development Report ranks Nigeria 152 out of 188 countries. Nigeria is a 'Low Human Development' country, despite being the biggest economy in Africa. Out of forty-three countries classified as 'Low Human Development', thirty-

7eight are African countries. This does not come as a surprise because almost all under 'Low Human Development' are high in what UNDP refers to as 'multidimensional poverty'. This means “multiple deprivations at the household level in education, health

8and standard of living.”

Concretely, multidimensional poverty is identified when no one in a household has completed at least six years of basic schooling; a child of school-age is not in school; members of the household are malnourished based on body mass index measured by age for adults, and by height for toddlers; at least a child of five had died within the past five years; the household does not have access to electricity, and clean water; or its source of clean water is about thirty minutes from the homestead. Other elements are lack of improved sanitation; cooking with 'dirty' fuel (dung, wood, charcoal); the home is paved with dirt or dung (not cemented); regarding assets, the members of the home do not have access to information (lack of radio, telephone, and television), and the household has no asset associated with mobility (bicycle, motorcycle, car, truck, animal cart, or motorboat); finally the family does not have asset related to livelihood (fridge, farmland,

9livestock).Africans trapped in multidimensional poverty doubled

between 1970 and 1990. By the end of the first decade of the third millennium (about 5 years to the target of Millennium

There is material poverty and spiritual poverty. Material poverty consists of conditions of human life characterized by economic stagnation, impoverishment, and lack of development, social injustice, and obscene inequality with a small minority enjoying the wealth and products of the whole (Populorum

2Progressio-PP). Material poverty is a moral evil because at its root

3is injustice caused by human agents. Spiritual poverty, on the other hand, is a state of human existence that is characterised by a voluntary opening up to God as a sign of one's trust and dependence on divine providence. The choice for spiritual poverty is inspired by the desire to embrace the condition of those in material poverty “'in order to bear witness to the evil which it

4represents and to spiritual liberty'.” This is a virtuous and supererogatory habit.

When the Church speaks of 'the poor' in 'option for the poor', she is referring to both meanings. In the light of the pervasiveness of material poverty, the church chooses to side with the materially poor children of God as they struggle to liberate themselves from their poor condition caused by moral evil. In order to demonstrate its commitment to the materially poor, the church voluntarily embraces the condition of the materially poor following the example of Jesus Christ who humbled himself, making himself poor in order to liberate and save humanity (cf. Phil. 2.5-8).

EMPIRICAL POVERTY: INDICES OF THE STATE OF 'THE POOR'

Sometimes the term 'poor' can appear vacuous. Hence, empirical (verifiable) poverty refers to the state of persons who in “the face of sudden deprivation of some form of 'cash safety margin' …cannot lay hands on a specified amount of money either through cash,

2This corresponds to the meaning of the term 'poor' in the Old Testament. The term refers to those whose conditions of life might be qualified with the following adjectives “'oppressed, weak, impoverished, needy, etc'.” Cletus Obijiaku, "Giving to the Poor (2 Cor 8:1-9): An Expression of Faith for New Evangelisation," in The Bible on Faith and Evangelisation (Papers of the Sixth Annual CABAN Convention, Lagos, October 23-26, 2013), ed. Anthony Ewherido et al., Acts of the Catholic Biblical Association of Nigeria (Port Harcourt: Catholic Biblical Association of Nigeria, 2015), 251-267, at 252.

3Donal Dorr, Option for the Poor: A Hundred Years of Vatican Social Teaching, revd ed. (Iperu-Remo: The Ambassador Publications, 1994), 207.

4Ibid.

5Raymond Olusesan Aina, “Overcoming 'Toxic' Emotions and the Role of Restorative Justice: A Christian Ethical Reflection on Restorative Justice's Promises, Ambiguities and Inspirations towards Peacebuilding in Nigeria” (PhD diss., Leuven: KatholiekeUniversiteit, 2010), 57.

6“Human Development Report 2015: Technical Notes,” Table 1http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr2015_technical_notes.pdf (accessed 15.10.2016).

7United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), "2015 Human Development Report: Table 1: Human Development Index and its Components," UNDP, http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/HDI (accessed 22.10. 2016).

8Ibid., 8.9Ibid., 9.

166 167

Development Goals [MDGs]), multidimensional poverty 10

increased by 20%. Trapped in poverty and diminished economic opportunities, about 70% of Africans are not gainfully employed (i.e. they do not have jobs with living wage). Hence, many

11households live on between $1 and $2 dollars per day. Hunger is widespread because about two thirds of Africa's population live off undeveloped farms. While Africa's growth rate is 3% per year, growth in food production per year is 0.7%. With decreased production of cereal and other staple foods, there is little money, and little food. Though one of MDGs is “Food Security” (eradicating extreme hunger and poverty) by 2015, about 850m are suffering chronic hunger, while about 204m of those suffering hunger are in Africa. The farmlands are not yielding much due to 'negative nutrient budgets' i.e. there are less nutrients invested back into a piece of farmland during a farming season. Unfavourable agro-ecological constraints (e.g. limited natural resources for the farmlands because of Africa's 'old soil') and socio-economic constraints (e.g. limited economic control of agricultural products, unequal access to available limited resources, with corresponding increasing knowledge gap) give rise to lack of incentive to work the land; and continuous working the land without extra input contributes to depletion of the little natural resources. Additionally,

12there is little alternative provided for rural development.

The cumulative consequence of this scenario is that most Africans today remain trapped in poverty. With diminished household income, with a corresponding rabid privatisation and deregulation of public services (especially schools and hospitals), many households cannot afford basic health care – especially for pregnant mothers and babies; hence high mortality rate. Many within school range are not enrolled for lack of money, or they are withdrawn and placed in a school that is affordable – but has poor academic output. This in the long has increased the level of adult illiteracy. Accordingly, several African countries remain in the 'low human development' category of HDI.

While there are several regions of the world still waiting to benefit from globalisation's benefits, I have singled out Sub-Saharan Africa because this sub-region is my immediate context. Second, Africa is the second largest continent in the world, with the largest growing population. It is a resource rich continent coveted

13by all. Paradoxically, this continent appears irrelevant in the 21st century. Though its resources are endlessly extracted and shipped to the West, and now to China, for processing, it contributes just “one percent of international trade, barely enough diplomatic influence to match its small economic role, and modest military

14forces trained only on itself.” Apart from their exotic dressing and 15

loud music, Africans are scarcely noticed.Without doubt, multidimensional poverty is a global

reality. The inequality in the world is unprecedented. It was estimated in the 2005 Human Development Report that if 1.6% of the annual income of the world's wealthiest (about 10% of global population at that time) was transferred as the wealthiest's 'option for the poor', multidimensional poverty could be eliminated in the world. Within the space of 10 years, the world's wealthiest persons diminished from 10% to 1%. In other words, by 2014/2015, less than 100 persons own as much wealth as 500m poorest of the

16poor. Oxfam later reveals that the global economy serves just 1% 17of the world's population. This morally obscene concentration of

18wealth in the hands of just 1% has a correlation with low human development, especially in Africa. For instance, unequal income distribution in Nigeria means that a Nigerian child living in the country has 5 times higher likelihood of dying before reaching 5 years than her counterpart in Bangladesh, even though Nigeria is

19richer than Bangladesh. The problem is the unequal income

13

Ignorance,”ZeitschriftfürinternationaleBildungsforschungundEntwicklungspädagogik 37, no. 4 (2014): 25-30, at 26.

14Robert Calderisi, The Trouble with Africa: Why Foreign Aid Isn't Working (New Haven, London: Yale University Press, 2006), 4.

15Thandika Mkandawire, "Running While Others Walk: Knowledge and the Challenge of Africa's Development," Africa Development 36, no. 2 (2011): 1-36, at 2.

16Emma Seery and Ana Caistor Arendar, Even It Up: Time to End Extreme Inequality (Oxford: Oxfam International, October 2014), 8.

17Deborah Hardoon, Sophia Ayele and Ricardo Fuentes-Nieva, An Economy for the 1%: How privilege and power in the economy drive extreme inequality and how this can be stopped (Cowley, Oxford: Oxfam International, January 18, 2016).

18It is morally obscene, says Pope Paul VI in his Populorum Progressio, for the concentration of the world's wealth to be in the hands of a few (no. 9).

19Seery and Arendar, Even It Up, 9.

Raymond Olusesan Aina, "Images of Africa and the Resilience of

168 169

10John Sniegocki, Catholic Social Teaching and Economic Globalization: The Quest for Alternatives (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2009), 20-22.

11Cf. Ibid., 20.12I acknowledge the data and analysis of Roel Merckx, Professor of Soil Science, in the Department of Earth and

Environmental Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven. These were given at a public lecture, titled “Living from the Land in Africa: Myths and Reality” on October 14, 2008, at the Faculty of Economics, KatholiekeUniversiteit, Leuven.

Therefore, any society that ranks low in human development needs to transform itself from a violence-prone society to a peaceful and secure one. “If you want peace,” Bl. Paul

25VI reminds us, “work for justice.” This is not merely an exhortation. It is a common-sense and pragmatic affirmation. Pope Francis appears to expatiate on this reasonable affirmation:

Today in many places we hear a call for greater security. But until exclusion and inequality in society and between peoples are reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence. The poor and the poorer peoples are accused of violence, yet without equal opportunities the different forms of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for growth and eventually explode. When a society – whether local, national or global – is willing to leave a part of itself on the fringes, no political programmes or resources spent on law enforcement or surveillance systems can indefinitely guarantee tranquility. This is not the case simply because inequality provokes a violent reaction from those excluded from the system, but because the socioeconomic system is unjust at its root” (Evangelii Gaudium, no. 59).

While some may interpret Pope Francis' words as affirmation that humans are fated to violence and dissension, I think the import of the statement lies elsewhere. Without structural justice that overcomes structures of evil, a return to retributivism and logic of control cannot make the world safe and secure. How else can we work for justice than making a fundamental choice for the poor so that no one is left behind? However, what is the nature of this choice for the poor – a revolution, or love, or revolutionary love? Let's consider in the following section the wager of Catholic Social Thought on this question.

OPTION FOR THE POOR AS LASTING CHALLENGE: HOW?

I took time earlier to present the empirical state of the poor according to 2015 Human Development Report to drive home my thesis: Any society that is populated by hordes of people faced with multidimensional poverty is in dire need of transformation. What

distribution not just in Nigeria but the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. According to Oxfam's 2014 report on extreme poverty and

20inequality in the world, “there are 16 billionaires in sub-Saharan 21Africa, alongside the 358m people living in extreme poverty.”

This moral absurdity has not waned. It appears to be increasing. A 2016 Oxfam report, An Economy for the 1%, released on the eve of the 2016 World Economic Forum, states another instance of the obscenity of stupendous wealth side by side “desperate poverty

22around the world” .

Almost a third (30%) of rich Africans' wealth – a total of $500bn – is held offshore in tax havens. It is estimated that this costs African countries $14bn a year in lost tax revenues. This is enough money to pay for healthcare that could save the lives of 4 million children and employ enough teachers to get every African child into

23school.

The consequence of this tragic paradox is that about 25% of global population is stuck at the base of the pyramid of wellbeing. They are in my estimation those Pope Francis refers to as the 'poorest of the poor' (LS 13, 48, 51, 52, 158, 232). The fate of the 'poorest of the poor' has a causal link with stability and security. The more people are stuck at the base of the pyramid of wellbeing the more their society is likely to experience recurrence of the five major types of violence (repressive, structural, revolutionary, pathological, and criminal). Hence, there is the likelihood of widespread insecurity when the 'poorest of the poor' increase in number with diminished possibility of being structurally unshackled. As stated elsewhere: "There is a causal link between uneven distribution of national resources and increasing wave of violence . . . Hence, this is the rationale for ideological,

24pathological violence, and even criminal violence.” Indeed, there is a relationship between the various types of violence in the modern state and the neglect of the insignificant in the land.20Sniegocki, Catholic Social Teaching, 26.21Ibid.22Ibid.23Hardoon, Ayele and Fuentes-Nieva, An Economy for the 1%, 5.24Ray Olusesan Aina, "A Christian Response to Insecurity and Intractable Conflicts in Nigeria: A Challenge to

the Youth," Nigerian Journal of Religion and Society 3 (June 2013): 34-52, at 39.

170 171

2 5 Paul VI, "Message for the Celebrat ion of the Day of Peace - 1 January 1972,” http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/messages/peace/documents/hf_p-vi_mes_19711208_v- w o r l d -day-for-peace_en.html (accessed 12.06.2009 2009).

then is my understanding of transformation? It signals the transition from an otherwise undesirable state to a morally acceptable state where the inhabitants are capable of flourishing by reaching their full potentials. 'Well-being' or 'welfare' is crucial for the desired change, which might not be anything less than revolutionary.

How should we understand the phrase 'lasting challenge' in the relationship between option for the poor and societal transformation? Should we understand 'lasting challenge' in the sense of the final word, or the 'magic bullet' that will solve all the problems of social and planetary inequalities? We cannot choose this understanding because it reeks of messianism which Paul VI in Populorum Progressio cautions against: “the alluring but deceitful promises of would-be saviors. Who does not see the concomitant dangers: public upheavals, civil insurrection, the drift toward totalitarian ideologies?” (no. 11). I think the second possibility is truer of the topic's intention – 'lasting challenge' referring to perennially true prophetic recommendations and inspirations for moral actors who are obliged with the responsibility to create and ensure wellbeing on earth. The earth's social problems are ceaseless: “the concrete demands of this common good are constantly changing as time goes on, peace is never attained once and for all, but must be built up ceaselessly” (PP 78).

Since the poor will always be with us (Matt 26.11; John 12.8), 'option for the poor' remains an enduring hermeneutic lens through which every generation must weigh and evaluate its responses to its social problems. Option for the poor cannot be trite. This understanding of option for the poor's 'lasting solution' highlights one of the six strengths of CST according to Donal Dorr. It is an ongoing prophetic and inspirational evangelical stance “in direct continuity with the words of the Old Testament prophets denouncing injustice and announcing the new hope for all, above

26all for the poor and oppressed.” 'Option for the poor' equally shares and continues the liberating ministry of Christ, “which lies

27at the heart of the Christian faith.”

In the light of the elucidation above regarding social transformation, well-being and lasting solution in relation to option for the poor, we can understand Gaudium et Spes' advocacy for the imperative of human dignity and societal welfare (no. 63). Structural reforms and conversion of behaviour and attitude by all are needed for societal transformation. Gaudium et Spes invokes “the principles of justice and equity” (no. 63), 'subsidiarity' (no. 68), “universal destination of earthly goods” (no. 69), which confers due entitlement to the poor for earth's goods (no. 69). Other principles are relative right to private property (nos. 69, 71), and common good (nos. 73, 74). Nevertheless, the document has a hint of 'option for the poor' by asking for special consideration for “the condition of lower-class citizens” (no. 66) and universal solidarity (nos 69-70).

Populorum Progressio was written on the heels of the need to attend to today's poor in need of space for authentic development and well-being. Today's poor, according to PP, are peoples and nations on the margins of globalization. The dispossession of the proletariat classes (the subject of Rerum Novarum) has been replaced with unequal distribution of the means of subsistence destined for universal enjoyment. This unequal distribution has now gone beyond local conflicts between workers and the employers of labour. The social question is now global. It is about a global economy of exclusion. Even though PP does not use the phrase 'option for the poor', one can say it expresses the social environment and reality the phrase critiques – “'unjust structures'” and “social patterns that can be called forms of 'institutionalized

28violence'.” Hence, PP emphasises that without tangible restoration of human dignity and return of what was forcefully taken (imperial and colonial periods) or was expropriated through unfair trade deals (neoliberalism, globalisation), there cannot be just peace and harmony. This is why PP emphasises justice and institutional responses to unjust structures and institutionalised limitation of people's capabilities (e.g. nos 77, 78, 84).

172 173

26Dorr, Option for the Poor, 368.27Ibid.

28

World)," in Modern Catholic Social Teaching: Commentaries and Interpretations, ed. Kenneth Himes et al. (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2005), 266-291, at 287.

David Hollenbach, "Commentary on Gaudiumetspes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern

The first reading of the 30th Sunday of Year left me with some thoughts as I meditated on the text. Sirach 35:12-14 proclaims:

For he is a God of justice, who knows no favourites.13Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed. 14He is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours her complaint.

The first thing that struck me about the text is the link between God as just and his inclination toward the poor. What is the connection between justice and the liberation of the poor? I think it goes back to God's intention at creation about the use of the earth's goods. Humanity represented by Adam and Eve is entitled to the goods of the earth. This entitlement is gratuitous and unconditional. It is gratuitous because access to the earth's goods is a gift from the Creator. No one deserved it. It is unconditional because the access to enjoying the earth's goods does not depend on any proviso or further consideration save that one is an imago Dei. Accordingly, sharing in the inherent dignity of the human person as imago Dei is all that makes one entitled to the earth's goods. Accidents of birth and history are immaterial to access to the earth's goods. Hence, if persons or peoples are denied access to the use of earth's good on account of their social conditions, it is a violation of their fundamental entitlement (justice). So, the justice of God demands that this moral evil must be redressed; the violated must considered, heard, and rescued. In other words, their state of injustice and violation must be transformed, so that they can enjoy the goods of the earth based on their needs. It is within the justice imperative of the universal use of earth's goods that one can understand why God has a fundamental commitment to the weak and the oppressed. It is important to note that God's fundamental option is not exclusive. God's inclination to the poor is conditional in a way. God is “not unduly partial toward the weak” (Sir. 35.13). In other words, God does not opt for the poor without sufficient reason. His action for justice is firmly justified. Some are poor voluntarily. God respects this choice and will not rescue them from their poverty without their consent. Another way to understand vs 13 is that God does not love the poor more than the rich regardless

Therefore, Paul VI makes his principal plea – that the wealthier nations and persons have responsibility towards the 'poor of the earth': “Genuine progress does not consist in wealth sought for personal comfort or for its own sake; rather it consists in an economic order designed for the welfare of the human person, where the daily bread that each man receives reflects the glow of brotherly love and the helping hand of God” (PP 86). The moral warrants for common human development (nos 43, 45-55) are based on the principles of solidarity ('sacred communion'), love, and justice. This takes inspiration from Mater et Magistra 157 where John XXIII asserts that solidarity is that which unites all humans into a family. Populorum Progressio's attentiveness to the poor of the earth has contributed largely to the principle of option for the poor as well as its social and structural analysis approach.

YAHWEH, ISRAEL AND DIVINE INCLINATION TOWARDS THE POOR

An unequal society with multidimensional poverty is far from the original promise of God to his People. His promise of blessing is deeply material, though not exclusively (Gen. 12.1-3a; Num. 6.22-27). It makes sense therefore that God has an inclination towards the poor because they need to experience divine promise of well-being and material blessedness. If a land has multidimensional poverty as the rule and not a rare exception, then the society needs to be transformed. God's inclination towards the poor can be more appreciated if one bears in mind that Israel's origin as a nation is founded on the God's option for the poor and oppressed: “It is Yahweh's inclination to the poor and the oppressed that necessitated the very foundation of the Jewish nation and religion. God saw the misery of his people in Egypt, heard their cry, became aware of their suffering and came down to rescue them (Exod 3:7-

298).” This fundamental option for the poor has been the pattern of God's decisive interventions and message in the Jewish bible.

29Obijiaku, "Giving to the Poor," 262.

174 175

of everybody's moral sense. God has no favourites. All persons despite their condition have equal chances before God. The rich in principle are not excluded from God's love, justice, and mercy. However, where sin and moral evil have conspired to deny some of God's children access to the earth's goods, God, in his love, justice and mercy, acts first on behalf of the poor so that they can be elevated to the right position, and moral equilibrium is restored. Jesus Christ concretely demonstrated the truth of Sir. 35:12-14 in his ministry, actions, and message. It was intentional that he publicly invoked Is. 61:1-2 as his portrait (Luke 4:18). The early Church continued that fundamental option for the poor, such that this option became the test and proof of genuine faith in Christ

30Jesus (James 2:14-17).The foregoing is the inspiration, from the perspective of

biblical theology, of the Church's principle of fundamental option for the poor.

OPTION FOR THE POOR AS LASTING CHALLENGE: BASIS FOR HOPE?

If we revisit the statistics about poverty and the moral obscenity of inequality around the world today, one wonders if there is hope regarding option for the poor as a lasting challenge for societal transformation, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. If we concede that the phrase 'option for the poor' specifically found its way into CST in the seventies to refocus the social problem beyond Rerum Novarum's period (workers' rights), then we must ask: What has changed in the world and in the church since then? Where has the challenge of option of the poor led to societal transformation? How are the poor faring in those lands today? Between the seventies and

31the nineties, Latin America, the Philippines, South Africa, and Zimbabwe notably deployed the 'option for the poor' language and

32hermeneutics. Within the two decades of the twenty-first century,

can we say these lands are testimonies of the power and effectiveness of 'option for the poor' language? If we use the 2015 HDI, how many of these countries and regions are high on the human development index?

1. Option For The Poor As A Lasting Challenge: Reality Check

According to 2014 Oxfam Report, inequality in South Africa “is 33

greater today than at the end of Apartheid.” It appears the brilliant and prophetic SACBC Pastoral Statement did not change anything. This is not peculiar to South Africa. In fact, coinciding with the period 'option for the poor' burst unto the scene, poverty, due to extreme inequality, has been on the increase for more than thirty years, especially in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Wage earners' incomes have stagnated. According to Oxfam, “If their incomes had grown at the same rate as the average in all countries, 200 million fewer people would have been living below the

34extreme poverty line by 2010.” The problem of poor remuneration and inadequate wages to take care of workers' family needs are not peculiar to Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a global reality that many are working yet are trapped in poverty, even in the European Union, where at least about 9% of its population is at the

35risk of being trapped in poverty. So, paradoxically, it seems the more the Church cries 'option for the poor' the more their condition worsens.

Contrary to the position above, the whole talk about 'option for the poor' is based on politics of envy. 2016 Oxfam Report, sums up this argument: “Apologists for the status quo claim that concern about inequality is driven by 'politics of envy'. They often cite the reduction in the number of people living in extreme poverty as

36proof that inequality is not a major problem.” In fact, there has been enormous economic growth and wealth in the last four decades. It is even estimated that by 2030, based on the continuing economic growth in the global South, “we will witness the creation of a middle class of roughly the same size as the current total

37population of Africa, North America, and Europe.”

33

34Hardoon, Ayele and Fuentes-Nieva, An Economy for the 1%, 9.35Ibid., 13.36Ibid., 2.37Dambisa Moyo, Winner Take All: China's Race for Resources and What It Means for Us (London; New York, NY:

penguin Books, 2012), 18.

Seery and Arendar, Even It Up, 7.

