Christianity, development and modernity in Africa

Abstract

This book offers a comparative account of two forms of Christianity in Africa, Pentecostalism and Catholicism, and their respective ‘public effects’. Gifford feels that the diversity between both ‘is unacknowledged in the usual studies of African Christianity, . . . [while] these differences have significant bearing on questions of development and modernity’ (p. 6). Chapter 1 – ‘The Issues’ – briefly introduces the major themes. It also attends to the methodological approach, which as Gifford points out is built on ‘personal experience’ (p. 7), the author having researched various branches of African Christianity for three decades and built a personal archive over that period. In the following eight chapters, the comparison of the two Christianities unfolds. Chapter 2, ‘Enchanted Christianity’, argues that Africa is characterized by an enchanted religious imagination and that Pentecostalism continues the enchanted worldview of traditional religions: it is concerned with explaining, predicting, and controlling events in the world and in people's lives, believed to be caused by spiritual forces. Gifford discusses two examples illustrating this argument. The first is Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries (MFM), founded by Daniel Olukoya in Lagos in 1989 – a church deeply concerned with spiritual warfare, using prayer as ‘the principal means of thwarting the evil forced arrayed against us and reclaiming our true destiny’ (pp. 27–8). Chapter 3, ‘Victory’, presents the second case study: Living Faith Church Worldwide, also known as Winners’ Chapel, founded by David Oyedepo in Lagos in 1983. This church has a strong emphasis on material prosperity. Drawing on these two examples, Chapter 4 – ‘Pentecostalism and modernity’ – presents a more general account. Gifford identifies six ‘registers of victorious living’, distinguishing the different ways in which Christianity is linked to success and wealth: (1) Motivation; (2) Entrepreneurship; (3) Practical skills; (4) The Faith Gospel; (5) The ‘anointing’ of the pastor; (6) Defeating the spirits blocking one's advance. Several scholars have highlighted the contribution that Pentecostalism makes to development, often explaining this with reference to Weber's thesis of the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. Gifford is much more sceptical and argues that such a positive assessment only takes into account the first three registers, while the latter three have become much more prominent in African Pentecostal circles. Discussing the socio-economic effects of Pentecostal beliefs on spiritual warfare and prosperity, he argues that they undermine social capital, diminish personal agency, and discount scientific rationality. In Gifford's assessment this form of Christianity does not advance modernity or contribute to development; it is simply ‘dysfunctional’ (p. 67).

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