Christianity and Traditional Religions of Zimbabwe

Christianity and Traditional Religions of Zimbabwe
Author: Paradzayi David Mubvumbi, PhD
Publisher: WestBow Press
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2016-03-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1512745103

This book tells the truth about what happened and is still happening in Zimbabwe, concerning local religions and Christianity. This book will lead you to seek and search the truth from the Bible so that people will determine their relationship with God. Are you following God the right way or wrong way? This book will help. (A portion of proceeds from the sale of this book is going to help funding some disadvantaged children of Zimbabwe to build their better lives through education)

Aspects of Pentecostal Christianity in Zimbabwe

Aspects of Pentecostal Christianity in Zimbabwe
Author: Lovemore Togarasei
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2018-07-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319785656

This edited book offers an engaging portrait into a vital, religious movement inside this southern Africa country. It tells the story of a community of faith that is often overlooked in the region. The authors include leading scholars of religion, theology, and politics from Botswana and Zimbabwe. The insights they present will help readers understand the place of Pentecostal Christianity in this land of many religions. The chapters detail a history of the movement from its inception to the present. Chapters focus on specific Pentecostal churches, general doctrine of the movement, and the movement’s contribution to the country. The writing is deeply informed and features deep historical, theological, and sociological analysis throughout. Readers will also learn about the socio-political and economic relevance of the faith in Zimbabwe as well as the theoretical and methodological implications raised by the Pentecostalisation of society. The volume will serve as a resource book both for teaching and for those doing research on various aspects of the Zimbabwean society past, present, and future. It will be a good resource for those in schools and university and college departments of religious studies, theology, history, politics, sociology, social anthropology, and related studies. Over and above academic and research readers, the book will also be very useful to government policy makers, non-governmental organizations, and civic societies who have the Church as an important stakeholder.

Politics and Religion in Zimbabwe

Politics and Religion in Zimbabwe
Author: Ezra Chitando
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2020-04-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000054195

This book illustrates how religion and ideology were used by Robert Mugabe to ward off opposition within his own party, in Zimbabwe and from the West. An interdisciplinary line up of contributors argue that Mugabe used a calculated narrative of deification – presenting himself as a divine figure who had the task of delivering land, freedom and confidence to black people across the world – to remain in power in Zimbabwe. The chapters highlight the appropriation and deployment of religious themes in Mugabe’s domestic and international politics, reflect on the contestation around the deification of Mugabe in Zimbabwean politics across different forms of religious expression, including African Traditional Religions and various strands of Christianity and initiate further reflections on the interface between religion and politics in Africa and globally. Politics and Religion in Zimbabwe will be of interest to scholars of religion and politics, Southern Africa and African politics.

African Traditional Religion Encounters Christianity

African Traditional Religion Encounters Christianity
Author: John Chitakure
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2017-11-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 149824419X

Right from the beginning of humankind, God has never deprived a people of his grace and revelation. In fact, God uses people's environment and culture to communicate his will. There is no single religion that can claim to have the exclusive possession of God's revelation, for God is too immense to be confined within one faith. Hence, it was erroneous, blasphemous, and misleading for some of the early Christian missionaries to Africa to claim that they had brought God to Africa, a mentality that implied the non-existence of God in Africa before their arrival. Of course, God was already in Africa, but the missionaries either failed to discern his presence or just disregarded the traces of his existence. This book explores the religious beliefs, practices, and values of the indigenous people of Africa at the time of the early missionaries' arrival, with particular reference to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. It also evaluates the extent of the missionarie's successes and challenges in converting Africans to Christianity. It finally surveys how African Christians have remained attached to the indigenous religious beliefs that used to provide answers to their existential questions.