176 177

30Cf. Ibid., 262-263.31

The Southern Africa Catholic Bishops' Conference issued a brilliant Pastoral Statement (Economic Justice in South Africa) at the dawn of the millennium, clearly from an 'option for the poor' approach. The Statement addresses the issue of “a sinful difference between the very rich and the very poor.” Hence, it is important for South Africa to undergo another transformation that will transform “our economic system from one which now, as in the past, tends to serve the interests of a minority at the expense of the rights of the majority. . .” Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, Economic Justice in South Africa: A Pastoral Statement (Pretoria: Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, 1999), 3.

32Dorr, Option for the Poor, 357.

In the light of the projection, unless something radical is done, the world of the immediate future will severely experience what is called 'resource imbalances' – the situation whereby

43“demand for resources will significantly outweigh supply.” There is a stark consequence. The fate of the poor and marginalised will get worse even in the developed countries. Dambisa Moyo, a US-based Zambian economist, frankly states the danger facing us:

As energy, land, water, and minerals become scarcer relative to demand, the prices of petrol at the pump, a loaf of bread, the rates on water, and manufactured goods from cell phones to computers and cars will inevitably rise. Such price increases will force commodity-related consumption either to decline or induce consumers to spend a greater proportion of their income on these

44goods.

If indeed option for the poor is a lasting challenge for societal transformation, how come statements and behaviours like Buffet's, or the 'clear and present danger' of resource imbalances have not provoked moral outrage and mass mobilisation for action like what we see concerning terrorism? Paradoxically, more people die of poverty-related causes than terrorism.

A Harvard psychologist, Daniel Gilbert offers four reasons for our inertia and why terrorism attracts decisive moral outrage,

45while human-made and structural poverty does not. First, to be provoked into action, threats must be perceived to be deliberate, aimed at harming the one who feels threatened. Second, the threat must be perceived as an affront on one's moral framework and honour code. Third, the threat must be felt as imminent because of the configuration of the human brain, which is “structured to care more about things occurring today than sometime in a hazy

46future.” Fourth, following from the previous three conditions, the threat that will elicit swift reactions must be seen to be instantaneous as opposed to a danger that is perceived to be

47occurring over a period of time. Prime examples are our reactions

But the reality is that though GDP has increased over the years and wages have increased in some parts of the world, multidimensional poverty has increased thus wiping out the gains of these increases. Furthermore, the gains of the rise in GDP and economic growth have been concentrated and felt more by the top

381%. It seems the poor are forgotten or actively fought against. A statement credited to Warren Buffet, one of the wealthiest people in the world, underscores the dominant logic of social Darwinism – survival of the fittest and smartest: “There's been class warfare

39going on for the last 20 years and my class has won.”

In my opinion, the warfare Buffet is referring to is the fundamental option for the poor championed by the Church and organisations like Oxfam and Fair Trade and their campaigns against “market fundamentalism and the capture of politics by

40elites.” Owners of capital and the elites in general appear to have fought back, and apparently they have won and are still winning given that the global economy is structured to serve and does serve the 1% super rich like Buffet. According to a recent statistics, “it now takes just 62 increasingly wealthy billionaires to equal the wealth of the bottom half of the world's population (3.6 billion people). This is down from 388 in 2010, as wealth becomes even

41more concentrated in the hands of just a few.”

In the world of the immediate future, characterised by commodity shortfalls, things will get worse; Buffet and co will fare better than hundreds of millions of people around the world who will be consigned to poverty. Economic recovery packages like austerity measures disproportionately affect the poorest most even in Europe. In America, the forgetfulness of the poor continues. The super rich are the first to recover during the country's economic meltdown some years ago, “with the top 1 percent

42capturing 95 percent of post-crisis economic growth.”

38

due to growth in emerging countries, particularly China. But it is inequality within countries that matters most to people, as the poorest struggle to get by while their neighbours prosper, and this is rising rapidly in the majority of countries. Seven out of 10 people live in countries where the gap between rich and poor is greater than it was 30 years ago. In countries around the world, a wealthy minority are taking an ever-increasing share of their nation's income.” Seery and Arendar, Even It Up, 8.

39Ibid.40Ibid.41Hardoon, Ayele and Fuentes-Nieva, An Economy for the 1%, 11.42Ibid., 24.

“Between 1980 and 2002, inequality between countries rose rapidly reaching a very high level. It has since fallen slightly

178 179

43Moyo, Winner Take All, 197.44Ibid.45Moyo summarises Gilbert's research and thesis. I am following her summary here. See Ibid., 212-213.46Ibid., 212.47Ibid., 213.

between terrorist acts and structural poverty: terrorism provokes emotions that urge one to immediate and decisive actions. On the contrary, more globally impacting threats like inequality gap and ecological crisis do not command the same reaction and decisiveness because their effects and dangers are spread over a long period of time. While many are quite eager or willing to give up some of their hard-earned civil liberties in order to be protected from terrorism (cf. USA's 2005 Patriot Act), many are not ready to give up on their rights and behaviours that put the world more at risk due to poverty, food waste, misallocation of resources, and deliberate acts that disincentive food production in the global

48south.

In the light of the triumphalism of people like Buffet, the present danger of resource imbalances, and global inertia, how can one still claim that option for the poor is a lasting solution for societal transformation? Do I have hope?

2. Option For The Poor As A Lasting Challenge: My Hope And Projections

If the past is a prologue, then option for the poor has a future; its baseline and aspirational ethical reasoning is relevant. What gives me hope? At the outset of the Industrial revolution in the nineteenth century, social fabric was severely affected. The individual, who had to take up jobs in the industries, faced new challenges especially regarding safety, protection, and wages. The Church waded into the issues, taking a firm and prophetic position alongside the individual – the worker. Hence, from Rerum Novarum (1891) through Quadragesimo Anno (1931) to Laborem Exercens (1981), various Pontiffs advocated for better welfare package for and treatment of workers.

When the Church started its advocacy for labour rights and living wage, it appeared an uphill task. Interests and powers of the owners of labours and factories were deeply entrenched; rights to profits and private properties appeared absolute; and any considerations of the proletariat classes' dispossession sounded

hollow and naive. Yet, the Church was unwavering in its critique of the unjust social conditions of workers. The Church is concerned not only with the soul but also with the temporal and earthly interests of the person. Accordingly, the Church opts for the poor, desiring that the poor will rise above their poverty and wretchedness (RN 23). This is a matter of justice; those who work for the wealth of the society must partake of the benefits (RN 27). QA, writing forty years after RN, articulates some of the positive impacts of Rerum Novarum. For instance, RN gingered several ecclesial organizations to advocate for better working conditions as labour rights. The document inspired the formation of several organizations that various wage earners could receive and give mutual support to one another (QA 23-24). Though extreme poverty had been eliminated by the time of Rerum Novarum, there was still the issue of just and living wage. Hence, it was important to alleviate the parlous state of the proletariat (QA 59-62). RN and Quadragesimo Anno (1931) gave wind to the sail of the Catholic

49Social Movement and action.

The corporatist, multi-associational, and social regeneration approach of the early papal documents to the social question and agenda has largely inspired “the paradigm shifts of

50Vatican II” and increased attentiveness to solidarity, the defect of unbridled individualism, and concerns for “structural dimensions of socioeconomic evils and the need for structural reforms to

51redress them.” The doggedness of the Church and its Catholic Social Movements inspired, and even provoked, changes in labour laws and relationships. The consistency of the Church particularly in Western Europe led to structural responses to poverty and wage inequality such that today, the region is lowest in poverty index, and highest in human development. This happened because Europe had over the centuries especially on the heels of the public interventions of the Church on the social question created its universal welfare system based on the commitment that no one must be left behind. Despite what we might say about Europe's

48Ibid., 177-180.

180 181

49Christine Firer Hinze, "Commentary on Quadragesimo anno (After Forty Years)," in Modern Catholic Social Teaching: Commentaries and Interpretations, ed. Kenneth Himes et al. (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2005), 151-174, at 172.

50Ibid., 172.51Ibid., 171.

Pope John Paul II's exhortation about the primacy of “witness of action” over “internal logic and consistency of social message” (CA 57). Going forward, what can we do?

1. Revolution and Alternative Market Economic Model

Revolution does not necessarily have to be violent and disorderly. Any organized movement of the people that seeks to thoroughly transform the social environment that had inhibited freedom and capability is revolutionary in the broad sense. This movement is not merely about reform. It is about the pursuit of a fresh historical project that seeks to liberate the poor and marginalized from the control and structures of sin which are inhibiting their capabilities and well-being. This pursuit hinges on a conviction that 'another world is possible'.

The church in the South considers it as part of its contextually sensitive ecclesial mission to provoke and advocate a public discussion in the South, regarding viable “alternative forms

55of market economies.” From Populorum Progressio to Oxfam's An Economy for the 1%, the deficit of genuine participatory democracy is one of the contradictions of neoliberal democratic governance. Accordingly, a proactive ecclesial mission for justice and human flourishing has a responsibility ethic, which argues that socio-economic and distributive justice for people cannot be based on utilitarianism, or pragmatism, or consequentialism. These ethical theories play around material and institutional costs and benefits based on contracts and treaties public officials are bound to. On the contrary, a proactive church in the South inspired by 'option for poor' affirms that a responsibility ethic may just be what economic systems and policies in the South need. This ethic can be concretized in public fora for creative but marginalised visionary economists and experts who are offering alternative forms of market economies like those in Sweden, or the European social democratic model.

Contrary to the Anglo-American market model, which has made countries in the South whittle away some of their socialist structural legacies, the European (especially the Scandinavian

conduct during its imperial and colonial years, at least towards its people, the region showed itself to be a caring society because of the structural safety nets various European countries created.

Indeed, institutional safety nets demonstrate “a caring society that is willing to come together to support the most

52vulnerable.” I believe that if the Church keeps up its message and activism of 'option for the poor', especially in the 'axis of the

53unloved', it is possible to inspire and embolden various social movements that are advocating for universal social protection that “needed to ensure that nobody is left behind or penalized because

54they have not climbed high enough up the economic ladder.”

O P T I O N F O R T H E P O O R A N D S O C I E TA L TRANSFORMATION: INSPIRATIONS AND PROJECTS

If one looks at the statistics about poverty and inequality in the world today, one is led to a conclusion; the poor will take a longer time to get out of their poverty entrapment. Yet, as stated in the previous sub-section, we are not fated to this. Extreme poverty can be eliminated if we do the needful, upholding the inspiration and interruptive capacity of 'option for the poor' while responding in concerted and strategic ways beyond mere proclamation and general moral persuasion. This was how the Church and its social movements in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries succeeded with the principal social questions at that time.

There is the need for critical and prophetic social analysis in a Nigeria that is increasingly embracing a neo-liberal economic model. This model is leaving many Nigerians behind. While Nigeria might rank high in GDP, it remains low on Human Development Index. How can the Church in Nigeria be living as if it is business as usual in the midst of this confounding paradox? Nevertheless, if the Church will confront this paradox with power and conviction, it must live above board, hence the importance of

52Seery and Arendar, Even It Up, 20.53According to Dambisa Moyo, this axis refers to resource-rich countries in the Southern hemisphere and parts of

the old Soviet bloc that developed countries in Western Europe and North America have ignored as equal trading partners. These countries are “Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Ukraine.” Moyo, Winner Take All, 96.

54Seery and Arendar, Even It Up, 20. 55Joseph Stiglitz, Making Globalization Work (New York, NY; London: Norton, 2006), 9.

182 183

countries) social model needs to be presented to the African public for consideration. This alternative social model is characterized by a “sustained robust growth … marked with better health care and

56education . . . .” It has strategic protective barriers, subsidies for exports and “nationalized or highly concentrated, private

57industry” till the countries are competitive in the global market, as done by Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Western Europe did this after WW II; United States did this during the Great Depression of the 20s and 30s. It gave rise to the famed 'New Deal' and its Keynesian revolution which “provided the rationale for a more active, interventionist state in the regulation of economic activity

58with the capitalist economy.” China is doing the same with its state-driven economic model. China's success confirms the fact that positive economic growth can happen not only from the

59Anglo-Saxon economic paradigm and political framework.

A recent alternative economic system is called “Economy for the Common Good” built on values that promote the commonwealth. It burst onto the scene in 2010 with the publication of Christian Felber's “Change Everything: The Economy for the Common Good”, but it was formed by some Austrian companies that desired to act both responsibly without losing their competitive edge. Of course, they were probably inspired by Albert Einstein's saying that “men (sic) cannot resolve problems with the

60same mind-set that produced them.” The model prides values that underscore human community – “dignity, solidarity, justice, and democracy,” over and above the current model that is anchored on

61“selfishness, greed, and irresponsibility. . . .” This model replaces GDP with Common Good Product (CGP) at the national economic level. At the financial management level, the baseline for appraisal is not simply fiduciary losses or gains, but Common Good balance sheet. The bottom-line in the ECG is that corporate entities and businesses that are cooperative, ecologically responsible and caring will thrive more because they will get support from public

policies. They shall enjoy incentives like lower tax regimes, access to free trade agreement, and preference in public bidding for goods

62and services. This is not utopia. In 2015, the European Economic and Social Committee, a consultative body of the European Union,

63endorsed ECG as “a sustainable and viable model. According to Illaria Chesa, a development economist, prior to this EU endorsement, a regional parliament in northern Italy, Bolzen, passed a bill into law that public fund and procurement shall be available to companies and business entities that have clear record of their common good impact. Within its short time, the ECG movement has more than 10,000 active members in about 30 countries; there are 2,100 companies that adhere to ECG, out of which about 350 publish their audited common good balance sheet.

The point here is that contrary to what we are told that there is no alternative to neoliberal capitalism with its ill-famous 'structural adjustment approach', there are several alternatives waiting to be tried. Inspired by Catholic Social Teaching and the need to bridge the scandalous gap between the poor and the rich, John Sniegocki's monograph presented several alternatives to

64neoliberal capitalist economic ideology. The sixth chapter documents existing “the visions and activities of organizations

65engaged in the quest for alternatives.” When there are no fora for visionary revolutionaries of the South to put forward alternative economic models, then peoples of the South cannot insist on the kind of economic and fiscal systems they want. Hence, decision-making remains with the technocrats, trained in market fundamentalism, who are equally more insulated from the obscene inequality in rural areas and the growing slums around the megacities.

2. Parliamentary Presence, Advocacy and Lobbying

By now we appreciate the following salient truths about poverty today, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is largely human made; it is structural; poverty is not fated; voluntarism is not enough. This 62

63Ibid.64Sniegocki, Catholic Social Teaching, 245-289.65Ibid., 245.

Ibid.

184 185

56Ibid., xv.57Ibid.58John Foster, "Contradictions in the Universalization of Capitalism," Monthly Review 50, no. 1 (April 1999): 19-

39, at 33.59Moyo, Winner Take All, 91.60Ilaria Chesa, "Economy for the Common Good," This Day August 14, 2016, 14.61Ibid.

being left behind due to this politics of capture. This will increase the incidence of the five major types of violence (repressive,

70structural, revolutionary, pathological, and criminal). So, this brings me to a specific proposal for the Church in Nigeria, which for want of a better expression I call 'Legislative Advocacy'.

Promoting justice and holistic human development as inspired by CST's 'option for the poor' makes it crucial for the Church to intensify her prophetic role. Consequently, I suggest the formation of a National Assembly Liaison Office (NALO), as a permanent accredited organ to serve as link between the Church and the National Assembly. Through NALO the Church can play a positive role in strengthening democratic culture and accountability in Nigeria, countering corporations' captured of our policy-making processes. We can borrow a leaf from the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) that has Parliamentary Liaison Office (PLO). This organ offers on a regular basis reflections, materials and interventions during public hearings and debates on national issues. It also keeps people informed about goings on at the Parliament through periodic newsletters. Sometimes it uses this medium to sound alarm like the prophetic guard when necessary. Holding public protest and walks are always last resort because of their nature. We need to follow, mentor and monitor our representatives long before the debates reach sensational moments. For instance, through this liaison organ, the Church in Nigeria can produce and disseminate church documents/studies that domesticate CST, especially option for the poor, as the Church seeks to give a studied intervention to burning social questions. In the late 1990s the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, under then Secretary Fr (now Most Revd) Matthew Hassan Kukah, reprinted The Common Good and the Catholic Church's Social Teaching, a Statement by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. We must do so for ourselves, answering our own social questions. I acknowledge that the CBCN has constantly issued communiqués and pastoral statements, well-documented in two volumes, demonstrating that the Church has

is why seeking consensus with the powers of domination in the world and not rocking the boat for a short time in the limelight are neither sufficient nor salutary. There is a difference between the urgent (pragmatic; ethical relativism) and the important (“'big-

66picture'” outlook; ethical teleological approach).Regarding poverty in the world and what our option for the

poor means for the Church and the world, the Church in the so-67

called “axis of the unloved,” has to imitate the Church's advocacy implied in the Social Teaching and actions. 'Option for the Poor' will not just be a lasting but an effective challenge if the Church, through its social movements and agencies, take the battle for equality and liberation from dehumanising poverty to the epicentres of the war. These are centres and institutions for public policy. Without active presence at the centres of power, the Church will keep having its 'option for the poor' say, but the corporate world will keep having its way. Let me put this in perspective, by quoting from Oxfam's 2014 Report on global inequality:

Corporate interests have also captured policy-making processes to their own advantage. Recent analysis of the influence of corporate interests on nearly 2,000 specific policy debates in the USA over 20 years concluded that 'economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence'. Financial institutions spend more than

68€120m per year influencing the European Union.

Without assurance that there are institutions taking care of their interests and seeking to bridge “the capture of political and

69economic power by the few,” we will keep experiencing mass protests and possibly violent moral outrage of citizens who detest

66This takes inspiration from Moyo, Winner Take All, 193-195. This is in the context of her discussion on why China seems to be winning the race in cornering scarce global resources. Several countries and organisations that should stand up to China are too busy focusing on “individual issues such as population growth, environmental degradation, and economic imbalances”. These are considered urgent issues. Unfortunately, super-powers and global organisations lack a “'big-picture'” outlook (Moyo, Winner Take All, 195).

67According to Dambisa Moyo, this axis refers to resource-rich countries in the Southern hemisphere and parts of the old Soviet bloc that developed countries in Western Europe and North America have ignored as equal trading partners. These countries are “Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Ukraine.” Moyo, Winner Take All, 96.

68Seery and Arendar, Even It Up, 60.69Ibid., 63.

186 187

70Aina, "Christian Response to Insecurity," 39.

71not deterred in daring those who dared the nation. But we can do more at the centre of captured policy-making processes.

Beyond the national level, SECAM can do the same at the African Union, while the partnership between the German episcopal conference and the CBCN can move beyond this conference to strategising how the Africa-Europe networking can be more visible at the European Union. Again, this proposal is not strange if one remembers that there is the Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network (AEFJN), headquartered in Brussels, where it

72engages the EU and corporate interests. This equally takes inspiration from the Vatican's permanent presence at the United Nations. We know and have heard how the Church through its permanent representative has over the years mobilised various countries and organisations working in concert with it to lobby and push through actions deemed noble for the world and the Church.

3. Concerted Institutional Response: Inspiration From England's Poor Laws And Continental Europe's Welfarist Policies

Another world beyond that of morally scandalous inequality and multidimensional poverty is possible. The key is universal social protection, especially covering education and healthcare. It cannot be left at the mercy of market forces or simply private-sector driven. Where this is done, the result is that the poor are worse off. On the contrary, countries that have taken the path of public sector-driven universal social protection have made good strides to close the gap between the haves and haves not. Brazil, China, India, and Sri Lanka are examples cited by Oxfam. Even if it is still a long walk to freedom in these countries, they are deconstructing old

myths about universal social protection and public sector 73involvement.

Institutional response to pauperism through universal social protection is not strange. We have examples in England's Poor Laws and continental Europe's welfarist policies. England's Poor Laws were a body of laws enacted around the 16th century to attend to the fate of the poor. These laws, put into practice by parish overseers through the workhouses, brought relief to the poor – the infirm, the aged, infant poor, and able-bodied poor who were given employment in the workhouses. The Poor Laws were supplanted later by the Speenhamland system of providing allowances to workers who were receiving below minimum wage. This encouraged people to seek employment because without it they could not receive relief. The social legislations of the 1930s and 1940s comprehensively developed public welfare services and

74social security system, thus replacing the Poor Laws.The lesson from this is that every country has the right to

enact laws to take care of the poor in its land remembering that they are also entitled to the goods of the land. Countries of the South must do for their people what European countries did for their poor. 'Option for the poor' demands lobbying and advocating for affordable social security system. Paul VI in his Populorum Progressio proposed that in order to ensure integral development and bring more people to enjoy the benefits of globalisation, people have obligation to pay higher taxes for imported luxury goods (PP 47)in order that “public authorities may expand their efforts in the work of development” (PP 47). The proceeds from these luxury goods can be used to fund social security system without being at the mercy of international financial institutions that generally do not favour public sector-driven social services. In fact, their conditionalities for loans demand cutting down if not completely whittling away the social security system funded by the government. This is a case of forcing the countries of the South not

71

(Communiqués issued by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) on the State of the Church and

the Nigerian Nation from 1963-2015) (Abuja: Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, n.d.); Peter Schineller, ed. The

Voice of the Voiceless: Pastoral Letters and Communiqués of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria

(1960-2002) (Ibadan: Daily Graphics, 2002).72AEFJN on its website introduces itself in the following words: “The AFRICA-EUROPE FAITH AND JUSTICE

NETWORK (AEFJN) is a faith-based international Network present in Africa and in Europe since 1988. We

promote Fair Economic Relations between Africa and Europe through research, awareness raising, advocacy

and lobbying at national and European Union levels.” Africa-Europe Faith & Justice Network,“About

Us,”http://www.aefjn.be/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=6&Itemid=32 (29.10.2016).

Chris Anyanwu and Jide Fadugba-Pinheiro, eds., Our Concern for Nigeria: Catholic Bishops Speak

73

schemes were introduced there, challenging the idea that these benefits are unaffordable. Multiple studies have

also shown that basic levels of social protection are affordable across the developing world.” Seery and

Arendar, Even It Up, 103.74Encylopædia Britannica, Encylopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite (Chicago: Encylopædia Britannica,

2015), s.v. “Poor Laws,” “Workhouses”.

