Chammah J. Kaunda - Böcker

The book presents a bold and transformative exploration of how Pentecostal theology can be revitalized by critically engaging with the Nicene Creed through the lens of African spirituality and decolonial thought. In an era marked by profound cultural exchanges and theological diversification, Kaunda challenges traditional Nicene faith and calls for a new approach that reflects the pluralistic realities of the 21st century. Rooted in the rich metaphysical and philosophical traditions of the Bemba people of Zambia, the book critiques the classical dualistic interpretations of Christian theology, which have long emphasized divisions between the sacred and secular, material and spiritual, human and nonhuman. Through a decolonial framework, this powerful work seeks to dismantle these entrenched dualisms and reintroduce an integrated approach to faith, one that embraces the interconnectedness of all things. African indigenous concepts are central to this reimagining of Nicene Christianity. It demonstrates how Pentecostalism, with its emphasis on the Spirit’s dynamic presence, can speak powerfully to issues such as gender relations, ecological crises, power dynamics, and the lived realities of African communities. Grounding theological reflection in the lived experiences and cultural contexts of African Pentecostal believers, Kaunda reveals a more holistic, contextually resonant, and responsive form of Christian theology.

This volume explores current understandings of the global meaning of faith and suffering in the context of COVID-19 and interrogates responses to the pandemic that have emerged from World Christianity. It includes chapters by a range of international contributors approached from a variety of angles within the Global Christian theology. They provide reflections and analyses focused on the question of God, human suffering, structural injustice, the role of the church and Christian praxis in the milieu of COVID-19, where misery and dying are daily routine. This book will be of interest to scholars of Missiology, World Christianity, biblical/public/contextual theology and various contemporary Christian studies.

This volume explores current understandings of the global meaning of faith and suffering in the context of COVID-19 and interrogates responses to the pandemic that have emerged from World Christianity. It includes chapters by a range of international contributors approached from a variety of angles within the Global Christian theology. They provide reflections and analyses focused on the question of God, human suffering, structural injustice, the role of the church and Christian praxis in the milieu of COVID-19, where misery and dying are daily routine. This book will be of interest to scholars of Missiology, World Christianity, biblical/public/contextual theology and various contemporary Christian studies.

The book is a significant new analysis of African Pentecostal theology of humanity. In particular, it offers a new, more comprehensive interpretation of African Pentecostal theology of humanity ‘in Christ’, which author Chammah J. Kaunda views in terms of becoming, transcending and flourishing. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach, fostering dialogue with African studies and Pentecostal studies, but also with a broad spectrum of disciplines and approaches: post-colonial studies, theology, religious studies, cultural anthropology, and philosophy. The aim is to construct a new conceptual metaphor, the poetics of mysticality, materiality and plasticity. In the Bemba (Zambian) notion of Muntu, the author identifies not only a metaphor but also a local African resource for excavating and understanding the deeper roots of African Pentecostal theology of humanism. Anyone interested in African Pentecostalism, World Christianity, Christian spirituality, African theology, and the sociology of religion will find in this book a wide range of interesting and fresh perspectives.

Religion, Gender, and Wellbeing in Africa argues that, in many African societies, ideas and practices of wellbeing and gender relations continue to be informed and shaped by religious epistemologies. The contributors affirm that for many Africans, it is through religio-spiritual frameworks that daily experiences, interactions, and gender relations are understood and interpreted. However, for many African women, religions have functioned as a double-edged-sword. Although they have contributed to the struggle against issues such as colonialism, gender justice, climate justice, and human rights, they have also endorsed and perpetuated sexism, heterosexism, homophobia, and the denial of human rights for a wide variety of people on the margins. The chapters within this collection demonstrate that most religions and religious formations in Africa have not yet positioned themselves as forces for wellbeing, gender justice, and security for African women and children. The contributors challenge simplistic and superficial readings and interpretations of religio-spirituality in Africa and call for deeper engagements of the interplay between Africa’s religio-spiritual realities and the wellbeing of women, particularly around issues of gender justice, reproductive health, and human rights.

In African Theology, Philosophy, and Religions: Celebrating John Samuel Mbiti’s Contribution, contributorsexplore John Samuel Mbiti’s contributions to African scholarship and demonstrate how he broke through the western glass ceiling of scholarship and made African-informed and African-shaped scholarship a reality. Contributors examine the far-reaching implications of Mbiti’s scholarship, arguing that he shifted the contemporary African Christian landscape and informed global expressions of Christianity. African Theology, Philosophy, and Religions analyzes Mbiti’s scholarship and shows that his theories are malleable and fluid, allowing a new generation of scholars to reinterpret, reconstruct, and further develop his theories. This collection brings together contributors from a wide range of disciplines to study John Samuel Mbiti as the father of contemporary African theology and grapple with questions Africans face in the twenty-first century.

The subject of race and identity is a burning issue which continues to occupy the attention not only of South Africans but also the wider residents of the continent of Africa and those who are Africans in the Diaspora. The outburst of xenophobic attacks against foreigners mostly of Black African origins in some communities of Kwa-Zulu Natal and areas of Johannesburg during 2008 and 2015 has raised questions about the social cohesion of South African society linked to unresolved structural identity issues bequeathed by the nation’s past colonial and apartheid legacy. This publication argues that there is an embedded schizophrenic identity crisis within the society that requires scholarly interrogation. The chapters assemble scholarly voices from different ethnic groups that examine the central research question of this study: Who is an African? Within the wider Southern African context, identity and ethnicity politics are framing nationalist economic policies and are impacting on social cohesion within many countries. Writing from different social and racial locations the authors have critically engaged with the central question and offer some important insights that can serve as a resource for all nations grappling with issues of race, ethnicity, identity constructed politics, and social cohesion.

This collection features articles which examine sexualities and genders in African Pentecostalism using interdisciplinary methodological and theoretical approaches grounded within traditional African thought systems, with the goal of enabling a broader understanding of Pentecostalism and sexualities in Africa.

This collection features articles which examine sexualities and genders in African Pentecostalism using interdisciplinary methodological and theoretical approaches grounded within traditional African thought systems, with the goal of enabling a broader understanding of Pentecostalism and sexualities in Africa.

Further, it discusses the Christian response to the compounded threats of racial injustice, climate injustice, wildlife injustice, gender injustice, economic injustice, political injustice, unjust in the distributions of the vaccine and future challenges in the post-COVID-19 era.

Further, it discusses the Christian response to the compounded threats of racial injustice, climate injustice, wildlife injustice, gender injustice, economic injustice, political injustice, unjust in the distributions of the vaccine and future challenges in the post-COVID-19 era.

Aspects of the 2017 Final Report of the South African Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) have drawn strong criticism, particularly from South African scholars, politicians and the public. The criticism is largely regarding the constitutionality of its recommendation, which calls for regulation of the Religion to combat its abuse and commercialization. Scholars have criticized the CRL Rights Commission for hastening its investigation and releasing the final report without having a substantive understanding of what is meant by the commercialization of religion, and consequently the unconstitutional implications of the recommendation, to regulate religion. A close reading of this critique has pointed to the urgent need to assemble a cumulative body of research that examines and advances understanding of what is meant by the commercialization of religion. Accordingly, this book gathers scholarly contributionswhich offer valuable insights into the basics of what is meant by the commercialization of religion. Contributors examine this phenomenon from the historical roots to the manifestation in the contemporary world, particularly in South Africa.