Elements of African Traditional Religion

Elements of African Traditional Religion
Author: Elia Shabani Mligo
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 102
Release: 2013-08-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1621898245

African Traditional religion (ATR) is one of the world religions with a great people and a great past. It is embraced by Africans within and outside the continent despite the various ethnic religious practices and beliefs. This book highlights and discusses the common elements which introduce African Traditional Religion as one unified religion and not a collection of religions. The major focus of the book is discussing the need for studying ATR in twenty-first-century Africa whereby globalization and multi-culture are prominent phenomena. Why should we study the religion of indigenous Africans in this age? In response to this question, the book argues that since ATR is part of the African people's culture, there is a need to understand this cultural background in order to contextualize Christian theology. Using some illustrations from Nyumbanitu worship shrine located at Njombe in Tanzania, the book purports that there is a need to understand African people's worldview, their understanding of God, their religious values, symbols and rituals in order to enhance meaningful dialogue between Christianity and African people's current worldview. In this case, the book is important for students of comparative religion in universities and colleges who strive to understand the various religions and their practices.

Karanga Indigenous Religion in Zimbabwe

Karanga Indigenous Religion in Zimbabwe
Author: Tabona Shoko
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2016-04-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1317109635

Tabona Shoko contends that religion and healing are intricately intertwined in African religions. This book on the religion of the Karanga people of Zimbabwe sheds light on important methodological issues relevant to research in the study of African religions. Analysing the traditional Karanga views of the causes of illness and disease, mechanisms of diagnosis at their disposal and the methods they use to restore health, Shoko discusses the views of a specific African Independent Church of the Apostolic tradition. The conclusion Shoko reaches about the central religious concerns of the Karanga people is derived from detailed field research consisting of interviews and participant observation. This book testifies that the centrality of health and well-being is not only confined to traditional religion but reflects its adaptive potential in new religious systems manifest in the phenomenon of Independent Churches. Rather than succumbing to the folly of static generalizations, Tabona Shoko offers important insights into a particular society upon which theories can be reassessed, adding new dimensions to modern features of the religious scene in Africa.

Religion and Human Security in Africa

Religion and Human Security in Africa
Author: Ezra Chitando
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2019-01-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0429671571

Across diverse countries and contexts in Africa, religion has direct implications for human security. While some individuals and groups seek to manipulate and control through the deployment of religion, religious belief is also a common facet of those working towards peace and reconciliation. Despite the strategic importance of religion to human security in Africa, there are few contemporary publications that explore this issue on an international scale. This volume redresses that imbalance by examining religion’s impact on human security across Africa. Written by an international team of contributors, this book looks in detail at the intersection of religion and security in a variety of African contexts. Case studies from a diverse set of countries including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Burkina Faso, and more, are used to illustrate wider trends across the continent. Acknowledging that religion can be used to incite violence as well as encourage peace, the chapters employ an interdisciplinary exploration of the ethics, sociology, and politics around these issues. This is much needed volume on religion’s capacity to effect human security. It will, therefore, be of significant interest to any scholar of religious studies, African studies, political science, the sociology of religion, and anthropology, as well as peace, conflict, and reconciliation studies.

African Traditions in the Study of Religion in Africa

African Traditions in the Study of Religion in Africa
Author: Ezra Chitando
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2016-04-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1317184211

The historiography of African religions and religions in Africa presents a remarkable shift from the study of 'Africa as Object' to 'Africa as Subject', thus translating the subject from obscurity into the global community of the academic study of religion. This book presents a unique multidisciplinary exploration of African traditions in the study of religion in Africa and the new African diaspora. The book is structured under three main sections - Emerging trends in the teaching of African Religions; Indigenous Thought and Spirituality; and Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. Contributors drawn from diverse African and global contexts situate current scholarly traditions of the study of African religions within the purview of academic encounter and exchanges with non-African scholars and non-African contexts. African scholars enrich the study of religions from their respective academic and methodological orientations. Jacob Kehinde Olupona stands out as a pioneer in the socio-scientific interpretation of African indigenous religion and religions in Africa. This book is to his honour and marks his immense contribution to an emerging field of study and research.