“Many developing countries now have levels of income that are on par with those in Europe when universal

188 189

Church preaches eloquently about the evil of structural poverty in which millions are trapped. However, little is perceived to be concretely done to get the poor out of the trap. With the feeling of entrapment, and little perceived to be done – even by those who have made a career out of 'option for the poor,' the poor need one thing: consolation. It appears to them it is only a miracle that can get them out of the evil of structural poverty. Consequently, the poor muse, “I turn my eyes to the mountains. From where shall come my help? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth” (Ps 121.1). As such, the poor flock to places that assure them that they who wait on the Lord shall not be disappointed. The evangelical churches become attractive ambience where the poor hope for the miracle to come since they have waited in vain for liberation from even the Church that claims to have opted for them. On the contrary, those who might want to help the poor do not get full support of the Church that proclaims 'option for the poor'. Perhaps, the Church is too close to the centres of powers and dominations. Hence, the evangelicals originally as outsiders and marginalised in Latin America appealed more to the poor because they have not been implicated in the corrupted but horrible past that has trapped the majority in poverty.

The Evangelicals come preaching prosperity gospel that promises material riches and blessedness which they could only dream of. It seems while the church follows the path of incremental development, the evangelicals promise a faith that can move mountains and make miracles of liberation from poverty happen. So while the church offers the message of hope, the evangelicals provide some things that fill the vacuum. They offer the poor what they want to hear. The language the evangelicals use appears to capture human social psychology of threat.

If we come back to Gilbert's thesis of moral inertia and response to threats, it will seem that while the church diligently analyses the reality and obscenity of structural poverty, the evangelicals paint a picture of poverty in a way that provokes instant human reactions. Poverty is construed as a deliberate harm caused by the devil. This is an affront to God's children who are made to enjoy the blessings of God. Poverty is a curse therefore the dangers of the curse are fervently displayed. Consequently, the

to walk the path that European countries walked in hundreds of years ago which today has made them to rank lowest in the poverty index and most dominant in the high development index. The enduring challenge of option for the poor consists, in this case, of resistance to imposed double standards in attentiveness to the poor; or the fear of annoying international financial institutions that are ever ready to punish erring poor countries even if these countries want to lift more of their people out of poverty bracket.

4. Mobilisation and Non-sporadic Discourse

We must do what was done for workers and their rights – the focused social question from Rerum Novarum. In less than 100 years giant strides were taken, possibly unimaginable in the immediate years after Rerum Novarum. Same with communism; without a fired shot, focused mobilisation and discourse, unrevealing of truth and bridging the gap among peoples brought communism down. Concerted and strategic mobilisation always pays off. Beginning with its institutions and organisations, the Church can exhort them to opt for business enterprises that can be considered ethical investment. The church needs to do more to support initiatives like Economy for the Common Good, UK's Ethical Trading Initiative and US' Fair Labor Association which have the capacity to demonstrate that being ethical can be beneficial to business. Furthermore, these initiatives help to confront global business chains that engage in unethical practices like out-sourcing to low-income countries with poor labour laws in order to cut down the prices of their finished products. We cannot underestimate the power of ethical investment and fair trade initiatives. This is one strategic way of demonstrating the refusal to forget the poor.

MAKING SENSE OF THE PARADOX BEWTEEN THE CHURCH AND THE POOR

The Church preaches 'option for the poor', but pursues incremental change while condemning radical actions for social transformation. The poor remain trapped but want to get out. The

190 191

yet again about the centrality of emotion and passionate commitment in social movements and Christian ethics. Christian advocacy with and for the poor and ethics will succeed in contexts like Nigeria if these are taught and promoted with 'fire in the belly'. Passion, like fire burning in the stomach, is indispensable for ethically responsible advocacy. ‘Fire in the belly' signifies commitment, ethical movedness, and readiness (with risk) to move out of one's comfort zones in order to contribute towards human flourishing of one's society. Fire in the belly makes us ready to become 'collateral damage' for the underside of history. This I guess is the main gist and thrust of Elias Lopez's “Ready to Become “Collateral Damage”: Social Action-Thought in Religious Orders

80& Congregations: A Jesuit Refugee Service Experience.”Of course, we need to balance passion and activism with a

more rationalistic approach in Catholic Social Teaching/Doctrine. This approach, valuable nonetheless, risks being articulated without passions (and probably largely taught without passion). Nevertheless, if option for the poor will continue to serve its interruptive purpose in a merciless world with its economy of exclusion, Catholic Social Teaching/Thought needs to wrestle more with the imperative of 'fire in the belly'. So, “'the prophets and activists, thinkers and analysts'” wrestling “'with the meaning of

81Christian faith amid turbulent social times'” must be ready to embrace becoming 'collateral damages' in the process. 'The prophets and activists, thinkers and analysts' promoting the Church's option for the poor must live the present with passion. To live with passion means living intensely with enthusiasm, audacity, and inventiveness the fact that Christ is our Ideal (Phil

82 1.21) especially in the face of uncertainties. What the Holy Father says to consecrated persons is equally imperative for all promoting option for the poor as a lasting solution to an unequal world. We

poor will normally go to those who appear capable of swiftly removing the danger and threat of their demonic condition of

75poverty. This is the foundation for the mass appeal of Pentecostalism. It is alleged quite passionately that the Catholic Church opted for the poor because the Church is not poor. It is rich. On the other hand, the Pentecostal churches, at least in Latin America, did not opt for the poor because those churches were marginal and poor. Hence, the poor opted for the Pentecostals,

76especially the neo-pentecostals/evangelicals. They opted for the Pentecostals because their puritanical ethical code is considered liberating, especially for the women who felt most the brunt of poverty.

IN LIEU OF CONCLUSION: OF EMOTIONS AND 'FIRE IN THE BELLY'

A strong lesson I learnt preparing for this contribution is more of a validation of the 'role of emotions/elemental passions/spirituality in the future of the human society'. Emotions are socially constructed embodied thoughts and habitual responses that are

77characterised by apprehension of personal involvement. Emotions are intentional, active engagements regarding how the

78world is and how it should be. Catholic Social Movements challenged by the Church's 'option for the poor' “begin with an affective human response to the suffering that attends unmet basic

79human needs.”Revisiting the Church's option for the poor as a lasting

challenge towards social transformation in the light of unconscionable inequality and poverty in the world convinces me

75Cf. Moyo, Winner Take All, 212-213. One finds an articulation of this reasoning in van der Watt, "'...But the Poor Opted'," 45-46.

76Mariz, Coping with Poverty, p. 80, cited in Esa J. Autero, Reading the Bible across Contexts: Luke's Gospel, Socio-Economic Marginality, and Latin American Hermeneutics, Biblication Interpretation Series (Leiden; Boston: brill, 2016), 32, note 135.

77The definition here follows the culturalist and constructionist perspective because it holds more promise in understanding the role and hold of emotions in social actions and movements. See for instance: Jennifer Harding and Deidre Pribram, eds., Emotions: A Cultural Studies Reader (London; New York, NY: Routledge, 2009).

78Alison Jaggar, "Love and Knowledge: Emotion in Feminist Epistemology," in Emotions: A Cultural Studies Reader, ed. Jennifer Harding and Deidre Pribram (London; New York, NY: Routledge, 2009), 50-68, at 53-55.

79Michael J. Schuck, "The Catholic Church and the Movements: Revisiting the History of Catholic Social Thought," in Expert Seminar 'Catholic Social Thought and the Movements' (Leuven: KatholiekeUniversiteit: Center for Catholic Social Thought, October 27, 2011), 18.

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80This takes inspiration from a Jesuit contribution during an Expert Seminar 'Catholic Social Thought and the Movements' (Leuven: KatholiekeUniversiteit: Center for Catholic Social Thought, October 27, 2011).

81Marvin L. KrierMich, Catholic Social Teaching and Movements (Mystic, CN: Twenty-Third Publications, 2000), 1, cited in Johan Verstraeten, “International expert seminar 'Catholic Social Thought: Learning from the Movements' (initial draft of the seminar's background, October 27-29, 2011),” organised by Center for Catholic Social Thought · Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies · Leuven: KatholiekeUniversiteit, 1-4, at 3.

82Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Keep Watch!: To Consecrated Men and Women Journeying in the Footsteps of God - Year of Consecrated Life (September 2014) (Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa, 2014) , no. 2.

cannot be quiet in the face of established chaos and broken 83boundaries. As prophets, Pope Francis counts on us “'to wake up

the world'” – to the dangers looming and the possibilities the Spirit is offering. Even if it is risky, “'a religious must never abandon prophecy'” (WJ II, no. 2). If we must wake up the world, then it means we are not asleep too. On the contrary, we are to keep awake, keeping watch, scrutinising the time and interpreting this. We must be able to discern and spot, denounce and challenge evil and social injustice – violent conditions that dehumanise and prevent people from reaching their human potentials. Since we are 'maigad' of God, we are free or should be free of any attachment. Or to use the most popular sound bite from the inaugural speech of President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2015, 'we belong to everybody and belong to nobody' but we have our fundamental option – the poor and the powerless because this is where God always stands in human history and conditions (cf. WJ II, no. 2).

The Church has to speak in ways that make the poor sense and convinced that the Church 'gets it'. And . . . without forgetting to preach the word of liberation and good news with passion and power.

83Pope Francis, Witnesses of Joy: Apostolic Letter to all Consecrated Persons on the Occasion of the Year of the Consecrated Life (November 2014) (Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa, 2015), no. II, no. 2.Henceforth WJ.

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NIGERIAN PENTECOSTALISM AND THE PROBLEM OF POVERTY

(by VERY REV. FR. ANTHONY AKINWALE, OP, Dominican University, Ibadan)

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he foreseen topic “Christian Faith as Solution to Poverty: Nigerian Pentecostalism Under Review” however, for a Tnumber of reasons, begs for reformulation. First, it comes across as limiting poverty to economic

poverty. Yet, this understanding of poverty in exclusively economic terms is one major presupposition of Nigerian Pentecostalism that requires a critique. Secondly, corresponding to this presupposition and implicit in the topic as formulated is the presumption that poverty is to be understood in exclusively economic terms and that the Christian faith offers technical solutions to poverty so understood. The Christian faith would thus be the solution to economic poverty. It is my considered opinion that the topic, as formulated, presumes that once we have faith in God it is farewell to economic poverty. But as I intend to argue in this paper, economic poverty, as pervasive as it is, is only a symptom of intellectual poverty.

It is intellectual poverty that breeds economic poverty. No doubt, economic poverty requires technical solutions. However, not only are technical solutions insufficient when it comes to addressing the problem of poverty, it is also the case that the Christian faith, for its part, does not provide us with a compendium of technical solutions but with existential solutions. These existential solutions point to and prophetically critique technical solutions. Nigerian Pentecostalism, in its presentation of Christian faith as providing technical solutions to poverty, effectively exacerbates the problem of economic poverty. It does so by exacerbating the problem of intellectual poverty, that is, by engendering an anti-intellectualist genre of faith which is diametrically opposed to the Catholic tradition of faith and reason.

In order to avoid the presumption that economic poverty is the only form of poverty, in order to point to how authentic Christian faith can show us the way out of poverty even though it does not provide technical solutions, I have taken the liberty to reformulate the topic. The issue is whether and how the Christian faith, as represented or misrepresented by Nigerian Pentecostalism, can be said to be a solution to poverty. It is with this question in mind that I make my assessment of Pentecostalism. I therefore intend to speak on the Christian faith, Pentecostalism and the problem of poverty.

UNDERSTANDING PENTECOSTALISM IN THE CHURCH IN NIGERIA

It is said, often without scrutiny, that the African is “notoriously 1religious”, while the Nigerian is the most religious on the planet.

These observations make the religious landscape in Nigeria a point of interest. But to describe this complex landscape is no mean undertaking. Faced with the multi-religious entity that Nigeria is, one needs to be conversant with different elements of the different religions that compete for the allegiance of the Nigerian in order to understand why the Nigerian manifests this or that religious behaviour. The prevailing religious atmosphere in Nigeria is saturated with beliefs of Christianity, Islam and African traditional religions. Yet, for a number of reasons, one can assert with little or no fear of contradiction that the most influential religious movement in Nigeria today is neither Roman Catholicism nor Islam but Pentecostalism. I make this assertion for three reasons.

First, Pentecostalism is found everywhere in Nigeria. It is found among Anglicans, the Baptist, the Methodist, in all the so-called mainline Churches, and it has erupted within Roman

1On the description of the African as notoriously religious see T.N.O. Quarcoopome, West African Traditional Religion (Ibadan: African University Press, 1987) 11. That the Nigerian is the most religious on the planet was reported to be the finding of a research undertaken by the BBC. Cf BBC TWO's “What the World Thinks of God” in http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressreleases/stories/2004/02/world_gods.html. For a reaction to the BBC finding read Anthony Akinwale, “Religion as a Moral Virtue: Thomas Aquinas and a Recent Poll” in Theological Perspectives on

thSpirituality and Piety in Nigeria. Proceedings of the 19 Conference of the Catholic Theological Association of Nigeria. Eds. Mary Sylvia Nwachukwu and Augustine Oburota (Enugu: Victojo, 2005) 1-15. The assertion that Africans are notoriously religious almost always goes unchallenged. I am of the opinion that religiosity is neither peculiar nor limited to Nigerians and Africans in so far as religiosity is innate to the human person. On religiosity as innate, read Anthony Akinwale, “Religion and Politics in Contemporary Nigeria” Faculty Lecture in the Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, Lead City University, Ibadan on April 21, 2016.

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Catholicism in Nigeria. It is seen in the proliferation of ministries amongst many Catholic priests. It has severely eroded the Catholic liturgy. It is even found in Catholic seminaries and houses of religious formation among candidates for the priesthood and consecrated life. Pentecostalism has not only challenged Christianity from within, it has also challenged Islam. It has influenced some Muslims as could be seen in the emergence of

2NASFAT. Secondly, as I shall argue in this paper, there is, in Nigeria, an alliance of religions between Pentecostalism and African traditional religions. Thirdly, these religious allies-Pentecostalism and African traditional religions found their way into Catholicism in Nigeria using the charismatic renewal as port of entry.

It is necessary to explain what is meant by Pentecostalism before this essay can proceed. Such an exercise in explanation is not easy because it is difficult to define what Pentecostalism is. However, by way of legitimate approximation, in its current manifestation in Nigeria, it can be described as a movement that lays claims to visible manifestations of the Holy Spirit as was the case with the Church described in the Pentecost narrative and in the twelfth chapter of the First Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians. Such visible manifestations, according to the claims, include speaking in tongues, healing, miracles, prophecy, to mention but this. Nigerian Pentecostals have added and prioritized material prosperity, exorcism and loud and exuberant prayer sessions. It is, for instance, a widespread belief among Nigerian Pentecostals that if you are a child of God you will not experience any form of material deprivation. Neither poverty nor illness nor a single life nor a childless marriage is “your portion”. By implication, if any of these applies to you, it is either you do not know your right as a child of God or you have not asked your heavenly Father for your right or you are not a legitimate child of God. For if you are a child of God, and God your Father is not poor, you, a child of God should not be poor.

2 See Anthony Akinwale and Joseph Kenny, eds, Tradition and Compromises: Essays on the Challenges of Pentecostalism. Aquinas Day Series 2 (Ibadan: The Michael Dempsey Centre for Religious and Social Research, 2004). On the challenge of Pentecostalism to Islam read Julius Adekoya, “Islamic Fundamentalism in Yorubaland and the Impact of the Explosion of Pentecostalism” in Tradition and Compromises, 18-36.

The lyrics of an album entitled “Pick Up” by Adekunle Kosoko, alias Kunle Gold, sung in Yoruba, in pidgin English, and in an infectious melody and rhythm that moves one to the dancing floor, express this kind of religiosity. In the album, he placed a phone call to God. “Baba God,” he said, “I too want a Range Rover. Dangote hasn't two heads. I beg you God, pick up my call. I too want to ride in a Bentley. Otedola hasn't two heads. I am begging you.

I have attended many weddings on many Saturdays, but I am yet to marry. Lord provide me with a woman. My colleagues are owning homes and giving birth to

3children . . . .

The problem, here, is not that someone is praying to God for material prosperity. After all, Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread. The problem is to think if you are a child of God, God must ensure that you are as rich as Aliko Dangote, said to be the richest man in Africa, or Femi Otedola, another of Nigeria's richest billionaires, and that, if you implore God, he must pick up your phone call and answer now. And even if God were to provide the money to buy these exotic cars, how would the money come? By simply placing a phone call to God or by working hard? It is so easy to see the get-rich mind-set that these lyrics project. But that is the mind-set that drives much of Nigerian religiosity today thanks to Nigerian Pentecostalism.

There are many indications that Pentecostalism so preached is found within the Catholic Church in Nigeria. It is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between a Catholic priest and a Pentecostal pastor. I have already mentioned the proliferation of ministries among a growing number of Catholic priests. Other quite visible indices can be found in liturgy and preaching in a growing number of parishes in a growing number of Nigerian dioceses.

Yet, if we were to trace its history, we would not be able to speak of the eruption of Pentecostalism within Catholicism in

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3[Chorus] Baba God oh Emi na fe wa Range oh. Dangote olorimeji Na beg I dey beg oh Olorun orun (pick up pick up) Emi na fe wa Bentley (mo fe wa Bentley) Otedola olorimeji (pick up pick up) Na beg I dey beg oh [ Ve r s e 1] Oya now I don go wedding taya Many Saturdays, e don pass And I never marry Oluwa provide a boo oh Awon egbe mi'n kole Won bimolemo oh Emi na fe yayo Oluwa dami loun oh

Nigeria without referring to the emergence of the charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church in Nigeria. The renewal was brought into Nigeria in 1971 from the United States America by Francis Macnutt, a former Dominican friar. The earliest charismatic prayer groups in the Catholic Church in Nigeria would be the Upper Room Community based at St Dominic's Church in Yaba, Lagos, and the Glory Bound Community formerly based in the Dominican Priory of St Thomas Aquinas in Ibadan, Oyo State. The charismatic renewal was the door through which Pentecostalism entered the Catholic Church in Nigeria. How did it all begin? I submit that the factors that led to the eruption of Pentecostalism and the charismatic renewal are philosophical, religious, economic and political in nature. These factors operate within and outside Nigeria.

SECULARISM AND INDIVIDUALISM

Yves Congar's discussion of the positive contributions of the Charismatic Renewal enables us to identify secularism and individualism in western societies as philosophical factors that operate in Pentecostalism and in the Charismatic Renewal. Not only does Congar examine its positive contributions, he also

4identifies some critical questions that the Renewal raises.

With regard to what he perceived as its positive contributions, Congar suggested in late 1978 that the Renewal “is only one aspect of the immense evangelical flowering which is taking place in the midst of many harmful and disturbing events in

5the world.” It came about as a result of sociological changes taking place in the western world. But even as it was in reaction to such sociological changes, Congar believes the positive contributions of the Renewal are to be appreciated from the ecclesiological point of view. From the sociological point of view, the Renewal emerged

4Read Yves Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit (New York: Crossroad, 1999) vol. 2, In the third part of the second volume of his work, a part he entitled “The Renewal in the Spirit: Promises and Questions”. Read also Harvey Cox, Fire From Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-first Century (Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 1994). Whereas Congar's recognition of the positive contribution of the Renewal does not exclude a recognition of the critical questions it raises, Cox's explanation is totally positive. For the latter, Pentecostalism is a vibrant expression of primal spirituality forgotten or neglected by western critical theology. Cox is also silent on why this explosion of enthusiastic primal spirituality coincides with an era of political repression, and silent on the use or abuse of Scripture in this wave of religious enthusiasm.

5Yves Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, vol. 2, 149.

as a reaction to philosophies of secularization and individualism in western societies.

The emergence of secularization meant the western world was no longer the world of “Christendom” understood as a society subject to the authority and domination of clerics. The west took itself out of the horizon of Christianity, and, in this rejection of the Christian worldview, of Christian creed, culture and value, social life is lived with little or no reference to Christian spirituality. But even in the rejection of religion the human person is in need of religion. The rejection of religion is itself a religion. A religion is repudiated in the name of another religion. There remains a natural desire for God in every human person in as much as each person is able to pose existential questions of what it means to be, of the best

6way to live. Secularism, in so far as it represents an attempt to address existential questions, is itself a religion.

Secularization did not come unaccompanied. Coming with it was the rugged individualism of a fragmented western culture, an individualism proclaimed, professed and promoted by the creed of autonomy of the individual taught by the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment as a philosophy taught that no one needs others to solve his problems for him. Each person has within him the capacity to solve his problems without recourse to any other person. In fact, the problem is that people make themselves dependent on others to solve their problems. The reason why you have problems is because you look to others to solve your problems.

But how does one apply this philosophy in the natural desire for the transcendent, the openness to the infinite, the desire for God that is in every human person? While a religious vacuum was created by the rejection of Christianity as point of reference, the philosophy of autonomy of the Enlightenment, by its promotion of the unaided capacity of the individual, encouraged the individual to fill the vacuum by recourse to a privatized religion. In such a situation, as Congar puts it, “each person is looking for his own way”, it became fashionable to invent or reinvent one's private religion.

6On existential questions as implicitly posing the question of God read Bernard Lonergan, Method in Theology (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990) ch. 4: “Religion”.

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In concrete terms, refusal to be under the authority of Christianity, under the authority of the religion of priests, as Jean-Jacques Rousseau would speak of Christianity, was taking place within a culture where the individual was taught to regulate his or her whole life without recourse to any law except the law-of-the self-within-the-self. The individual is an authority, his or her own lawmaker.

One may ask: why analyze a European problem in order to explain a Nigerian or African problem? The Renewal began outside Nigeria, in a western society where, even as an immense evangelical flowering was taking place, the influence of a religion with communal dimension was experiencing a recession, a society in which religion was practiced exclusively in the private sphere. In this western society of privatized religion, Congar observes, many sought to satisfy their religious needs through resort to forms of spirituality alien to, even incompatible with Christian spirituality. Solace was sought in non-Christian Eastern Mysticism, spiritualism, occultism, astrology etc. Yet, this is where Congar is able to recognize one positive contribution by the Renewal.

The Charismatic Renewal was remarkable for its emergence, not outside, but within Christianity, even within Catholicism, within the framework of Trinitarian faith. In search of the satisfaction of their religious needs outside Christianity, many resorted in privately concocted religious beliefs and in westernized versions of non-western religions. I shall argue later in this paper that Pentecostalism in Nigeria, in its alliance with African traditional religions, is one of such westernized versions of non-western religions making an impact on the formation of the clergy, the religious and the laity in Nigeria today.

From the point of view of philosophy, the charismatic renewal began as a reaction to rationalism, individualism and secularism in western societies. Rationalism is a philosophy that affirms the absolute value of human reason. It sees human reason, and human reason alone, as measure of the truth and the good. In other words, a thing is true only because reason shows that it is true, and good only because human reason shows that it is good.

Whatever does not conform to human reason is neither true nor good.

