The nature and role of Christian conversion in Zambia

Abstract

This article presents a historical view of Christian conversion in Zambia over approximately a century. It engages with sociological theories of conversion to illuminate and deepen understanding of the historical unfolding of the Christian enterprise. It identifies elements of Christian conversion in order to determine whether conversion is preponderantly a product of tradition or of the Christian gospel. The nature of Zambian belief in Christ at various stages in the historical development is thus analysed. Among other things, the article demonstrates how Christian conversion remains a complex interchange between religion and culture and how Zambian perception of being a Christian includes a framework by which to better negotiate paths through ever increasing and perhaps engulfing modernity. Evidence indicates that Christian conversion emerges as a fundamental choice progressively superceding tradition and as a mode of sustaining local but changing identity in the face of globalization that remains highly alluring yet homogenizing.

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