But there is a problem with such absolutization of reason. Human reason is limited. Its powers are enormous but restricted. To absolutize human reason is to overlook the fact that the human being is finite. Rationalism, ignoring the finitude of human reason, would judge any religion that lays claims to revelation as nonsensical. Statements emanating from any such religion, like the articles of the Christian faith, would be judged as not conformable to the criterion of reason. But whereas articles of the Christian faith defy the limits of human reason, that does not necessarily mean they are irrational or illogical. In actual fact, it would be unreasonable for limited human reason to transgress its boundaries. But let us leave rationalism for now. Let us examine individualism and its implications for a revealed religion such as Christianity.

Individualism is a philosophy that affirms the absolute value of the individual. By implication, a thing is true only because I see it as true, and good only because I see it as good. What matters in question of truth and morality depends on the way I see it. I am the measure of everything. Individualism is an offshoot of rationalism in the sense that it is whatever I judge to be reasonable that is reasonable. The validity of my judgment of fact and the validity of my judgment of value rest on me. It is the way I see it. It is the way you see it. Individualism is saying, by implication, that there is really no difference between truth and opinion. It is what has been called the dictatorship of relativism. But the statement that says there is no difference between truth and opinion, when subjected to scrutiny, cannot meet its own criterion. For whoever says there is no difference between truth and opinion should be asked if his statement is true or false. If he says it is true that there is no difference between truth and opinion, then there is at least one truth. And if there is at least one truth, then there is a difference between truth and opinion. If on the other hand he says his statement is false, then he would be saying that it is not true to say there is no difference between truth and opinion.

Secularism goes together with rationalism and individualism. With rationalism's elevation of human reason to the

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realm of the ultimate, and with individualism's elevation of the individual to the realm of absolute and unfettered autonomy, the God who reveals himself is marginalized or simply banished from the public sphere. The influence of Christianity is reduced drastically. Christianity is no longer considered to be a teacher of morality. The human being has come of age. He no longer needs God. Secularism is the fulfilment of the prophecy of Sigmund Freud in his “Future of an Illusion”, when he said the human being will one day grow up to repudiate the fatherhood of God.

The charismatic renewal emerged at a time when rationalism, individualism and secularism were forcing Christianity in western societies to beat a retreat. The renewal sought to roll back forces that threatened faith in God in western societies. But has the renewal provided a real solution, by which I mean an effective way of engaging these philosophies? The answer does not come close to the positive.

PERSONAL PRINCIPLE AND THE ABSOLUTIZATION OF SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE

Yves Congar also identified two active elements in the charismatic renewal—the personal principle, and spiritual experience. These two elements come to mind in explaining the religious factors that influence Pentecostalism and its charismatic ally.

Personal principle accords a place to the initiatives of the individual as a person capable of conscious conviction and motivation. The element of spiritual experience, for its part, sees the individual's spiritual experience as self-sufficient and authoritative. Whereas the First Letter of John counsels the Church to test every spirit, the spiritual principle combines with the personal principle such that personal experience of the Holy Spirit is what matters. The Church would then have nothing to say to me in my experience of the Holy Spirit. It is about the absolute authority of personal experience in spiritual matters. The Spirit is in me. I can read the Bible alone without any priest or bishop guiding me. What matters is my literal interpretation of what “my Bible” says. It is the primacy of personal and private spiritual experience.

The charismatic renewal was meant to be a response to philosophical individualism. But, ironically, it ends up in religious individualism. Individualism is the elevation of private judgment to the realm of intimacy. When individualism is applied to matters of religion and morality, what matters is my private judgment. So, if I judge an utterance to be prophetic it is prophetic. In fact, prophecy is what I understand prophecy to be. If I take prophecy to be fortune-telling then prophecy is fortune telling. If I take prophecy to be the same as divination in African traditional religion then that is what prophecy is. If I judge that your illness is a spiritual attack then it is a spiritual attack. It is a case of tyranny of alterity, a dictatorship of difference. What matters now is my religious experience without reference to the Church. It's like I am a Church unto myself, a theological equivalence of l'état c'est moi.

7In this case, l'église c'est moi. The Church is me.

ANTI-INTELLECTUALIST FAITH AND BIBLICAL LITERALISM

The charismatic renewal began as a reaction to the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was excessive in its promotion of reason. In reaction to the Enlightenment's tyranny of reason, which sought to “demythologize” the Gospels, the charismatic renewal was used by some of its members to provide a port of entry for anti-intellectualism in matters of religion. This happened either because they were not offered doctrinal and pastoral direction, or, where these were offered, some members of the renewal refused to accept direction. Tyranny of religious sentiments replaced tyranny of reason. While the Enlightenment promoted the principle of sola ratio, the anti-intellectualism of the most vocal members of the charismatic renewal promoted the principle of sola fide, that is, faith understood as emotion. While the rationalism of the Enlightenment viewed faith with suspicion, the anti-intellectualism of this vocal segment of the charismatic renewal

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7The way to this religious or theological individualism was already prepared for in Martin Luther's theology of reformation. A simple articulation of such individualism is to be found in his Letter to the German Nobility. John Henry Newman would seem to have agreed with this when he spoke of egotism as the supreme law in religious experience. Cf. his An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent. But this position is tempered in his Letter to the Duke of Norfolk in which he differentiated between the primacy of a conscience that is rightly understood and rightly formed and the tyranny of private judgment. He makes a stronger case for discernment in matters of revealed religion in An Essay on Development of Doctrine when he posits the need for an infallible authority to ensure that corruption is not mistaken for authentic development of doctrine.

viewed reason with suspicion. But, in the Catholic tradition, it is neither sola fide nor sola ratio but fides et ratio.

The charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church, perhaps unwittingly, provided a means of entry for Pentecostalism into the Catholic Church in Nigeria resulting in massive and ongoing erosion of Catholic elements from the liturgy, from spirituality, and from the understanding of priestly life and ministry. In liturgy, there is loss of contemplative spirit, manifest in loss of sobriety, and enthronement of unregulated exuberance. In Catholicism, there is a contemplative dimension and an active dimension. The two are meant to be reflected in Catholic liturgy. There are moments of silence and there are moments of verbal and bodily expressions. But what are seen today in liturgy in many parishes is only one side, and that is, the active side. Loss of contemplative dimension is loss of the spirituality of listening. Noisy liturgies make it impossible to listen to God. But there is a reciprocal relationship between listening to God and listening to one's neighbor. Where one is lacking the other is also lacking. If I fail to listen to God I shall fail to listen to my neighbor, and if I fail to listen to my neighbor I shall fail to listen to God. In the absence of a spirituality of listening, we cannot manage our differences. The many conflicts between persons and among communities stem from our failure to listen to one another, and our failure to listen to one another manifests our failure to listen to God. Where the human being fails to listen to God and fails to listen to his neighbor he becomes a loner engaged in a monologue. He experiences an inner conflict that will manifest itself in conflicts with others, with God and with the entire created order. It is not for nothing therefore that at the time we witness extravagant religiosity in Nigeria the Nigerian society is experiencing all sorts of conflicts.

Failure to listen to God manifests itself in the spiritual life of many priests and in their preaching. It manifests itself in failure to listen to the laity, failure to listen to my brother priest, failure to listen to the religious in the Church, failure to listen to the Church, failure to hear from the Church how the word of God given to the Church is to be read and interpreted. It is sometimes forgotten that the ministry of word and sacrament was not given to an individual priest but to the Church. And if at all it is given to the individual

priest, it is given through the mediation of the Church in the Rite of Ordination. When it is presumed that the ministry was given to the priest without the mediation of the Church, that is when liturgical aberrations become the norm, and that is when preaching becomes a performance, a theatrical display of a night of a thousand laughs. I forget that the liturgy does not belong to me, that the word I preach is not my word and not the message of an ideological camp.

We witness today many homilies based on Biblical literalism, which is the application of selectively cited and literally interpreted texts of Scripture, not to liberate from but to nurture fear: fear of existential adversity—unemployment, economic deprivation, ill-health, a seemingly endless search for a husband or wife, a seemingly endless fear of barrenness, fear of evil spirits. Failure to listen to the Catholic tradition of interpretation of divine revelation leads to an absence of Catholic interpretation of Scripture in preaching. I should explain what Catholic interpretation is.

Interpretation of Scripture is not Catholic simply because it is given by a Catholic priest at a Catholic pulpit. Otherwise, Arius would have been giving Catholic homilies. Interpretation of Scripture is Catholic when each Scripture passage is interpreted within the wholeness of Scripture and Tradition. Catholicity refers to wholeness. Catholic interpretation of Scripture is interpretation in the light of the whole. In other words, the interpretation is un-Catholic if it is a case of isolating a text and interpreting it without reference to the totality of what Scripture and Tradition teach. In the early Church, there was Marcion who could not see the Bible in its wholeness, and who therefore thought he saw two different Gods in the Bible—the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. The Marcionites separated the Old Testament from the New Testament. Today's popular preacher cites the Old Testament without referring it to Christ, Christ who is the key to understanding the Scripture as he did on the way to Emmaus.

Such are manifestations of the Pentecostal style of preaching in Catholicism in Nigeria. But I must mention one other concrete example. Some years ago, I was at the first Mass of a newly-ordained priest on a Sunday. The First Reading for that Sunday was from the book of the prophet Ezekiel. Apart from the

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fact that the homily was quite long and lacking in structure, throughout the one-hour duration of that homily, there was repeated reference to Ezekiel. There was no single reference to Christ. It would have served as a good homily at the first Mass of an Old Testament prophet. But let us switch the discussion by asking: how did Pentecostalism get to our shores? Our attempt to answer the question leads us to the economic and political factors behind Pentecostalism in Nigeria.

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL FACTORS

In explaining the economic and political factors that influence Nigerian Pentecostalism, it is important to bear in mind that what we call Pentecostalism is an expression of American

8evangelicalism. The style of Nigerian Pentecostal pastors, their stage performance, their attempts to speak like American evangelical pastors all point to a strong American evangelical influence. American evangelicals found their way to Latin America at a time this hitherto overwhelmingly Catholic continent was suffering in the hands of blood-thirsty dictators, a time of dehumanizing poverty, of political repression and assassinations. The socio-political and economic situation provoked a liberation theology of Marxist inspiration pioneered by Catholic theologians like Leonardo Boff, Gustavo Gutiérrez to mention but these. Americans woke up one morning and found Marxism in their backyard. The invasion of Latin America by American evangelicals could be seen as a reaction to this emergence of Marxism within the continental neighborhood of America.

The advent of Pentecostalism in Nigeria bears similarities with Latin America. Just as the evangelicals found their way to Latin America at a time of dictatorship, exploitation and poverty, this brand of preaching found its way to Nigeria during the tragic era of military dictatorship. Military rule is evil. May we not see it again. But it was prolonged in Nigeria. The first bout lasted 13 years, that is, from January 15, 1966 to October 1, 1979. The second bout of this virus lasted even longer, from December 31, 1983 to May 29, 1999, a period of over fifteen years. Military rule

8Read Harvey Cox, Fire from Heaven, ch. 2: “Fire Falls from Los Angeles”

in Nigeria destroyed institutions, impoverished the people, and visited on them a social dislocation that will take decades to heal. That is why we cannot talk of corruption today without talking of the role military rule played in institutionalizing the arbitrary by destroying institutions.

As it was in Latin America so in Nigeria. In the 1980s, at a time of economic deprivation and political repression, the idea of liberation theology began to be attractive in Africa. An African liberation theology began to take shape in writings such as Le cri de l'homme africain by Jean-Marc Ela, Le christianisme sans fetiche by Ebouss Boulaga, to mention but these. At a time when some were beginning to toy with the idea of a Nigerian or African liberation theology, American evangelicalism in its Pentecostal expression came to Nigeria, and, through Nigeria, to other African countries. It spread at the speed of wild fire between the 1980s, the era when totalitarianism could be said to have reached its summit in Africa, and the beginning of the 1990s, that is, roughly a period of ten years. In other words, just as American evangelicalism emerged in Latin America to check the spread of Marxism in American backyard, it emerged with even greater virulence in Africa, starting in Nigeria, to checkmate a budding Marxism. To a people impoverished by mismanagement of its wealth by all-knowing military tyrants and their civilian friends, Pentecostalism came to preach the Gospel of material prosperity, the Gospel of a God whose pastors, “men of God”, would perform miracles and cure all the illnesses in a land where misappropriation of funds have militated against access to basic medical services.

When I left Nigeria in 1989 to pursue graduate theological studies in North America, the Catholic Church I left behind was not yet invaded by Pentecostalism. However, one could already notice its gradual appearance through the Charismatic Renewal. Towards the end of my licentiate studies, before I left Canada for my doctoral studies in the United States in 1991, my attention was called to a write-up on the Redeemed Church and on the person of Pastor Enoch Adeboye published in the New York Times. Pastor Adeboye had inherited a Church left behind by a relatively unknown Pastor Akindayomi and made it into the fastest growing Church in Africa today. In 1992, when, for the first time in three

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years, I visited Nigeria, the loudspeakers of Benson Idahosa's Church in Mafoluku, a neighbourhood in Lagos, woke me up every morning. As I prepared to return to Nigeria after my doctoral studies in 1996, I read more about the “new generation Churches” in Nigeria. Therefore, when I was asked to design the theology programme at the Dominican Institute, it was clear to me that what was at stake was how to interpret and live out the Christian gospel in the Nigeria of our time. Retrieving texts of the Christian tradition, interpreting them within the same tradition, without bypassing the patristic and medieval bridges between first century Christianity and twentieth twenty-first century Christianity would demand a theological formation that is at the same time attentive and rigourous—attentive to the situation in which the Gospel is to be preached, and rigorous in its intellectual and spiritual engagement with the past and the present. When I came back to Nigeria in 1996, I heard of apparitions, three days of darkness, and Gospel of prosperity. Ironically, twenty-five years after that invasion of preachers of material prosperity, Nigerians are poorer but the preachers are very rich.

In the 1980s, Pentecostalism began to target young Nigerians who had fears about their future in the face of a bleak economic situation, and young women who worried about their prospects for getting married. The place to get them was the typical tertiary institutions where the Catholic Church often ran chaplaincies manned by priests who could not engage the community of intellectuals. While tertiary education became a potent means of massive de-Catholicization of our youths, very few of our Catholic chaplains could rise to the occasion.

While Nigeria's university education has managed to produce many schizophrenics, men and women whose religious piety and professional formation walk on either side of the street without exchanging glances, the vision of the University influenced by Thomas Aquinas' vision of the human person and John Newman's tri-provincial idea of a university whose image can be found in the African traditional stove, will promote the integrity

9of education in view of integral humanism.

9Anthony Akinwale, “Integral Humanism and the Integrity of Education” in Ibadan Dominican Studies 1, 1 (January 2015) 37-58.

The theological formation of the average Nigerian priest does not prepare him for the task of engaging an intellectual community that was targeted by Pentecostalism. Already, in parishes and dioceses, the charismatic renewal had left many priests and bishops perplexed. Not knowing what to make of the phenomenon of the charismatic renewal, not well-schooled in pneumatology, some priests and bishops became suspicious or hostile or complacent. The renewal was not given the doctrinal and pastoral guidance it needed. In some places, hostility drove the members underground or out of the Catholic Church. In some other instances, they became allies of Pentecostalism, facilitating its entry into Catholicism. Today, the young Nigerians targeted by Pentecostalism are becoming seminarians, novices, priests and religious. Pentecostal preachers have managed to influence a whole generation of priests in Nigeria.

The year 2016 marks 800 years since the birth of the Order of Preachers in Europe. The Order was born at a time Europe needed to be rescued from the clutches of Albigensianism. The phenomenon of Pentecostalism provides a kairos, an opportune moment for the Order of Preachers in Nigeria. As Jean-Pierre Torrell wisely points out, preaching is like respiration. Its two lungs are the spiritual and intellectual formation of the preacher. In concrete terms, it takes the expression of fidelity to the legacy of prayer and study left for us by Dominic when he founded the Order of Preachers 800 years ago. The challenge of de-Catholicization through tertiary education is one of the reasons behind the idea of the Dominican University in Nigeria.

Pentecostalism landed in Nigeria and entered into an alliance with African traditional religions and the latter's concern for evil spirits. These two allies met an inadequately conceived inculturation in a land inhabited by a population impoverished by prolonged military rule. This impoverished and traumatized people found opium in a religion that promised material prosperity.

Pentecostalism brought us the image of the Pentecostal pastor adorning billboards on our highways filled with potholes, the crowd-pulling miracle-working superman who is now imitated by many a seminarian and priest in the Catholic Church in Nigeria. In the Catholic Church it brought us priests who are richer and

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more powerful than their poor dioceses. Their preaching is based on a superficial and positivist reading of the Old Testament without Christ. They lay greater emphasis on sacramentals and less and less emphasis on the sacraments. In fact, today, sacraments have been replaced by sacramentals. “Back-to-sender oils” and handkerchiefs are presented to be blessed and used for “spiritual warfare”. “Special blessings” and “special thanksgiving” are considered more effective than the Eucharist, the Church's highest form of thanksgiving.

Once while I was in a parish in Lagos, a man bought a chasuble and brought it to me for blessing. He said a priest had instructed that the chasuble be taken to another priest in Port Harcourt for the latter to say Mass for him so that his shop would be protected. I advised him to go to the next Mass in the parish where we had the conversation. That Mass, I said, would be as efficacious as the one he was going to ask to be said in Port Harcourt.

The verdict is harsh and it ought to be: the Catholic Church in Nigeria, in many of her dioceses and parishes, has failed to teach our people how to be Catholics, while Pentecostal pastors have succeeded in teaching them to be Pentecostals. Not only have we failed to teach them to be Catholics, there are instances where priests have openly promoted Pentecostalism in the liturgy and in our preaching. And, from the purely human point of view, Catholicism in Nigeria faces extinction in less than ten years. This is not a prediction. I do not have a crystal ball. No one can predict the work of God. However, history shows us that local Churches can be mortal, and that local Churches have gone into extinction. Where are the once-flourishing local Churches of North Africa today? They lasted for centuries before they went into extinction because of persecution from without, doctrinal controversies, pastoral malpractice, and schisms from within. If local Churches that lasted up to ten centuries have gone into extinction, our own local Church, which is barely two centuries old—if we go by the date of the third encounter between Africa and Christianity, the second for Nigeria—can go into extinction if we do not rediscover our Catholic character. Catholicism in Nigeria needs to retrace its steps by returning to a better understanding of what it means to be a Church. Concretely, that calls for a better reception of the Second Vatican Council.

CONCLUSION

This essay is a narrative of how religiosity has turned into poverty. Nigerian Pentecostalism, which received greater powers and influence during the military era of mismanagement and aggravation or poverty came with a virulent form of anti-intellectualism and Biblical literalism that further aggravated poverty. In the midst of poverty, an anti-intellectualist religiosity traceable to the Reformation principles of sola fide and sola scriptura, entered into an alliance with beliefs about spirits in African ancestral religions. This anti-intellectualism promoted intellectual poverty which gave birth to greater economic poverty. Instead of taking responsibility for authentic development, a people already impoverished and disabled by military tyranny was made to believe that the way out of poverty was fidelity to the Gospel of prosperity. An anti-intellectual religiosity whose mantra is “God will do it in Jesus' name” gave further impetus to economic poverty. A flight from intelligence in religious matters inspired a theological under-development that combined with technological under-development. The provision of efficient delivery of medical services was substituted with the ministry of Pentecostal healers who were either unable or unwilling to differentiate between a psychiatric case and a case of demonic possession.

The issue here is not whether the Christian faith can provide a solution to poverty. The issue is: what type of solution does the Christian faith offer? Nigerian Pentecostalism believes that faith can and does offer technical solutions, and that these technical solutions are found in selectively cited chapters and verses of the Bible interpreted in exclusively literal and materialist terms. Liberation theology, before the explosion of Pentecostalism in Latin America and Africa, preached a faith whose technical solutions are to be found in its subservience to a political praxis of Marxist inspiration. But the Christian Gospel offers an antidote to poverty, not by way of technical solutions but by way of existential and moral solutions.

The presumption that the Christian faith offers technical solutions is itself rooted in what I call the instrumentalization of divinity. Instrumentalization of divinity is the idea that God is an instrument to be used in the application of technical solutions. One sees here a curious convergence of metaphysics and techniques in

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the worldview shaped by Africa's ancestral religions. Thus, every problem is seen as metaphysical and requires metaphysical solutions. In this convergence, the metaphysical is the technical, and the technical is the metaphysical. The gods provide technical solutions which are in fact metaphysical. The God of African traditional religions is a God who must function. His function is to provide technical solutions. If you worship in the shrine of a deity and that deity does not make things better for you, you will have to replace that deity with another one who fits into your job description, that is, who applies technical solution. Nigerian Pentecostalism, because of its alliance with African traditional religions preaches about a God who provides technical solutions by doing everything “in Jesus' mighty name”.

Perhaps, someone might ask: you say God is not to be instrumentalized, because the Christian faith does not offer technical but existential solutions; how then are we to clarify the status of the corpus of Catholic social doctrine which has gained prominence in papal encyclicals?

To this I shall respond by saying that this corpus is not a collection of technical solutions to the problems of society, because neither the Church nor theology has the mission of offering technical solutions. Rather, it pertains to the Church and to theology, through this corpus of social doctrine, to offer spiritual, intellectual and moral guidance to those whose mission it is to search for and propose technical solutions. This is done by the teaching on the Greatest Commandment—love of God above all things, and love of neighbor because of God. The commandment already implies that we cannot separate the affairs of this world, the pursuit of the common good, from the way we relate with God. How we relate with God is reflected how we relate with one another in the home and in the city. How we relate with God is reflected in how we manage politics and the economy. In the final analysis, the Greatest Commandment teaches us that politics and the economy are concretization of caritas.

THEOLOGY ANDCOMMUNICATION

Fifth Unit

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PREAMBLE

In addition to my primary duty as a seminary professor in renewal theology, I also serve a small non-denominational church as pastor. At the end of the year 2015, a leading member of the congregation invited me to her home and had me record a New Year message for the congregation. I thought it was meant for the weekly church bulletin. I was my charismatic self during the recording and spoke some “prophetic words” of encouragement to the congregation as they start a New Year. When I started receiving calls later thanking me for the “powerful message” even before the Sunday service, I learnt to my admiration that some media technology had been used to disseminate the New Year greetings to all the members on January 1st . That was the first thing each of them heard on switching on their phones in the New Year. Today, every sermon preached could be downloaded from the website of this small conservative evangelical community I serve. Media technology has changed the face of Christian communication. This change has occurred in tandem with globalization fostered by a new technological age dominated by media in its multiplicity of forms.

Traditionally, the preaching and teaching ministries of the church had been passed on through formal sermons and homilies delivered verbally in front of live congregations. Other forms of teaching took place at baptismal and confirmation classes. The traditional methods have not been abandoned but things have changed with the media completely taking over our lives as far as communication is concerned. In these reflections, I consider the interface between the media age and the preaching and teaching

ministries of the church. This is done within a religious context that is fast giving up on overly “denominationalized” forms of Christianity, a development that is due in part to the influence of pneumatic forms of the faith. I speak here of the new Pentecostal/charismatic churches and movements whose presence in Africa have forced virtually all denominations into one form of emulative action or another.

In the past couple of months, for example, I have been collecting data for a research on “the power of the spoken word in Pentecostalism.” The primary data consists of books written by pastors belonging to this new stream of Christianity. I walked into the bookshop of the Daughters of Divine Love Retreat Center where our colloquium is taking place and here was a book written by a Catholic religious functionary titled Power in Your Tongue:

1The Miracle of Decreeing the Impossible Into Existence. The book written by one Innocent Joshua C. Igbokwe OCD, was endorsed by Catholic intellectuals and their take on the contents is very intriguing:

i. “In this masterpiece, Innocent, OCD, has successfully articulated in a most simple way that the human tongue has an inherent power. Every chapter of this book bears an indelible pen of having been written by a man who knows the subject and has described it with an unbiased mind. Readers of this work will quickly see that they have before them a text to which they can turn for solid and reliable guide in their relationship with one another” (Cosmas C. Uzowulu, OFM Cap. Ph.D. Professor of New Testament and Biblical Languages at the Spiritan International School of Theology, Attakwu, Enugu, Nigeria).

ii. “This generation is waiting for the manifestation of God's children, who through an understanding of their divine heritage in Christ can operate like God on earth. You are one of them. So, grab this book and discover the underlying power in

1Innocent Joshua C. Igbokwe, OCD. Power in Your Tongue: The Miracle of Decreeing the Impossible into Existence (Enugu: World of Carmel Books, 2013).

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ANDTHE CHURCH IN AFRICA: PREACHING AND

TEACHING THROUGH NEW MEDIA( PROF. J. KWABENA ASAMOAH-GYADU,

Trinity Theological College, Ghana)

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your tongue that will enable you to bring changes to your life and generation” (Ibhawaegbele, F.O., Ph.D. Department of English, A.A.U. Ekpoma).

When I saw the title of the book in a Catholic bookstore and read the endorsements, I was not sure whether I was reading things written by Pastor Dr. Daniel Olukoya of the Mountain of Fire Miracle Ministries or from Catholic intellectuals. That it is stocked in a Catholic bookstore is also very intriguing. This sort of discourse, one would think belongs squarely to the domain of prosperity preachers of the contemporary Pentecostal tradition and here are Catholic intellectuals advocating similar theological ideas.

AFRICA IN WORLD CHRISTIANITY

Christianity has changed, whether we like it or not and Pentecostalism, has been an important part of this process. On this changing face of Christianity, it is only a little over a decade ago that Yale University based scholar of world Christianity, Lamin Sanneh wrote his book provocatively titled Whose Religion is

2Christianity? The subtitle to that volume “The Gospel Beyond the West” is indicative of the fact that the center of gravity of the faith has shifted from the North to the South. Much ink has been spilt on that fact from the nibs of the likes of Andrew F. Walls, Kwame Bediako, Jehu H. Hanciles and Philip Jenkins and we need to come to terms with that development. Africa has emerged from the underside of mission history to become a major hotbed of Christianity in the 21st century. In the introduction to Whose Religion is Christianity? Sanneh writes as follows:

The contemporary confidence in the secular destiny of the West as an elevated stage of human civilization is matched by the contrasting evidence of the resurgence of Christianity as a world religion . . . .What is at issue now is the surprising scale and depth of the worldwide Christian resurgence, a resurgence that seems to proceed without Western organizational structures, including academic recognition, and is occurring amidst widespread political instability

and the collapse of public institutions, part of what it means to speak of a post-3Western Christianity. In the midst of this development in which Western

hegemony over what counts as Christian has virtually been broken by indigenous initiatives in Africa, Pentecostalism and media have proven to be two of the most potent forces of globalized change. This has been so in Africa since the middle of the 20th century.

The papal voice is still significant and of that there is little doubt. In Africa as I believe elsewhere in the world, the Holy Father is seen as the leader of world Catholicism only in name. When he steps on African soil, the reverence for his person and office is virtually non-denominational. In spite of the continued relevance of historic Christian institutions like the papacy, however, the most important voices in world Christianity today exist outside the historic mission denominations. Thanks in part to the influence of media—radio, television, magazines and books—for the best part of the 20th century, those whose preaching and teaching dominated world Christianity the most would include Billy Graham, Oral Roberts and T.L. Osborn. Towards the end of that century, we got to know about Joyce Meyer, Mike Murdock, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and several others whose media resources have inspired many independent charismatic ministries in Africa. Their stock in trade, as far as preaching of the word is concerned has been a gospel of spiritual interventionism through the power of the tongue and the faithful application of the principles of “sowing and reaping” that paved the way for the sort of material wellbeing and prosperity that people desired from religious resources.

CHRISTIANITY AND CHANGE

Within the changing face of Christianity, certain African voices have also emerged and still are contributing significantly to the reshaping of Christian spirituality and discourse. The world has now developed tingling ears for the prophecies of Prophet T.B. Joshua that circulate widely either through his Emmanuel TV or YouTube videos. That his rumored presence in Ghana recently led to a stampede during which human lives were lost only served to

2Lamin Sanneh, Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the West (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2003).

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3Sanneh, Whose Religion is Christianity? 3.

show how powerful the media have become as a source of communication on the supernatural or charismatic powers of certain individuals. The late Nigerian charismatic archbishop, Benson Idahosa and Matthew Ashimolowo of London are two of the names that most people will be familiar with. Whether we are talking about the North or the South in terms of change in Christianity, the single most important factor that makes the ministries of the people listed above important is their extensive and innovative appropriation of modern media technology for the proclamation of the gospel and the claim to the performance of miracles. There are people across the globe that will not miss the television ministries of Prophet T.B. Joshua or South Africa based Pastor Chris Oyakhilome for anything. Digital Satellite Television (DSTV) has created new religious celebrities with ministries that rival the performances of entertainment icons known around the globe. In short, media religion, particularly televangelism has now developed as a subculture within global Christianity and Africa is at the center of things.

PENTECOSTALISM, CATHOLICISM AND WORLD CHRISTIANITY

We may not look at it that way but in my judgment there is little that takes place within innovative forms of Christianity in Africa that does not have a Catholic stamp on it. Radio Vatican, set up in 1931, existed before Pentecostal televangelism came into vogue. When in February of that year the scientist Gugliemo Marconi presented Vatican Radio to His Holiness Pope Pius XI, this is what he said:

With the help of Almighty God, who allows the many mysterious forces of nature to be used by man, I have been able to prepare this instrument which will accord to the Faithful of all the world the consolation of hearing the voice of the Holy Father.

In the context of the historical importance of Catholicism, Christian religious innovation has moved the faith in very many and different directions and as I suggest in this presentation, the media play a critical role in these developments. In the middle of the 20th century when Christianity was said to be developing as a

non-Western, non-White religion, it was lost on many people that within that context Pentecostalism in its various forms including charismatic renewal movements was becoming the representative face of the faith and the media playing a decisive factor in that dramatic move. The extensive and innovative uses of modern media technologies has served not only to increase the visibility and influence of Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity across the world but also led to what has now come to be described across Africa as the “pentecostalization” or “charismatization” of Christianity. Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity is now a world religion and its popularity in both direct and indirect ways has put existing historical traditions under differing forms of pressure. The intersection between Pentecostalism and media has served to permanently transform the way the gospel is preached and in which the faith is taught and practiced across denominations.

My normal definition of Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity is to see it as a post-denominational religious phenomenon that values, affirms and consciously promotes the experience of the Holy Spirit as part of normal Christian expression. Pentecostalism, wherever it has emerged appears as a direct response to the “denominationalization” of Christianity. In many African countries there has been a stubborn resistance to the experience of the Holy Spirit within indigenous expressions of the faith. At the beginning of the 20th century, this led to pejorative name-calling of the African Independent Churches (AICs) by their older historic mission compatriots. They were castigated as being at best aberrations of true Christianity and at worst reinvented forms of traditional religions and denounced by mainliners as demonic. In spite of this name-calling, their contribution to the salvation of Christianity from suffering a moribund fate in Africa is unquestionable. The Spirit of God may be at work again in Africa. Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians Anglicans, Methodists and whatever we have in between must, based on their historical pedigrees, no longer see themselves as the sole custodians of biblical Christianity.

Christianity, from its post-Pentecost foundations, was never supposed to be a faith that was bound to any specific geo-

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political or cultural project. The Apostle Peter put is succinctly in his post-Pentecost discoveries in the house of the Gentile convert Cornelius when he noted:

. . .I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him (Acts 10:34-35 NRSV).

The tensions between Christianity as a Western religion and the relevance of Christ for the African context are not new. After all, as Paul has it:

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast before him (I Corinthians 1:27-28 NRSV).

The basic hypothesis of Christian religious dialogue or inter-ecclesiological theology is to recognize the distinctive strengths of particular members of the family that bear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and to ask the question: “what is God, the Lord of mission by his Spirit teaching through this or that stream of Christianity?” To put the matter a bit more directly there is much in contemporary Pentecostalism that historic mission Christianity may find problematic and repulsive. Nevertheless, I suggest that in spite of whatever reservations one may have with their ecclesial methods, we cannot fault these churches or new movements on the effective use of modern media and the resonance that this has found among Africa's upwardly mobile youth. The world follows Matthew Ashimolowo the Nigerian charismatic pastor based in London and Mensa Otabil of Ghana through their Internet broadcasts, Facebook, Podcasts, and twitter posts because their preaching is “motivational” and directly answers those questions that people are asking. Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity by its nature has an aversion to the sort of lectionary preaching and liturgical orders that have come to define what it means to be Christian for the older historic mission denominations. In that context people have found Pentecostal preaching a bit more appealing to their religious sensibilities and no amount of denial is likely to lead to a reversal of the sort of human hemorrhage from the historic mission traditions that we have witnessed within the last three decades.

PENTECOSTALISM AND MEDIA

We have noted that the intersection between religion and media is not a new development. Catholicism in particular has always mediated its stream of Christianity through the use of religious icons and symbols. Catholic iconography remains very popular within Christianity in Africa in spite of their demonization in Pentecostal discourses as amounting to no more than Christianized forms of idol worship. Beside the common Christian symbol of the cross, Catholic rosaries, images of Mary, and icons of various saints are commonly used across different religious traditions for whatever sacramental purposes they serve in the lives and piety of people. When I started looking closely at the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement in Ghana, most of my initial impressions came from a colorful quarterly magazine through which they shared their stories. Like Catholicism, Pentecostalism has also always been a media religion of a different sort. In the immediate aftermath of the 1906 Azusa Street Revival of William J. Seymour, the movement produced the Apostolic Faith magazine. It had a huge influence on global Christianity as hundreds of thousands were distributed around the world telling stories of what God's miracles through outpourings of the Holy Spirit upon people, signs and wonders, healings at Pentecostal meetings, and powerful conversions as people came to Christ through various Spirit-empowered mission ministries.

The printing press was then hailed as an important invention for the dissemination of the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When the Catholic faith was still being mediated in the sacred language of Latin, the translations of the Bible into various vernaculars facilitated a new kind of Christian religious innovation in Africa. Indigenous prophets mainstreamed the experience and power of the Holy Spirit in church life that culminated in the formation of the independent church movement. When television came along in the 1950s, to be able to see and hear the Gospel through that medium was itself considered a miracle that was going to facilitate the Great Commission as the world awaited the Second Coming of Christ that early 20th century Pentecostals had insisted was eminent. Today new media-cell

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phones, computers, and projectors - have moved the interface between religion and media to new heights and we ignore those developments at our peril. Worship, in virtually every Christian tradition today, is driven by one form of media technology or another. The reason is simple: wherever one finds himself or herself as a Christian, the officially ordained religious functionary is no longer the sole custodian of religious teaching. The media are a source of religious influence precisely because they help to democratize access to the sacred and they speak to contemporary cultures in ways that traditional Christianity seems unable to grasp or cope with or both.

The “accelerated deregulation” of the “mediascape” across Africa “has increased pluralism and provided significant involvement by religious organizations in the ownership and control of newspapers, radio and television stations, among other

4media outlets.” Although all churches use one form of media or another, the extensive and unbridled use of modern media by Pentecostal/charismatic churches and movements has enabled them to virtually overshadow the historic mission denominations, at least within the public sphere. The media has helped the transformation of Pentecostalism into a popular public religion that as Harvey Cox notes is reshaping Christian spirituality in the

521st century. We are at a point in the history of Christianity in Africa, for example, in which the individual listening to a forenoon Sunday sermon in say a Catholic parish may only be treating himself/herself to a “religious desert.” The main meal may have already been taken by listening to Pastor Mensa Otabil from

Ghana, Enoch Adeboye and David Oyedepo from Nigeria, or Ray McCauley from South Africa. Given the increased technological capacities for transmission and reception available on a global scale and in Africa in particular, Rosalind Hackett and Benjamin Soares assert, media creation, circulation, and consumption are now less confined to local, regional, and national

6contexts than they were until quite recently.

PREACHING AND TEACHING THROUGH NEW MEDIA

When Africa's young people started drifting from the so-called mainline churches to the contemporary Pentecostal movements, three main reasons were generally advanced for that development:

i. That there was good teaching (rather than preaching) of Scripture as the authoritative Word of God. The new churches tended to apply Scripture in a way that spoke very forcefully to contemporary situations.

ii. That the power of the Holy Spirit was affirmed in these churches.Young people for whom infant baptism and confirmation had lost their religious meaning yearned for something more experiential and many found it in the charismatic emphases on the power and experience of the Holy Spirit.

iii. That worship was enjoyable and that you could feel it. People applauded the dynamic, exuberant, expressive and experiential nature of charismatic worship. Developments in worship in particular have been a critique of the liturgically ordered, staid and over-cerebral and ceremonial nature of worship in the historic mission churches.

There may well be other reasons, including sociological and psychological ones, for the attractions of contemporary Pentecostalism to the young people in particular. However, all three religious reasons for the attraction of the new movements to the present generation still exist. For example, lectionary preaching associated with historic mission Christianity, may have its place but it scarcely allows a congregation to benefit from the consistent exposition of Scripture. Similarly text-based collects and prayers are still useful for liturgically ordered services but the inspiration that comes from authoritative, expressive, extempore and mass praying in tongues creates a certain enchanted atmosphere that many find more engaging and congenial to their religious sensibilities.

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4Nyamnjoh, “Foreword,” xi.5 stHarvey Cox, Fire from Heaven: Pentecostalism and the Reshaping of Christian Spirituality in the 21 Century

(Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1995).6Rosalind I.J. Hackett and Benjamin Soares ed., New Media and Religious Transformations in Africa

(Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2015), 3.

The word in particular as the contents of sermons and homilies are now called is, thanks to various media resources, conveniently captured for continued listening and mass circulation among friends and loved ones regardless of denominational affiliations. In the foreword to a book titled “New Media and Religious Transformations in Africa”, Francis B. Nyamnjoh writes as follows: Today, Africa bears witness to individuals, acting alone or as part of religious groups or communities committed to various causes…combing the internet, downloading and sharing (via email, as cell phone text messages, Facebook postings, printouts, faxes, and word of mouth in prayer sessions or in other face-to-face contexts) prayers, inspirational spiritual texts, religious music, ringtones, photos, podcasts, and videos. . . . Media technologies themselves

7become intermediaries through which humans can experience “the divine.”

Typically one may conclude, based on this observation, that this is how popular Christianity is made. The homily, sermon or message mediated from a Catholic lectern may have its place but the use of new media means people have access to other sources of preaching and teaching over which the religious establishment does not necessarily have any control. The new media, as Nyamnjoh notes further, “have provided for a greater sense of openness and interreligious conviviality as religious contents spread across digital platforms providing opportunities to interact with other

8religious communities particularly among youth.” Cell phone ringtones now commonly come in Pentecostal tongues and so does some forms of gospel-life music. Cryptic motivational messages, Pentecostal gospel musicals or simple words of inspirational readings from the sermons and writings of charismatic pastors are now very readily accessible through various communication devices.

Additionally, there are SMS messages and WhatsApp platforms through which Pentecostal churches frequently communicate and engage not just with the membership, but also with the general public. The new media have been identified with Pentecostals only in the extent of use. Pope Benedict was for

example reported to have sent SMS to thousands of young pilgrims in Australia during the World Youth Day in Sydney in which he

9urged them to renew their faith. Rotimi Taiwo talks about the raising of “prayer alerts” in which Pentecostals share media prayer through SMS platforms on a range of personal, church and national issues. “The domain of raising prayer alerts,” he writes, “is no

10longer limited to the four walls of any church.” The use of text messages to raise prayer alerts is commonly used among Pentecostal/charismatic Christians. The belief in these sorts of media prayers is informed in part by the Pentecostal democratization of access to sacred realities through a God who is omnipresent and who works through ordinary people available for his anointing grace. The use of SMS for religious purposes, Taiwo further notes, has been extended to the dynamic context of Nigeria's mass media, where radio and television preachers solicit

11responses from their virtual church members and audiences. In Ghana, Pastor Dr. Charles Aye-Addo of the International Central Gospel Church has started a weekly online prayer vigil into which people get connected by cell phone.

TECHNOLOGY AND WORSHIP

In the current media age when technology may be deployed for its own sake, the temptation is for the church to emulate what I call “trendy” Christianity. The emulation of technological trends makes worship services look sophisticated, contemporary and attractive but these do not necessarily translate into meaningful and fulfilling worshipful atmospheres. Worship may be defined as our total human response to God's redemptive initiative in Jesus Christ our Lord. To use the prophetic word of Zechariah as inspired by the Holy Spirit, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David… salvation 9Rotimi Taiwo, “Religious Discourse in the New Media: A Case Study of Pentecostal Discourse Communities of

SMS Users in Southwestern Nigeria,” in Rosalind Hackett and Benjamin Soares ed., New Media and Religious Transformations in Africa (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2 0 1 5 ) , 193.

10Taiwo, “Religious Discourse in the New Media,” 198.11Taiwo, “Religious Discourses in the New Media,” 200.

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7Francis B. Nyamnjoh, “Foreword” in Rosalind I.J. Hackett and Benjamin Soares ed., New Media and Religious

Transformations in Africa (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2015), vii.8Nyamnjoh, “Foreword”, vii-viii.

from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us— (Luke 1:68-71).

Our response to this redemptive initiative of God in Christ must first and foremost be a lifestyle of worshipful thanksgiving that reflects the fact that Christians bear the identity of the Christ of our salvation. Corporate worship offers unique opportunities for the worshipping community to use words, gestures and symbols to express love and commitment to the God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ and who is always with us in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. As St. Paul would have it as he defined “orderly worship” in First Corinthians 14:

…When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All these must be done for the strengthening of the church (verse 26).

The bottom line in Paul's submission is that worship must be participatory and by implication, participatory worship recognizes that believers are differently gifted. What makes Pentecostal/charismatic worship services enjoyable, exhilarating and fulfilling is usually its participatory and spontaneous nature that allows the free but controlled expression of the graces of the Holy Spirit. The preaching and teaching of the word must thus be understood within this context as one among a range of Spiritual graces that may be deployed in the service of God's people. To that end, Quentin J. Schultze admonishes as follows:

Presentational technologies can shape worship for both good and bad. The key in using presentational technologies wisely is employing them well in a service for worthy purposes, not for their own ends. We should not use technology for

12the sake of technology but in support of commendable worship.

During a visit to a church in which I once served as pastor, I noticed that the giant wooden cross, installed above the altar facing the congregation and which was meant to provide them a reflective focus during corporate worship had been replaced with a computer screen. The “technologicalization” of worship seems to have taken

over our sense of liturgical symbolism that has served the church over generations. A large industry, as Schultze notes, promotes the use of electronic and projections in worship. We live in a media age and the mediatization of worship is not necessarily a bad thing. However I share Schultze concern that new communication technologies can both facilitate and interfere with communication depending on when, why, how, and how well they are used. Just buying and installing equipment, he notes, will not automatically

13enhance worship. What this suggests is that even in the deployment of communication technology to serve the interest of the church, we need the “liturgical wisdom” and guidance of the Spirit to “adapt technology to authentic, meaningful, and God-

14glorifying worship.”

PREACHING, TEACHING AND NEW MEDIA

In the case of preaching, the accusation against the historic mission denominations has been that good and sound biblical expository preaching has often been sacrificed in favor of brief homilies that do not address the expectations of church members. What contemporary Pentecostal/charismatic churches have done is to mainstream the preaching of the word. We may not always like their hermeneutics or interpretations of Scripture but at least people feel able to connect with the “Ancient Word” as preached from Pentecostal/charismatic pulpits. This is because it often stays close to the texts and most importantly applies the Scriptures in ways that address everyday concerns and the harsh realities of life. The preaching and teaching ministry has now been moved beyond pulpits and lecterns to all forms of media making the word as accessible as possible.

The main source of preaching and teaching, the Holy Scriptures, is now widely available in virtually all its versions on cell phone and tablets. There are passages of Scripture that people can access on Compact Discs and DVDs wherever they may be—in their cars, offices, and even in other private places. Pentecostal/charismatic preachers started recording and

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12Quentin J. Schultze, High-Tech Worship? Using Presentational Technologies Wisely (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2004), 13.

13Schultze, Presentational Technologies, 13.14Schultze, Presentational Technologies, 14.

distributing sermons on video and audiocassette tapes from the early 1980s. Today, things seem to have come full circle as sermons (and even entire church services) stream live on Internet websites. I have conducted a study in which I found that historic mission denominations such as the Catholic Church are often content with filling their Internet websites with denominationally relevant material—such us history, how to understand the sacraments, the meanings of the various aspects of the mass—that may not necessarily excite non-Catholics. The historic mission denominations take the same approach to televangelism in which the objective seems to mediate Catholicism, Anglicanism or Methodism, rather than focus on ministering and teaching the word in a way that speaks to non-denominational listeners.

The media spaces available today can either be sources of profane material or sacred ones. What the church needs to do, in my estimation is to come to the realization that there is contention for media space by different actors. A carefully designed and packaged Christian material that stays faithful to the Bible and disseminates its contents in ways that speaks to particular generations is important if we want to secure the attention of the world as far as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned. To that end, I dare suggest, there is much to learn from the innovative ways in which Pentecostal charismatic churches use new media both within and outside of church settings. What is it about how the word is preached within these new Christian collectivities that makes it attractive to our denominationally uprooted young people in particular looking for ways in which the word of God can address their yearnings for truth and fulfillment amidst the quagmires of life?

CONCLUSION

This paper has proceeded on a number of presuppositions and I would like to summarize them here:

i. That Christianity has ceased to be a Western religion with its major heartlands now moving to places like Africa;

ii. That Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity with its emphasis on the experience and power of the Holy Spirit has become the representative face of the faith in Africa today;

iii.That in addition to the force of Pentecostalism, the media are the other potent force and power of transformation in the postmodern world;

iv. That the appropriate deployment of media for the dissemination of the gospel of Jesus Christ is non-negotiable in a media age;

v. That in the use of media, denominationalism must not be preferred to Christian evangelism that repackages the gospel in ways that speak to non-denominational Christians.

Modern media technology is a good thing and Pentecostal/ charismatic Christianity has served us well in pointing to them as sources of divine breakthrough not just for fulfilling worship but also for the preaching and teaching ministry of the church. The church is called to undertake mission in the world and our influence in public spaces are critical to this call in Christ. In the use of media technology however, the church also needs to be sensitive to its downsides. Let me defer again to the wisdom of Quentin J. Schultze in this matter as I conclude:

We reside in a post-consumer society filled with Images and words of all kinds, from those on pornographic websites to those in lavishly designed magazine advertisements. Our visually saturated culture is filled with evil as well as trivial noise that continually diverts our attention from anything important and makes it difficult for us to focus on meaningful practices that carry eternal weight. Communication technologies can contribute to this confusion just as much as

15they can help us to overcome it.

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15Schultze, Presentational Technologies, 22.

BEING PRESENT IN TODAY'S WORLD:TRAINING/FORMING PASTORAL AGENTS

IN SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS(by VERY REV. FR. JOSEPH OLADIRAN FANIRAN, CIWA,

Port Harcourt)

15

The pastoral effectiveness of the Church in the Third Millennium depends to a great extent on the preparation of effective communicators of the Gospel message (PCC & PCID, 2003, p.15).

1. INTRODUCTION

That sentence, taken from Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the 'New Age' jointly published by the then Pontifical Councils for Culture (PCC) and for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) 2003 sums up the task I have been asked to perform at this august conference. That task is to lead the discussion on the need for the Catholic Church in Nigeria to train and form pastoral agents in social communication if the Church wants to be effectively present in the world of today.

The argument of this presentation can, therefore, be stated thus: “the Church's presence in today's world demands effective communicators of the Gospel message.” To be effective, the communicators need not only to be trained in the ever changing means of social communication, but also be formed by the Gospel message. This is because the quality of their presence in that world will, by and large, be influenced by both the quality of their use of the means of communication at their disposal and the witness they thereby provide.

The task shall be tackled by attempting to answer the following questions: What is today's world? What does it mean for the Church to be effectively present in that world? How can pastoral agents be trained and formed in social communications to effectively carry out their mission?

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2. TODAY'S WORLD

If there is one word that describes today's world it is revolution. As we settle into the third millennium, it is becoming clearer that we are experiencing a revolution that is bringing about fundamental shifts in the way humans make their living. Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI (2011) compared it with the profound transformation that the Industrial Revolution brought about in the cycles of production and in the lives of workers. Underlying and articulating these shifts is the change that is taking place in the rate at which new technologies, particularly those of communication, are produced, accumulated and put to use. Marshall T. Poe (2011, p.10) adds that ours is the fifth of such shifts in human history.

The first was the Behavioural Revolution that took place roughly between 50,000 to 10,000 BC when the old stone tools were perfected; the second, the Agricultural Revolution of 10,000 BC to 1000 AD that saw the beginning of writing and papyrus; the third, the Capitalist Revolution of 1000 to 1700 AD in which printing press and other very useful tools were invented; the fourth is the Industrial Revolution of 1760 to 1940 AD, which witnessed the perfection or the invention of energy sources like coal and oil, energy transmission devices like electricity, railroads and cars; and finally the present and fifth revolution dubbed the Information Revolution, whose seeds were sown way back in 1940 AD and continue till date. In each of these shifts, there was an upsurge in innovation, adoption and dissemination of new tools, particularly the information technologies, with special reference to the computer (Poe, 2011, pp. 258-262).

The means of social communication perform this important role by embodying or encapsulating the information or message being exchanged. They serve as the catalytic agents that bring together the individuals and the messages. But, unlike the chemical catalytic agents that merely bring objects together, the media enter into the interactive process as active mediators by shaping the message and impacting on the way the message is received and employed. This is why Clifford G. Christians insists that media are not only the purveyors of information, but also the creators and shapers of culture. To him, communication is the

symbolic process expressing human creativity and grounding culture. Hence, culture is the womb in which that symbolic process is born (1990, p.334).

Pope St. John Paul II provided us with a graphic description of this mutual relationship between media and culture where he wrote:

Today in fact the mass media constitute not only a world but also a culture and civilization … The first Areopagus of the modern age is the world of communications, which is unifying humanity and turning it into what is known as a 'global village'. The means of social communication have become so important as to be for many the chief means of information and education, of guidance and inspiration in their behavior as individuals, families and within society at large (Ecclesia in Africa 1995, art. 71).

In the media culture, “individuals gather, converse, gain information, communalize their concerns, and build meaning, identity and worldviews” (Horsfield, 2004, p.xix).

Hence, taken together, one can say that media and culture are mutually related in the process of communication. This is why M. Rex Miller argues that changes in media or the mode of encapsulating information influence the type of media culture in existence in that period. He insists that:

When the means of storing and distributing information change, our perceptions change. Changed perceptions create changed understandings and even changed psychology. Changed identity affects relationships. Changed relationships affect the traditions and institutions that support those relationships. These changes eventually reach a cultural critical mass, igniting a battle between old and new worldviews. Communication is the medium for relationships, community, and culture; so a more efficient or powerful tool of communication results in their restructuring (Miller, 2004, p. x).

2.1. The shifts in media culture

In human history, there have been four of those successive cultural shifts. The first is from the spoken word to the written word; the second from the written to the printed; the third from printed to the broadcast/image word; and the fourth, the current, is from the broadcast or audiovisual/image word to the emerging digital and

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multimedia word. Each change gives birth to the restructuring of relationships, community and culture i.e., to a new and different way of seeing, organizing, and experiencing the world, complete with its worldview, ethos and narratives. The corresponding successive media cultures are briefly discussed in the following paragraphs.

2.1a. The speech or oral form of media culture

The earliest form of media developed for encapsulating and exchanging information entailed immaterial or non-physical encapsulation. The dominant tool of communication here is the spoken word and its appropriate culture is oral-aural culture or what Walter J. Ong (1982) calls “primary orality.” Sound is transitory in nature. Hence, people use stories, proverbs, prayers and formulaic expressions, on the one hand, and poetry, narration, drama, music and dance, on the other hand to store oral information in memory for performance and reuse. Since speech could only be preserved as it is remembered and repeated, it had to be produced in repetitive and rhythmic patterns to enable easy memorization and recollection.

Social, political and religious rituals form another important media of communication in this culture. They are generally grouped under events, performance and venue oriented forms. Events refer to the institutional ceremonies or festivals that come up at regular intervals in the life of the community. Here, people gather together to participate in various rites and share information. The performance-oriented forms include drama, drumming, song, dance, funeral dirges and puppet shows. Others are story-telling, poems, poetry, proverbs, puns, rhymes and rhetoric. Venue-oriented means of communication include courtyards or verandas, artisans' workshops, tree-shades, market squares, drinking places, riverside, paths leading to farms or markets, trade routes, games and sports. These are venues where information passes through structured or unstructured interactive conversation among the participants (Faniran, 2008; Ansu-Kyeremeh,1988).

Due to its nature, the oral speech communication culture emphasizes the communal or group, face-to-face forms of sharing, interaction, participation and co-creation and mythical experience of meaning in the process of communication. Since everyone has the equipment and can easily develop the skill to speak and listen, speech is readily accessible to everyone.

2.1b. The written or manuscript form of media culture

The earliest writing systems include cuneiform and hieroglyphics. Alphabetic scripts first emerged in Egypt in the early second millennium BC and were later adapted in Greece. The Greeks started writing alphabets from left to right and thereby ushered in a linear, sequential system of coded information that is written from left to right. Thus the manuscript culture was born. Reading and writing, i.e., literacy gradually spread but remained expensive and not easily accessible to everyone because only very few had the equipment and the skill necessary to write and read.

Compared to speech, writing and reading are quite hard to learn and do. This is because the hand was not built for writing, nor the eye for reading. As Poe has argued, “humans were evolved to talk, which is why we have talking organs that make talking easy . . . to become literate we have to adapt organs – our eyes, minds and hands – that were obviously evolved for other purposes. This hijacking and rewiring process takes years to accomplish, is quite exacting, and is never really complete” (2011, p.72). For the first several thousand years of its existence, writing was used almost exclusively to keep accounts, write laws and copy scripture. The networks created by literacy were concentrated and concentrated networks engender hierarchical social practice. Throughout the manuscript era, princes and priests monopolized writing and thereby became more princely and priestly.

2.1c. The print form of media culture

The rise of the capitalist class, the development of bureaucracy among the ruling elites and the coming of the Reformation combined to provide the historical context for the emergence of

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print culture. Each stimulated the learning of letters and the adoption of print. The invention of the printing press by Gutenberg fueled the process and led to the explosion of the world's print culture. As recorded by Poe (pp.110-111), “Luther was probably the first living author to become a bestseller in print. His many pamphlets quickly sold out, went through multiple printings, and were widely translated.”

The linear and sequential system of coded information that is written from left to right impacts on the basic processing routines of eye-brain coordination. It shifts the balance of power from the ear, as in oral speech of media culture, to the eye, and consequently changes how our senses receive and interpret information. With this comes also the shift in human perception – from the context, as in oral speech media culture – to the content of the message. The content of the message now becomes the new power of the written/print culture. In the oral speech culture, knowledge resides in the human person and is transmitted from the elders to the young, and from the master to the apprentice, but in the manuscript/print culture knowledge is transferred from the person to the letter on paper/printed material. The context and the human carriers of information and understanding – the elders, priests, bards, teachers and community members – are now superseded by a more durable and efficient medium, the manuscript/printed word.

Print creates a rational mind that sees the world as parts that are assembled in orderly whole. The print mind uses the principles of logic to disassemble the whole into its constituent parts and reassemble it. The eye signals to the brain to mentally separate (discern) and break up the whole (analyze), whereas the ear seeks harmony and synthesis. Print culture creates an abstract, detached, and structured worldview.

The means of writing requires a clear, sequential, rational development of thought and takes away the personalized filter of the community, i.e., it de-emphasizes the exclusive ties that family, community, and tradition had in forming one's identity and worldview. There ensues the complete visual, linear, solitary orientation of the written/print mind, quite different from the meandering, mystical, communal tendency of the oral mind. Shane

A. Hipps (2005, p. 51) sums it up that the worldview entrenched by print culture into the Western way of life is characterized by a strong emphasis on individualism, objectivity, abstraction, and reason.

This is the origin of the Protestant and the Pentecostal belief that the Bible, i.e., the written word of God, is the sole authority of revelation, sola scriptura and that individuals can receive the word of God directly from the Bible and interpret it by themselves. One of its consequences is the fragmentation of Christianity and the continuous splintering of the Church with everyone founding his or her church based on his or her own interpretation of the revelation from the Bible. The power to control the channels of information slipped away from the hands of the Catholic Church and the elites.

Another interesting area influenced by the print media is the way churches are built. The symbolic architecture of oral culture gives way to simple and functional buildings. Among the Protestants and their Pentecostal kindred, the Church is no longer seen as a space of intimate connection but a place of rational detachment since the building no longer embodies the story, as did the Cathedral with its spires reaching to God and its nave in the shape of the Cross. The ritual of re-enacting the last Supper is replaced by a retelling of the gospel, while the focus of the service is shifted from the Eucharist to the preaching of the word.

2.1d. Broadcast or audiovisual/image form of media culture

The broadcast age that began with the invention of photography in the 19th century, gathered speed with the advent of movies and radio and was kicked into higher gear by television. Hence, television is often taken as its metaphor.

Television provides image after image, show after show, punctuated by commercials, with no overarching perspective, no narrative to give these image fragments a cohesive meaning. Everything is in motion. Time and space are not fixed but relative. In the print world matter is stable, but in the broadcast audiovisual world matter is energy.

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This reminds me of what one of my lecturers used to tell us when I was studying television production at the University of Ottawa, in Ontario, Canada 1980. He used to remind us that with television there is a thin line between facts and fiction; hence he banned the use of the following words in his class: “the fact is” because there are no facts; and “I am sure”, you cannot be sure. As if to confirm this point, William F. Fore, in an article published in 2001, quoted the New Testament scholar, John Dominic Crossan who predicted that whereas the 20th century saw a fight between religion and science, the 21st century would witness a fight between religion and fantasy, belief in the magical, the miraculous and involvement in situations that allow us to avoid facing reality (Fore, p.16).

Another dimension of television is that it disconnects the world from its context and feeds it back to the viewer as an edited, moving collage of images, thereby reconstructing the complexity of life by reducing it to clear and simple images. Thus, broadcast or audiovisual culture replaces the public discourse with a collage of layered reality that evokes a visceral rather than the cerebral response of the print culture (Miller, 2004, pp. 56-59).

While the shift from oral to print culture was from context to content, in the broadcast culture, the shift is from content to event. Reality becomes something to be celebrated. This is the secret behind the phenomenal growth of Pentecostal, non-denominational churches, which Miller has rightly called the “celebration churches” (Miller, 2004, p. 60). These churches are built like theaters or studio sets and are designed to be warm, impressive and convenient, whereas other denominational churches are like large lecture halls with pulpit (which holds the written Word) as the focal point. The celebration churches place emphasis on the acoustics, with elaborate soundboards to mix and balance input from numerous microphones (I am sure you have heard of Catholic and Pentecostal microphones!).

In most celebration churches, the atmosphere is casual and enthusiastic; Sunday services are events and people come anticipating something new and exciting. In contrast, the atmosphere of most denominational services is formal and serious and the congregation generally knows what to expect. The

celebration pastors deliver the message from an outline and use theatrical techniques to connect with the audience and hold its attention. Their preparation focuses heavily on delivery and dramatic moments to create audience impact. Scripture is usually a launching pad, as they use stories, humor, anecdotes, and summary slogans to aid in the broadcast art of persuasion (Miller, pp. 60-61).

This is the way Miller describes their sermons:

(They) keep the message simple, tie it to emotions, create visual image of the benefits (promises), create dissatisfaction with the way things are, use the power of music to set the mood, boil it all down into a single image of story, make it easy to follow through, paint the painful consequences of letting the opportunity slip away, protect everyone's anonymity, and finally ask for a response (p.71).

The audio-visual broadcast culture is experiential and defines faith as coming from experiencing the presence of God or a change of heart. Hence, most of the celebration churches place emphasis on having a personal encounter with Jesus and on personal testimonies. Since the goal of the broadcast culture is to stimulate action, the logic, the reason and the ethical imperatives of the manuscript/print culture take a secondary seat, while persuasion, emotional connection, and the specifics of one's current circumstances remain on the front burner.

Simply described as 'inspirational' or 'motivational' speakers, these pastors use the media–radio, television and the booming home-film industry – to enhance the image of wielding divinely ordained political clout in post-colonial Africa and of being anointed by God to break the power of the devil. They also use other media like street overhead banners, glossy wall posters and handbills featuring themselves, their wives and local and foreign guests at revival meetings. They thereby employ these media to establish themselves in the political arena as the new face of Christianity in Nigeria (Asamoah-Gyadu, 2005, Ihejirika, 2005).

2.1e. Digital multimedia culture

The current media culture is driven by digital technology and is accessible over computers, cell phone, file sharing, ipod, iphones,

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YouTube, facebook, in short, social media. It is characterized by convergence, i.e., the ability to synthesize and have print, graphics, sound, and data integrated in a single medium. It thereby offers a multimedia, multiplatform and multi-sensorial way of experiencing the world by presenting aural, visual and textual information through sounds, picture and texts. But it emphasizes sounds and images over text and speaks a language which even 'illiterates' can 'read'.

Earlier, images served merely as illustration of a dominant text, but today, text rather explains images. This is because images can teach faster, more easily and efficiently, allowing a quick grasp in a single glance, often without analysis or explanation. This marks a definitive shift from word to image, from mechanistic to ritual perspective, from the monolithic and hierarchical to the popular, plural and global worldview.

What we are witnessing today is that the digital culture is gradually interrogating the linear, analytical and clear speech of the print culture and is emphasizing myths, stories and narratives. In other words, meaning and values are now being transmitted more through feelings, emotions, relationships and associations than theories and direct statements.

Digital communication is making our world to be more and more interconnected through internet, emails, smart phones etc. and resulting in a complex system of relationships and amplified and accelerated actions. We are moving away from a tangible world that we can touch and hold to a world that operates on intangibles. For example, we now have virtual groups, virtual communities, virtual friends made up of people we may never meet face-to-face.

2.2. Media cultures in Nigerian today

While the shift from one media culture to another is indigenous to the Western world, the same cannot be said of the African in general and the Nigerian situation in particular. The print, the broadcast audio-visual and the digital technologies were all invented outside and imported into our cultural milieu. As we struggle to master one, the others are already being introduced,

with the result that today we have all the four operating, not one after the other, but simultaneously, albeit with varying degrees from country to country and from one part of each country to another including Nigeria.

Consequently, many people in Nigeria today, including the pastoral agents, are still operating in the oral culture, with a significant and growing number operating in the print, the broadcast and the digital forms of media culture. Many are not yet at home, either in the print or the audiovisual forms, not to mention the digital form, because they are operating with a mentality that is formed and informed by the ethos of the oral speech culture (Faniran, 2010, p. 262). Yet, all of them have to be reached by the message of the Gospel.

3. TO BE EFFECTIVELY PRESENT: TRAIN AND FORM THE PASTORAL AGENTS

The question is: how can the Church in Nigeria effectively engage such a fluid cultural context? Rex Miller notes that “the liturgical church was designed to unite a world of tribes and oral communities; denominational churches grew out of the soil of intellectual grounding and the continuity that a rational worldview provides; less structured non-denominational churches fit a world of changing novelty.” Should the Church then go the way of the Pentecostal, as some pastoral agents are silently advocating by their disposition and actions?

The first thing we need to do is to heed the parting words of the Saintly Pope John Paul II where he wrote: “Do not be afraid of new technologies! These rank 'among the marvelous things' – Inter Mirifica – which God has placed at our disposal to discover, to use and to make known the truth, also the truth about our dignity and about our destiny as his children, heirs of his eternal Kingdom” (2005, no. 14). We should also keep in mind these encouraging words which Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI addressed to the priests in his message for the 44th World Communication Day five years later: “The increased availability of the new technologies demands greater responsibility on the part of those called to proclaim the Word, but also it requires them to become more focused, efficient and compelling in their efforts” (2010).

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Two examples of this fearless, focused, efficient and compelling engagement with the media cultures of their time provide us with templates for action in today's world: Paul of Tarsus and the post-Reformation strategy of the Church.

3a. The example of Paul of Tarsus

In the days of Paul of Tarsus, the world of oral media coexisted with the print. Remarkably, Paul was at home in the two media cultures and deployed both the oral and written communication tools, strategies and skills available to him to preach the Good News. Not only did he think and speak cultured Greek, he also spoke Aramaic, read the Old Testament in its original language, and knew enough Latin to negotiate the treacherous road from Tarsus to Rome. He thereby preached the Good News tirelessly by word of mouth, travelled extensively from Jerusalem to Rome, taught and founded Churches along the route. Other oral media are ritual celebrations, events, performance and venue-oriented means of communication.

In addition, Paul wrote letters to his far-flung groups of believers in Jesus to answer questions they posed and to address problems that arose among them. In his letters, he deployed the Aristotelian principles of effective communication, namely appeal to reason (logos), emotional and dramatic presentation of ideas (pathos), appeal to credibility (ethos), and demonstrative mode of communication (epideictic).

Over and above all these, his encounter with the Risen Lord on the way to Damascus gave unity, impetus, direction and effectiveness to the strategies he chose to carry out his mission. In other words, not only was Paul trained in the art of communication existing in his days, he was also formed by the mystical experience of being struck down, which provided the hermeneutic principle that guided his communication (Faniran, 2010).

3b. The post-Reformation strategy

The second example is the way the post-Reformation Church responded to the challenge of the print media culture. Reviewing

what transpired at the Council of Trent, Joseph Palakeel remarked that “beyond their fear of the Reformation and the impulse towards the Counter-Reformation, the decision of the Council Fathers was a clever strategy to adapt priestly formation to the emerging print media and the consequent situation of major cultural shift” (2006, p. 171).

Consequently, the post-Reformation Church established ecclesiastical seminaries to train priests who would be the teachers of the authentic faith in the print age. They were given a fund of unchanging doctrine with which they instructed the faithful and answered all questions of faith and morals. They were thus inserted into the communication networks of the print culture and this enabled them to grasp the source of information, symbols and meanings in people's lives. Ever since then, seminaries have remained the primary form of training for priests as principal agents of evangelization. St. Anselm's definition of theology as fides quaerens intellectum; faith seeking understanding, became classic, privileging concepts and abstract statements over narratives, while explaining revelation in terms of a series of clear statements (Palakeel, 2005, p. 49).

The current digital media culture is interrogating that system of training and formation. Today, a new appreciation of communication is emerging, which in the words of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI “is seen first of all as dialogue, exchange, solidarity and the creation of positive relations” (2011). Earlier, the Saintly Pope John Paul II called it “a new and emerging cultural world … that has its own language and above all its own specific values and counter-values” and called on the heralds of the Gospel to “enter this world in order to allow themselves to be permeated by this new civilization and culture for the purpose of learning how to make good use of them” (1995, no. 71).

From the foregoing, we can deduce that to be effectively present in Nigeria of today and tomorrow, the Church needs to form and train pastoral agents who like Paul of Tarsus:

will be at home in the four media cultures that are contesting for attention; will be capable of appropriating and employing the richness of each of the four media cultures to present the truth of the Christian faith to their various

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audiences; will be capable of acquiring and using the means of communication to share the Christian message with the audience and engage the media cultures in a creative, constructive and dialogical manner; will possess a personal experience of the transforming power of the Risen Lord that will give impetus to their communicative activities.

Hence, the training will not just be skill oriented but take into consideration the formation of the inner person who is disposed to humility, love, patience, reverence, listening trust, attention to one's neighbour's difference and telling the truth in love. In short, the pastoral agents should be living witnesses to the Gospel.

Here the words of Pope Paul VI, written as early as 1975, continue to resonate loud and true:

Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses . . . . The world is looking for preachers of the gospel to speak to it of God whom they know as being close to them, as though seeing him who is invisible. The world expects of us, and demands of us, a life of simplicity, the habit of prayer, charity towards all and especially towards children and the poor. It expects obedience and humility, forgiveness of self and abnegation. If these signs of sanctity are wanting, our words will not reach the hearts of men of our time. There is a grave danger that they will be vain and sterile (Evangelii Nuntiandi, nos. 41, 76).

3c. Levels of training and formation

To implement those recommendations the three levels of training and formation proposed by the Congregation for Catholic Education (1986, nos. 9-11) can be adapted here for all the pastoral agents.

The first is the basic level where attention would focus on the receivers, i.e., all readers, viewers and listeners of media, in other words the people of God in general. After all, the work of evangelization is incumbent on every baptized Catholic. The aim here will be to provide them with the much needed critical consciousness and awareness of how the media work and impact on their lives. This level of formation and training is becoming increasingly important in an age where the clear distinction between producer and consumer of information is becoming

blurred and the risk of constructing false image of oneself and others is becoming apparent and problematic. There is the great and urgent need for continuous media education for all in all parishes, chaplaincies and Mass centers throughout the country.

The second level of formation and training is geared towards all future priests and religious. Since they would be the future trainers and formators of the faithful on the first level who are still operating in the four media cultures, the future priests and religious need to know the intricacies of how the media work and the type of culture each of them spawns. Indeed Communio et Progressio had categorically stated way back in 1971 that “if students for the priesthood and religious in training wish to be part of modern life and also be effective in their apostolate, they should know how the media work upon the fabric of society, and also the technique of their use. Indeed, without this knowledge an effective apostolate is impossible in a society which is increasingly conditioned by the media” (1971, no. 111). In other words, they need to be not only literate in the traditional sense, but also digitally literate, i.e., to be capable of critically reading the new media and of writing in the new media, as explained by David Buckingham (2006, p.2).

The third level refers to the specialists, i.e., the media practitioners who already work in the media, those among the priests and religious who give evidence of special talent and are being prepared to work in the field, and finally those preparing to teach, train and form media practitioners on the first two levels above. The media practitioners, need doctrinal and spiritual formation in addition to their professional skills in media. This can be in form of workshops and seminars that can be organized in the many pastoral centres that are springing up in almost all the dioceses and provinces of the Church in Nigeria.

Permit me to end this presentation with a concrete example of an attempt being made at the Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), Port Harcourt to train and form pastoral agents (priests, religious men and women and lay men and women) along the lines of thought enunciated in the preceding paragraphs.

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4. C O N C L U D I N G R E M A R K S : C E S A C C : A PARADIGMATIC EFFORT AT TRAINING/ FORMING PASTORAL AGENTS

Responding to the signs of the time, the Bishops of the then Association of Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa (AECAWA) now part of the larger body called Regional Conferences of West Africa (RECOWA), established the Centre for the Study of African Culture and Communication (CESACC) in CIWA. It took off in 2003/2004 academic session with nineteen students, eighteen of whom were diocesan priests and one lay man who is an ex-seminarian. Professor Robert White SJ was the Project Director, Fr. Joseph Oladejo Faniran, the Director of the Centre and Fr. Walter Ihejirika the Production Manager. Initially, the programme was restricted to the post graduate student-priests who already had a bachelor's degree in either philosophy and/or theology from their major seminaries. Six years down the line, the BA programme was introduced and six students, made up of five religious sisters and a lay woman, were admitted. Presently, many more lay young men and women are enrolling in the programme.

The aim for establishing CESACC is to provide a communication education with a theological, cultural and social orientation that meets the professional needs of the diocesan directors of communication, the directors and personnel of the Church media, the teachers of communication in seminaries, religious houses of formation and other Church-related training centres. Others include those involved in the service-oriented professions like youth ministry, the family and religious education and the promotion of women, those working in development organizations that serve the needs of the rural and urban poor, and those in conflict management who wish to have a broad foundation in communication.

The courses being offered are designed to fulfill the following objectives:

?To prepare graduates who are able to recognize and analyze the pastoral and social communication problems of their institutions, design a combination of communication and

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media strategies that will provide effective solutions to these problems, and present a plan of action that meets the

expectations of the authorities and the personnel of the institution they are serving.

?To form graduates who are imbued with the Church's understanding of communication and are well grounded in the science of communication, with particular reference to the African visions of the Church and how to apply these in the concrete life situation of the people.

?To form graduates who possess a thorough understanding of how the Church's work in communication contributes to the broader social and cultural development of African societies and how it can be designed to make this contribution and dialogue with the creators of contemporary culture.

?To prepare candidates for further studies in the Church and in communication related fields.

An ultramodern studio has been built for the production of radio, television/video, print and on-line programmes to provide the opportunity for students to have practical experience in the use of the media of social communication along with the teaching of the theories of communication. In addition, students are required to carry out an internship of at least two months in a media institution that is similar to their expected future work.

Thus, at CESACC, students learn how people make meaning in and through their relationships and thereby construct a relational culture. In addition, they are enabled to try their hands in the process of creating and sharing meaning that leads to the making of a new culture. It is pertinent to note that all these are taking place, not in the hot air of secular universities, but in the cool environment of a theological institute that is wholly devoted to the study of inculturation. If the task of inculturation theology is to discern the divine self-disclosure in the specificity of cultural self-understanding, then that of pastoral communication is to provide the knowledge of the process of this cultural self-understanding as

it is expressed in and through communication. As I described it while discussing the significance of CESACC in CIWA:

. . . what one does becomes a laboratory for the reflection of the other and the result of this reflection becomes the content of the other's activity. At the end, the action that becomes reflection and leads to further reflection and action bears fruits for in-depth inculturation of the faith, not only in the lives of the immediate participants, but also in the life of the Church and the society at large (Faniran, 2006, p. 189).

No doubt, the effort being made at CESACC in CIWA is geared towards empowering the Church in Nigeria to bear witness to the fact that there is no conflict between being present in the world and the attainment of holiness of life. This effort surely needs to be supported by all.

Finally, since it is the Holy Spirit who makes the Church's mission in the world effective (Pope Francis, 2016), the last word of this presentation goes to Him. Come Holy Ghost, Creator come . . . .

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Faniran, J. O. (2010). Paul's communication strategies: A challenge to agents of evangelization in the third millennium. In Cyril Obanure and Mary Sylvia Nwachukwu (eds.) CATHAN: A searchlight on Saint Paul, pp.248-270. Markudi: Aboki Publishers.

Fore, W. F. (2001). Communication, reconciliation and religion in America. In Philip Lee (ed.) Communication and reconciliation: Challenges facing the 21st century. London: WACC Publications.

Hipps, S. A. (2005). The hidden powers of electronic culture: How media shapes faith, Gospel, and the Church. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan.

Horsfield, P. (2004). Media, culture and religion: An introduction. In P. Horsfield, M. E. Hess and A. M. Medrano (eds.) Belief are in media: Cultural perspectives on media and Christianity. Hants, England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

Ihijerika, W. C. (2005). Media and fundamentalism in Nigeria, Media Development, vol. Lii, 2, pp.38-44.

Jankunas, G. T. (2011). The dictatorship of relativism: Pope Benedict XVI's response. New York: Society of St. Paul.

John Paul II, (1995). Ecclesia in Africa. Vatican State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

John Paul II, (2005). Apostolic Letter, The Rapid Development. Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Miller, M. R. (2004). The millennium matrix: Reclaiming the past, reframing the future of the Church. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Ong, W. J. (1982). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd.

References

Ansu-Kyeremeh, K. (1988). Communication in an Akan political system. In Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh (ed.) Perspectives on indigenous communication in Africa, volume II: Dynamics and future directions pp.175-192. Legon, Ghana: School of Communication Studies.

Asamoah-Gyadu, J. K. (2005). Reshaping sub-Saharan African Christianity, Media Development, vol. Lii, 2, pp.17-21.

Benedict XVI. (2010). The priest and pastoral ministry in a digital world: New media at the service of the Word. Message for the 44th World Communications Day. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Benedict XVI. (2011). Truth, proclamation and authenticity of life in the digital age. Message for 45th World Communication Day. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Buckingham, D. (2006). Media education in the age of digital technology. Presented at the 10th Anniversary MED Congress La sapienza di communicare, Rome, March 3-4.

Christians, C. G. (1990). Redemptive media as the Evangelical's cultural task. In Q. J. Schultze (ed.) American Evangelicals and the mass media, pp. 331-356. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Academic Books.

Congregation for Catholic Education. (1986). Guide to the training of future priests concerning the instruments of social communication. Rome: Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana

Faniran, J. O. (2006). The significance of CESACC in CIWA for the Church in West Africa. Journal of Inculturation Theology, vol. 8, no. 2, pp.179-192

Faniran, J. O. (2008). Foundations of African communication with examples from Yoruba culture. Ibadan: Spectrum Books.

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Sixth UnitEVANGELIZATION

AND MISSION

Palakeel, J. (2005). Interfaces between theology and communication. In Michael Traber (ed.) Communication in theological education: new directions, pp.38-60. Delhi: ISPCK.

Palakeel, J. (2006). Communication theology in priestly formation. In Jacob Sraampickal, Giuseppe Mazza and Lloyd Baugh (eds.) CrossConnections: Interdisciplinary communications studies at the Gregorian University, pp.171-184. Rome: Editrice Pontificia Università Gregoriana.

Paul VI. Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975). In Austin Flannery (ed.) (1982) Vatican Council II: More post-conciliar documents, pp.711-761. Minnesota: Liturgical Press.

Poe, M. T. (2011). A history of communications: Media and society from evolution of speech to the internet. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Pontifical Commission for Social Communications. (1971). Communio et Progressio. In Austin Flannery (ed.) (1988) Vatican Council II: The conciliar and post conciliar documents, pp.293-349. Dublin: Dominican Publications.

Pontifical Council for Culture and Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (2013). Jesus Christ, the bearer of the water of life: A Christian reflection on the 'New Age'. Vatican State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Pope Francis, (2016). Message of Mission Sunday. www.zenith.com. Accessed October 24, 2016.

THE LASTING CHALLENGEOF MISSION AND DIALOGUE IN NIGERIA

(by MOST REV. DR. ANSELM UMOREN, MSP, Abuja)

16

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1. INTRODUCTION

thank the organisers of this forum for inviting me to share my brief thoughts on the lasting challenge of mission and dialogue in Nigeria. I

Religious belief constitutes an essential part of the life of majority of Nigerians. Any visitor to Nigeria gets a taste of religion in one way or another during interactions. To encounter a Nigerian person is in some way to encounter an embodiment of a certain spirituality, or belief. Religion is an unavoidable dish served on every table of human encounter in Nigeria: Be it in politics, in economics, in sports or in diplomatic and international relations. The type of religiosity found in Nigeria is intrinsically connected to diverse traditional and cultural practices consistent with experiences of social evolutions in a changing world. It is clear that expatriate missionaries who possessed concrete experiences of mission did their best to highlight some of these cultural issues as they knew them, yet the ethnic coloring of religion has constituted a major problem to the Church's principles and teachings on interreligious dialogue and ecumenism, thus on mission and

1dialogue .

In addition, for quite a long time, traditional theological and ecclesiological reflections tended to hesitate in placing a commensurate significance on the questions of the plurality of religions and non-Catholic denominations until the eruption of

bigger challenges. Although Nigerians are a religious people, the same religiosity has posed unprecedented difficulties in the nation. Thanks nonetheless, to the Second Vatican Council that definitively opened the Church's attention to respond to contextual matter sin mission. Every local Church or local conference has now been charged with the responsibility of attending to the challenges mission in their own way. Since Nigeria has its own contextual exigencies, we shall try to first see how mission and dialogue interact in evangelization. What are the contexts that determine the practice of mission in Nigeria and what are the challenges to confront? Since our topic mostly borders on ecumenical issues, we shall identify some of those areas where the Church in Nigeria must pursues dialogue with other religions or other ecclesial groups. And finally, we shall make suggestions on what the church in Nigeria could do to ensure an effective dialogical, missionary presence. Our goal is to discover some of those shared values and common grounds for cooperation in evangelization. It is obvious that effective evangelization in Nigeria can only be possible by witness to dialogue in mission.

My paper will be divided into five parts:?The Great Commission?How Mission and Dialogue Relate?Dialogue among Christians?Challenges for Mission and Dialogue in Nigeria?Practical ways of ensuring Respectful Dialogue in Nigeria?Conclusion

2. THE GREAT COMMISSION

In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the risen Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples that they spread the Good News to all the nations of the world. The most famous version of the Great Commission is in the Gospel of Matthew 28:18-20. Here, on a mountain in Galilee Jesus calls on his followers to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Although Jesus gave this specific command initially to his immediate disciples, the theology of mission interprets it today as a directive to all Christians of every time and place.

1Cf. “The Church in Nigeria: Call to Mission”, (Issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria), Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Abuja 2011, 16.

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In this light, we all have received from the Lord Jesus the mandate to go into the world and preach the Good News. The content of this mission is the proclamation of the lordship of Jesus and his salvific will for humanity. In the words of St Paul, “It is the will of God that all men should be saved and come to knowledge of the truth.” This truth liberates and saves. Knowing the truth brings us into union with Jesus. The knowledge of his will, which is God's purpose for our lives, directs us in all our earthly concerns as we aspire towards our eternal goal, which is union with God in heaven. The Catechism of Christian Doctrine summarises what this entails in its second question. It asks: “Why did God make you?” The response is: “God made me to know him, to love him, and to serve him in this world, so as to be happy with him forever in the next.”

In her mission of evangelisation, the Church goes out into the world to teach people about God and about the sovereign purpose of his will for all people. This mission cuts across geographical, cultural, political, and ideological boundaries. Everyone is a subject of this message, which God intends to reach the whole of humanity.

3. HOW MISSION AND DIALOGUE RELATE

As we pointed out earlier, understanding the interaction between Mission and Dialogue is a key to comprehending the challenges of evangelization in the context of Nigerian Pentecostalism. Proper theological Discussions about the relationship between mission and dialogue started with the Second Vatican Council that “heralded a new approach to the whole concept of mission and the

2relationship of Christianity and other religions” . 'Mission' and 'Dialogue' are two fundamental elements of the life and function of the Church, that promotes God's kingdom of justice, peace and reconciliation while pointing ultimately to salvation. The two African Synods in 1994 and 2009, (Ecclesia in Africa and Africae Munus) place urgent attentions on the Church in Africa and her evangelizing mission through dialogue.

In the First Synod, African bishops were of the view that for the evangelizing mission to be effective, openness to dialogue within the Christian Community as well as with other believers and all other men and women of goodwill is an imperative for the

3Church . On its part, the second Synod made it categorical that a divided Christianity remains a scandal, since it de facto contradicts the will of the Divine Master. It thus calls upon the whole Church at every level to pursue the path of ecumenical dialogue with a greater determination and zeal, setting up ecumenical associations that

4should serve the course of mission . According to Pope St John Paul II, unity among Christians will enable the faithful to render effective witnessing and to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of

5God with utmost credibility . This means that dialogue is not contrary to mission. It is rather to be seen as a method, and instrument of knowledge and mutual enrichment. Dialogue is part and parcel of mission in such a way that it becomes a self-

6expression of mission .

Dialogue arises in mission when one considers what approaches and what attitudes are to be applied in evangelization. However, dialogue goes deeper than a mere missionary approach or methodology since God is the initiator of Christian dialogue. God's eternal relationship with humanity and all of creation is an

7incarnational dialogue . Dialogue then becomes a qualitative relationship of mutual enrichment, not just a mere speaking out of one's mind, but the art of Christian living. Dialogue is thus a fundamental spirituality that underlies the basic attitude for

8authentic mission . It is the art of mission, which is the very nature

9of the Church . Hence, we can conclude that Mission is a dialogical

3Cf. PETER, K. SARPONG, “Interreligious Dialogue in the Light of the Post-Synodal Exhortation, Ecclesia in Africa” in Denis C. Isizoh (ed.), Milestones in Interreligious Dialogue: A Reading of Selected Catholic Church Documents on Relations with People of other Religions, (Essays in honour of Francis Cardinal Arinze, a Seventieth Birthday Bouquet), Ceedee Publications, Rome 2002, 232-245.

4Cf. Africae Munus, 89.5Cf. JOHN PAUL II, General Audience, Rome, 23 January 1980.

6Cf. JOSE SARAIVA MARTINS, La Missione Oggi: Aspetti teologico-pastorali, Urbaniana University Press 53,

Roma 1994, 12.7Cf. KRAMER KLAUS, Op. Cit. 7.

8Cf. Secretariat for Non-Christians, “The attitude of the Church towards followers of other Religions: Reflections and Orientations on Dialogue and Mission, Bulletin, Secretariatus pro non christianis, 56, 13(1984) 2.

9Cf. Ad Gentes, 2. “The Pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and

the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin in accordance with the decree of God the Father”.

2Cf. KRAMER KLAUS, “Systematic-theological reflections on the relationship between mission and dialogue” in K. Klaus- KLAUS VELLGUTH, eds. Mission and Dialogue: Approaches to a Communicative Understanding of Mission, Claretian Publications, Quezon, Philippines 2012, 4.

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undertaking that establishing a genuine humanizing encounter between human persons and ultimately leading to the True God. Pope Francis had said that dialogue in mission is not proselytizing, because the Church grows by attraction and not by proselytizing.

4. DIALOGUE AMONG CHRISTIANS (ECUMENISM)

The Christianity, which was inherited by Nigeria and in fact by Africa, was a divided religion. Many denominations scrambled for a place among the native tribes of Nigeria. This left the nation with a multiplicity of denominational and ecumenical challenges. Along the line, the country also witnessed the growth of many independent African Churches that tended to emphasize and apply

10African traditional elements in Christian worship . The truth is that nobody knows exactly how many independent churches are there in Nigeria right now, nor the number of their adherents. In a place like the South of Nigeria, it is difficult to see a village or town

11without one or more of these independent churches . Among the denominations are also the Pentecostal,

evangelical and New Mega Church movements. They have gained a huge ground in Nigeria having about 30% of the total

12population . Some of them include; The Aladura church, ECWA Church, Deeper Life Bible Church, the Redeemed Christian Church of God RCCG (described as the fastest growing Christian

13movement in the world) , the cherubim and seraphim church, Kingsway International Christian centre (KICC) founded Matthew Ashimolowo, Embassy of the Blessed kingdom of God of all Nations, founded by Sunday Adelaja and wife, Christ Embassy Church founded by Chris Oyakhilome, the Catholic Charismatic Movement of the Chosen founded by Pastor Muoka, the Faith Tabernacle church and the Winner's Chapel to mention just a few. Their secret consists of marketing a vision of a radical approach to

the Christian faith, such that are both attractive and fanciful, promising prosperity, good health and deliverance from evil. Their main focus is on the bible. Evidently, they have become a force to reckon with in the Nigerian religious landscape.

5. CHALLENGES FOR MISSION AND DIALOGUE IN NIGERIA

The challenges which mission and dialogue face in Nigeria are diverse especially in the face of Pentecostalism. These challenges could be classified under various categories. For the sake of time, we shall highlight the following categories: Theological, Ecclesiological, doctrinal, pastoral, socio-cultural and historical challenges.

a. The challenges of theology

Indeed, this is one areas where the Church faces a big, almost unresolvable challenge especially with the New forms of Pentecostalism and Evangelicalisms in Nigeria. Most of the mega churches founded in Nigeria do not actually possess any identifiable theology that would ensure theological discussions. They operate according to whatever interpretations of the bible proposed by their founders. For example, many of them do not believe in the value of the Cross. They seem to reject every theology of suffering while presenting faith and the scriptures as magical, problem solving materials. Prosperity gospel is their choice message. St Paul writing to the Philippians decried those he called 'enemies of the cross' whose minds are set only on prosperity

14and worldly goods.

b. Ecclesiological Challenges

When we look at the Nigerian scenario, the church has come a long way in trying to identify its way of life and function. However, with other denominations involved, the question is

14Cf. Philippians 3:17-4,1.

10Cf. OBORJI F. A., Towards a Christian Theology of African Religion, op. cit., p. 157.11Ibid., p. 157.12Cf. EFFA A. L., “Releasing the Trigger: The Nigerian Factor in Global Christianity”, in International Bulletin of

Missionary Research, 37:4 (2013) 215.13See MURPHY B., “The New Missionaries”, quoted in Cf. EFFA A. L., “Releasing the Trigger: The Nigerian

Factor in Global Christianity”, Op. Cit., 216.

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different. What this calls for is proper missionary strategizing and coordination of activities. The lack of proper coordination, documentation and functional structures for missionary activities in the Nigerian church leaves people to do whatever

15they like . Again, the forms of Pentecostalism in Nigeria do not really believe in structures. Charismatic leaders are preferred to institutionalized systems. This is a big challenge since the church to manage the different ecclesiologies some of which negate dialogue. While the Church emphasizes dialogue, inculturation and contextualization, the Pentecostals emphasize Church planting and coercive proselytization. The Redeemed Christian Church of God for example wants to plant a parish in every 15 minutes walking distance in all the cities possible.

c. Doctrinal challenges

Indeed, there are so many teachings that issue from the many churches in Nigeria. This extends to the understanding faith, salvation, morality and proclamation. Many Pentecostals do not see any relationship with Catholics because they reject anything doctrine. They thus constantly attack Church teachings about the Motherhood of Mary, the communion of saints or the use of images in the Church for example. Their diminution of the value of the cross puts a question mark on their authenticity. Christianity without the Cross is no Christianity. Pope Benedict described such religious groups as

16syncretistic sects . How will dialogue take place where such doctrinal issues are present? The Church, One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic does not compromise the truth of faith. On this point, mission and dialogue can only rely on God's patience and grace.

d. Pastoral challenges

The church in Nigeria needs to revisit the question of Lay participation in its mission. For an effective missionary dialogue, the apostolate of lay persons cannot be neglected. This would point to the need for a new way of being church

which is more concentric, communal and collaborative. The building of Small Christian communities or grassroots communities will give the laity the opportunity to take active part in mission and dialogue in their contexts. Being a church that has existed with strong emphasis on institutional structures, this new way of being church might be challenging. But that is why we should think deeper about possible pastoral methods that respond more adequately to the Nigeria setting. By virtue of their baptism all the faithful should engage in dialogue and mission. Indeed, dialogue begins first on person to person encounter in the daily life of the faithful. Perhaps, the broadest area of the lay apostolate is in the social scene, where they bring the spirit of the Gospel into the 'mentality, customs,

17laws and structures of the communities in which they live . Witnessing by lay persons will play invaluable roles in bringing about the kingdom of God in Nigeria.

e. Socio-cultural and historical challenges

As already mentioned, the complex socio-cultural and political situations of Nigeria constitute a major challenge for mission and dialogue. The Church only needs to pay good attention to these situations in order to respond adequately. It is the need for total transformation and conversion towards unity. First, Nigeria still suffers from ethnocentric prejudices and in-house politicking which creeps into the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria for instance. Such limitations as parochialism, language diversity, cultural preferences and unforgiven ethnic grievances hamper the progress of ecumenical dialogue.

Secondly, poverty is a big problem in Nigeria. Most missionaries in Nigeria are also coming from the background of poverty. So many of them only think about how much money they are able to make and such inordinate craving for money hinders

18mission and dialogue . For mission to be successful, there is need for practical ways to fight poverty. Programs of self-empowerment and responsibility should be embarked upon by Dioceses and religious congregations. Historically, a dependent church finds it

17Cf. MARGARET LAVIN, Vatican II: Fifty Years of Evolution and Revolution in the Catholic Church, Novalis Publishing Inc., Toronto 2012, 157.

18Cf. The Church in Nigeria: Call to Mission, (Issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria), Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Abuja 2011, 22-25.

15Cf. The Church in Nigeria: Call to Mission, Op. Cit., (no. 4.4), 916Cf. BENEDICT XVI., Africae Munus, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, n. 91.

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difficult to stand and sustain itself. Mission and dialogue face the challenge of disengaging from old missionary paradigms of competitions. Old squabbles and denominational competitions impact negatively on the evangelization.

6. PRACTICAL WAYS OF ENSURING RESPECTFUL DIALOGUE IN NIGERIA

1. There is need to organize more moments of spiritual encounter involving all the religions and denominations ready to engage

in dialogue. This might include bible sharing forums, retreats and meditation times. There is not much one can do about those who do not want to hear about any relationships with the Catholic Church. But the Church cannot forget to pray for such persons and groups until the light of Christ's love and peace surges in their hearts.

2. Education has a major role to play in transforming theconscience of the nation towards a dialogue of reason. The training of religious men and women, pastoral agents to have adequate knowledge of other religions is crucial. In like manner, pastoral agents should be encouraged to undertake further studies in this area. Non-Christians should also be admitted to Catholic institutions to increase their appreciation of the faith through academic programs. To this end, it will be suggested that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) pushes for the inclusion of interreligious or faith tolerance in schools as an initial orientation for peaceful coexistence.

3. Another area would be collaboration in the social arena where people from different faith backgrounds are encouraged to work together for the common good. These faiths share many common values like respect for human life from inception to death, charity works to alleviate poverty and in advocating for justice and equality in the society. They will enter into negotiations with government to overcome corruption which is the bane of leadership in Nigeria.

4. There is need for an increased catechesis, which will ensure that the lay faithful are secure in their faith and are equipped to apply

their knowledge in daily interactions with non-Catholics. “Catechesis is especially important for young people, for whom an enlightened faith is a lamp to guide their path into the future. It will be their source of strength as they face the uncertainties of the political and economic situations now evolving in

19Africa.” They must be reached in the universities and institutions of higher learning. This is where radical religious orientations and fundamentalist views are cultivated. New religious sects often conduct initiations and inductions in the universities.

7. CONCLUSION

thOn February 15 1982, St John Paul II addressed the Nigerian Bishops and spoke of a dynamic process of and a new era of evangelization which is a 'supreme priority' for all Disciples of Christ. The Pope stated that since evangelization constitutes the essential mission of the Church and her deepest identity, under the pastoral leadership of the Bishops, the Nigerian faithful have the privilege and opportunity to give a corporate witness to the Gospel by bringing this gospel into the very heart of their culture and into

20the fabric of their everyday lives .

In a communique issued by the CBCN in the year 2000, the Nigerian bishops said that dialogue is the way. According to them, “most of the problems causing conflicts in the nation can be prevented and what has gone wrong put right, if there is commitment to dialogue…, we cannot but prefer dialogue to violence and propose it as a way to collaboration, harmony,

21solidarity and unity” . The Nigerian Church thus, exhorts the faithful to embark on dialogue and collaboration with non-Catholics, carried out with 'prudence and love 'to recognize and promote the good things, spiritual and moral as well as the socio-

22cultural values found among them . But this requires an attitude of

19John Paul II, To the Bishops of Nigeria, Dec. 18, 1993, Rome.20Cf. FRANCESCO GIOIA, (ed.), Interreligious Dialogue: The Official Teaching of the Catholic Church from the

Second Vatican Council to John Paul II (1962-2005), Pontifical Council for interreligious Dialogue: Pauline Books and Media, Boston 2006, 290-292.

21Communique issued at the end of the First Plenary Meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN),

at St Leo's Catholic Church, Ikeja Lagos, 13 -18 March, 2000, art. 9.22Cf. The Church in Nigeria: Call to Mission, (Issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria), Catholic

Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Abuja 2011, 4-9.

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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND PENTECOSTALISM:

CHALLENGES IN THE NIGERIAN CONTEXT (Final report of the academic secretariat)

by AUGUSTINE ASOGWA, Ph.D (GENERAL SECRETARY)

17

PREAMBLE

e are grateful to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, the German Bishops Conference, Research WGroup on International Church Affairs and Missio-

Aachen, whose collaborative efforts brought us here to reflect on the Challenges of Pentecostalism in the Nigerian context. Pentecostalism is a phenomenon that should engage not only the attention of the Nigerian Church but also the universal Church. Statistics show that this phenomenon already encompassed nearly half a billion of the world population and is still multiplying geometrically. Today, it has become common to hear some Christians, respond to questions about their Church affiliation by saying; “I was born and bred Catholic, but I now fellowship with such and such Pentecostal Congregation” or “I belong to this adoration family or that prayer ministry.” These points to an inner yearning and a search by the present generation for something more. Pentecostalism, could be described as a spirit movement; it emphasizes the workings of the Holy Spirit through a re-experience of the Pentecost event, and the acquisition and use of the spiritual gifts as recorded in the New Testament. It is a dynamic movement with appeal that cuts across cultures, races, age and social status. This is the more reason for which attention should be paid to it for a deeper understanding and appreciation.

Gathered for this conference were Catholic bishops, priests including those actively involved in healing ministries, religious, university professors and researchers, and Pentecostals from other

23love, of listening and of learning from each other . It is through conversion to this attitude of listening and mutual respect, that the challenges of mission and dialogue would be adequately confronted in the Nigeria context.

Mission and dialogue are two intrinsic dimensions of the life of the Church. To effectively carry out these tasks, Christians must strive to build relationships of respect and trust with people of all religions, in particular at institutional levels between churches and other religious communities, engaging in on-going interreligious dialogue as part of their Christian commitment. In certain contexts, where years of tension and conflict have created deep suspicions and breaches of trust between and among communities, interreligious dialogue can provide new opportunities for resolving conflicts, restoring justice, healing of memories, reconciliation and peace-building.

We ought to also encourage Christians to strengthen their own religious identity and faith while deepening their knowledge and understanding of different religions, and to do so also taking into account the perspectives of the adherents of those religions. Christians should avoid misrepresenting the beliefs and practices of people of different religions. We will also need to cooperate with other religious communities engaging in dialogue and advocacy towards justice and the common good and, wherever possible, standing together in solidarity with people who are in situations of conflict.

This necessarily includes a call on governments to ensure that freedom of religion is properly and comprehensively respected, recognizing that in many countries religious institutions and persons are inhibited from exercising their mission. The challenge before us is for us to continue to talk together, work together, and walk together. We have a religious and moral duty to bear common witness before the world about the beauty of believing in God. From the springboard of our faith we can them make our unique contributions to the promotion of human wellbeing in the society.

23Cf. BRIAN HEARNE, “Mission, Ecumenism and Fundamentalism” in Missionary and Missiology in Africa Today, Tangaza Occasional Papers, No. 1, Pauline Publications Africa, Nairobi 1994, 31.

Moreover, still on the social level, we are living in an increasingly digitalized, mobile and consequently impatient society where a quick fix to all human problems is sought after. In a McDonaldized society like ours, some person seem to be remaking God into their own image and likeness; where solutions to life problems are showcased as in McDonald restaurants and fast food places, and one is invited to come and receive them exactly as one desires them. Some brands of Pentecostalism have become attractive because they promise quick solution to myriads of life difficulties.

Other reasons for its appeal includes the fact that it is gender inclusive, its peculiar way of reading, quoting and interpreting the Bible to the concrete needs of the individual, vibrant preaching and music, the use of all available forms of multimedia to get their message through have all aided its appeal and spread.

EARLY RESPONSES TO PENTECOSTALISM

The responses to the challenges of Pentecostalism have been complex and complicated. In general, responses have moved from aggression and disdain to some sort of admiration and even imitation in some quarters. The earliest response was that of aggression. Not a few Catholics looked on Pentecostals with disdain and at best with suspicion. They were a laughing stock and those who worship with them did so secretly. Those bold enough to profess it openly were believed to have done so in search of solution to myriads of problems plaguing them.

However, as years passed and their presence and impact began to be felt within Christianity in Nigeria, the attitudes towards them began to change. Thus from suspicion, pity, disdain and aggression, there was a gradual movement towards admiration in some quarters, imitation by some others and association with them as collaborators and dialogue partners. A concrete example here could be seen in the attitude of some Catholics to some religious behaviours from Pentecostals.When Pentecostalism started gaining momentum in Nigeria, they joined some of the other Churches in being critical of Catholics for devotions to Mary and

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Church denominations. The idea was to create a fraternal environment for mutual exchange of ideas with a view to studying Pentecostalism, appreciating its challenges in the Nigerian context and suggesting adequate ways of responding to them.

THE APPEAL OF PENTECOSTALISM

The appeal of Pentecostalism is rooted in its very nature; it is a spirit movement which has permeated virtually every facet of life. It appeals to Nigerians mostly because of the religious, socio-cultural and politico-economic situation in the country. Nigeria, as has often been noted by researchers and observers, is a very religious environment. This explains why most things with religious coloration find fertile ground in the Nigerian society. This is partly because of the influences exerted on many people by the African Traditional Religion. We live in a religious environment that is emerging from the clutches of African Traditional Religion, with its debris still guiding the beliefs and practical life of some Nigerian Christians. Most versions of Pentecostalism adapt very easily and, most often, uncritically, to some primal religious realities found already in the African Traditional Religion. These primal religious realities make it easy for people to accept Pentecostalism and adapt to it, since to some extent, it allows them to be seen as Christians while practicing their outmoded but more familiar old religion.

On the socio-cultural and economic level, the vast majority of Nigerians are struggling under the weight of death-dealing poverty. 'There is hunger in the land' has become a popular saying. Healthcare and other social services are either grossly inefficient or non-existent or beyond the reach of the vast majority of the populace while good and qualitative education seem to be within the reach of a very few. This is the consequence of a long line of visionless, greedy, ignorant and self-serving leadership. This has created a seemingly hopeless situation. Pentecostalism took advantage of this situation, promising miraculous healing to the sick and prosperity to the poor. Whether the promises are fulfilled or not, the hope it offers, has kept people attracted to Pentecostalism.

Commission dedicated its 2004 workshop to the question of 1Pentecostalism and its attendant phenomena. Two years later, the

Catholic Theological Association of Nigeria dedicated its 21st 2conference to the same issue.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria has also been making genuine efforts to respond to the challenges posed by Pentecostalism. They have used their teaching office to give directives and guidelines to the clergy and the lay faithful. At the formative stage of Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement of Nigeria, the Bishops provided proper guidelines to regulate the

3new movement. Again when healing ministry became rampant in the country with some abuses that followed it, they issued another

4guideline to regulate healing ministries. The Catholic Bishops, while appreciating the positive impacts made by Pentecostalism, have not hesitated to point out abuses and to proffer guidelines aimed at curbing those abuses. Even recently a number of instructions and guidelines are contained in their communiqué

5issued after their September 2016 plenary meeting. The current conference is again an attempt to understand and respond to Pentecostalism. On this note, we appreciate the presence and contributions of Pentecostals from other churches and other brothers and sisters from other churches. Your contributions have enriched our dialogue and ecumenical engagement.

PERSPECTIVES ON RESPONDING TO PENTECOSTALISM

Looking through the studies and interactions during this conference, we can delineate a few practical steps that could be useful in dealing with the issues. For greater clarity, we can talk of

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the saints and for keeping their images as images of reverence. Some Catholics who got involved with them began to be critical of these Catholic practices in imitation of Pentecostals. Today, some Pentecostals have started keeping and reverencing the images of their pastors and printing large billboards and signposts of them and devoutly using them as holy pictures and stickers. Some Catholics, in imitation of them, now do the same with images returning to the use of images. Some even abuse it by reverencing the images and posters of some charismatic persons. Moreover, many Catholics now produce holy oils, holy powders and pomades, anointed handkerchiefs and so on just like the Pentecostals.

Among the Catholic priests, there are three types of responses to Pentecostalism. One is imitation. Presumably in order to avoid the loss of members to Pentecostal churches, some priests tend to imitate them especially in their method of preaching and fund raising.

In many adoration grounds founded by Catholic priests, many priests in imitation of some Pentecostal pastors, preach faith healing through positive confession and sacrifice. Also, some priests in Nigeria are beginning to place emphasis on tithing almost to the level of Pentecostal Prosperity Gospel preachers. In fact, some parishes have added a monthly tithe Sunday to their programme.

The second type is rejection. There is a group of priests who reject outright anything Pentecostal. They are very critical of Pentecostalism in general. They look at it as a heresy that must be suppressed at all costs. These priests find it irritating when any of their faithful pray in any manner seen as imitation of the Pentecostal method.

The third is critical reflection. There are priests mostly from the academia who are research-oriented and, in response to the phenomenon, propose a critical study in order to understand. They believe that, the aberrations and shortcomings of Pentecostalism, notwithstanding, they invite Catholics to a critical reflection and evaluation of their pastoral strategy as a Church. A number of priests have researched and written volumes concerning the topic in question. For example, the National Seminaries

1Cf., HAMMAWA, C. (ed.) Pentecostalism: Proceedings of the National Seminaries Committee Workshop, Jos, 2004, Fab Anieh, Jos, 2005.

2 st Cf., NNAMANI, A. (ed.) The New Religious Movements: Pentecostalism in Perspective: Proceedings of the 21 Conference of Catholic Theological Association of Nigeria.

3 Cf., CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFERENCE OF NIGERIA (CBCN), “Guideline for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Nigeria, February 1986”, in ANYANWU C. and FADUGBA-PINHEIRO, O. (eds.) Our Concern for Nigeria: Catholic Bishops Speak, Communiqués issued by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria

(CBCN) on the state of the Church and Nigerian Nation from 1963 to 2015, (Lagos: Gazub Prints, 2015), pp. 46-49.4 Cf., CBCN, Guidelines for the Healing Ministry in the Catholic Church in Nigeria, (Lagos: Catholic Secretariat

of Nigeria, 1997).5 Cf., CBCN, “Religion as an Instrument for Peace and Integral Human Development”, Communiqué at the End of

the Second Plenary Meeting of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) at Domus Pacis Pastoral Centre, Igoba, Akure, Ondo State, 8-16 September 2016.

Pentecostalism is therefore a good way to go. It is recognized that upon calls by similar conferences and individuals, seminaries now offer Pentecostalism as a course. What is needed here is a strengthening of this project. In line with studies, research centres for Pentecostalism could be established to deepen studies in this field. Research grants could be given to candidates who are ready to study this phenomenon purely as researchers and come up with opinions that can enhance and deepen the understanding of Pentecostalism. Submissions from the study groups agree that a special “Think Tank” should be set to further what has been initiated by this conference.

Suggestions also point to a good philosophical and theological training for priests. No resources and time are too much to be invested in the philosophical and theological training of seminarians, priests, religious, catechists and all those who are responsible for catechesis within the Christian community. A theologically well trained mind can differentiate authentic Christian teaching from falsehood. In this direction, much has been done but there is always room for improvement. An important area where catechesis could be enhanced so that it produces strong results is within the Basic Christian Communities.

2. THE BASIC CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

One of the things that make Pentecostalism attractive is the solidarity and support that it gives to members especially in times of crises. The argument has been made that given the number of Catholic Churches in Nigeria, it is very difficult for the pastor to give the required attention to members especially those in any form of need. In response to this and other issues, most Catholic Dioceses in Nigeria have created the Basic Christian Community or what in some areas is called the zones. It is a smaller unit within the parish setting where Christians living on the same streets and neighbourhoods meet in fellowship. It provides an environment for faith sharing and solidarity. The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II recognized the need for such communities in Africa when in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in Africa, he wrote:

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actions the Church in Nigeria could take ad extra and those she could take ad intra. It is to be noted that some of these steps are already in place. What is being suggested here is to reinforce those steps that are already in place, redirect those that may have been misdirected. Above all, we need to go beyond words to enforcement.

Response ad Extra – Ecumenism

Given the ubiquitous presence of Pentecostalism within Christianity in Nigeria, the urgency of ecumenical dialogue with them cannot be over-emphasized. The Catholic Church cannot, by any standard, ignore their presence since doing so would undermine her evangelizing mission. There is need to undertake a form of ecumenical dialogue best suited for the present circumstance. In this regard, a pertinent question is: which form of ecumenism? Given the fragmentary nature of Pentecostalism, it is difficult to engage in theological ecumenism with them. However, other forms of ecumenical dialogue such as dialogue of life and the dialogue of spiritual experience can be fruitful possibilities. The details of these forms of ecumenism could be worked out gradually with prayer, deep and patient study.

Response ad Intra

As the Catholic Church does everything within her powers to reach out to our Pentecostal brothers and sisters in the form of ecumenical dialogue, she is equally invited to look within and adjust her methods and pastoral strategies in order to respond appropriately to the signs of the time. The following practical suggestions could be pursued or strengthened.

1. STUDY AND CATECHESIS

Pentecostalism is relatively new within the Nigerian pastoral environment. As such, efforts should be made to study this reality not only as a challenge but also in an effort to listen to “what the spirit is saying to the Churches.” Prayerful studies and research on

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“Right from the beginning, the Synod Fathers recognized that the Church as family cannot reach her full potential as a Church unless she is divided into

6communities small enough to foster close human relationship.”

Truly, most parishes have created these Basic Christian Communities, where the Church functions as a family. But all too often, these communities instead of constituting authentic cenacles of prayer, faith sharing and catechesis have become mere administrative instruments for taxation of the faithful. The point here is that a return to the reasons for which such communities were formed and efforts to abide by those reasons would do a great service to the Church. Such communities should be places where catechesis and prayers should be enhanced, where theologians, whether clergy, lay or religious, should be teaching the faithful. In such an environment, it is easier to detect theological errors and practices and nip them in the bud.

3. STRENGTHENING AND REGULATION OF HEALING/ PRAYER MINISTRIES AND CHARISMATIC GROUPS

Prayer and Adoration ministries and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement of Nigeria provide a veritable response to Pentecostalism for Catholics in Nigeria. Thus the Church in Nigeria should pay attention to them as a veritable tool for her evangelizing mission. This is because at the level of development and faith of the people, prayer ministries still make serious meaning and serve as avenues of encouraging the faith and living it out. Again prayer and adoration ministries have become popular in Nigeria. They need to be encouraged and guided properly. Before we criticize them let us in some way experience their world. Care should be taken to see that abuses are reduced by supervision and regulations. Again, before approving their establishment, Church leaders should discern the motives behind their establishments to ensure that they are pure and not for vain glory and economic purposes.

6JOHN PAUL II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in Africa (September 1995), n. 89

4. SINCERE EFFORTS TOWARDS AUTHENTIC INCULTURATION

We have noted that one of the strong attractions to Pentecostalism is its closeness to African Traditional Religion through the primal religious realities of the people. These religious realities resonate with what is dear to the people. It needs to be emphasized, therefore, that a careful and critical effort needs to be made towards the inculturation of the faith in our land. To avoid the ever present danger of syncretism, theologians must spend time in prayers, energy and resources in study, so as to purify those elements in our culture that are not against the Christian message so that through inculturation, they can be assimilated into the Church. For only when faith becomes culture can it be truly lived.

5. A PROPHETIC CHURCH

The point has been stressed that the presence of poverty is a fertile breeding ground for Pentecostalism. The level of poverty in Nigeria is accentuated, as has been noted, by years of poor leadership which led to the absence or near collapse of social structures that provide means of livelihood, good schools, health care and other social amenities to the growing population of the country. This situation, has grown from bad to worse because of corruption and mismanagement of the country's natural resources. It is the primary function of government to provide for her citizenry. Successive governments in Nigeria have not done so well in this regard. In a situation as the one Nigeria finds herself, it is the function of religious leaders, as conscience of the society, to prophetically stand up to denounce unjust structures and redirect the society. It is a difficult role that sometimes calls for the supreme sacrifice but that is what the Church is called to do at this very moment. Let it not be said that the Church is silent in the face of such evil or seen to ally comfortably with the powers that be. She must be seen to denounce evil, cooperate in bringing about a just and equitable society where justice and peace will reign in order to enhance better life for the citizenry and reduce poverty. In doing this, she must also be seen to be just in herself for the preacher is the first listener and as Pope Paul

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7PAUL VI, Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi, (December 1975), n.41.

VI puts it: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are

7witnesses.”

6. BEYOND WORDS AND REGULATIONS

We have noted that Church authorities in Nigeria have, on different occasions, responded with guidelines that regulate pastoral and liturgical practices in order to avoid abuses. But our experience is that these abuses persist and worsen. The question is thus being raised as to whether these guidelines end up only on the papers on which they are written or whether they are ever enforced?

Thus beyond issuing guidelines, the pastors of the Church, as a matter of urgency, need to reflect on the appropriate means of enforcing the guidelines. It is true that religion is no coercion but it is also true that every game has its rule and signing up for such games means accepting the rules. Beyond words and regulations there should be enforcement.

Moreover, history beckons Church leaders, today more than ever, to be ready to lead by the examples of their very lives. While insisting on correct pastoral and liturgical practices, they should themselves be examples of such correct practices and be ready to take all necessary steps to see that these regulations are implemented. It will be counter witness if they accept privately or publicly donations, gifts and finances accruing from such aberrations in Catholic liturgy only to come publicly to denounce such aberrations.

Again, we must all realize that if we work for rectitude of teaching and practice, in the present circumstance, it will come with a price. Some of those who now follow and encourage the aberrations coming from Pentecostalism have become very popular and sometimes powerful among the Christians. Some of them now issue subtle threat to authorities who may want to correct them; they threaten to break away or to instigate an uprising from among their followers. The truth is that some of them are motivated purely by economic reasons with very little spirituality at work.

Thus, like most capitalists, they are willing to do and say virtually anything to silence opposition. Bearing this in mind, we must like Jesus (John 6:60-71) not be ready to compromise the essence of our teaching with worldly popularity.

CONCLUSION

Your Excellencies, dear brothers and sisters. It has been an engaging experience. It has been a brotherly exchange of ideas. Certainly, we are concluding this conference better enriched in our understanding of Pentecostalism in the Nigerian context. The very urgent line of actions is to set up a think tank to further this discussion, replicate this study on provincial and diocesan levels and start experimenting with the suggestions already proposed.