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2667:7 [2015/04/19 23:18] – [This week's topic] Ryan Schram (admin)2667:7 [2021/06/29 02:27] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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-# Why do people pray for health in West Africa? #+# Is African Christianity just 'African culture'? #
  
-## Why do people pray for health in West Africa? ##+## Is African Christianity just 'African culture'? ##
  
 Ryan Schram Ryan Schram
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 ryan.schram@sydney.edu.au ryan.schram@sydney.edu.au
  
-23 February 2015+26 April 2017
  
 Available at http://anthro.rschram.org/2667/7 Available at http://anthro.rschram.org/2667/7
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 ### Readings ### ### Readings ###
- 
-Omenyo, Cephas. 2011. “New Wine in an Old Wine Bottle?: Charismatic Healing in the Mainline Churches in Ghana.” In Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Healing, edited by Candy Gunther Brown, 231–50. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  
  
 Meyer, Birgit. 1998. “‘Make a Complete Break with the Past.’ Memory and Post-Colonial Modernity in Ghanaian Pentecostalist Discourse.” Journal of Religion in Africa 28 (3): 316–49. doi:10.2307/1581573.  Meyer, Birgit. 1998. “‘Make a Complete Break with the Past.’ Memory and Post-Colonial Modernity in Ghanaian Pentecostalist Discourse.” Journal of Religion in Africa 28 (3): 316–49. doi:10.2307/1581573. 
  
-Jorgensen, Dan. 2005. “Third Wave Evangelism and the Politics of the Global in Papua New Guinea: Spiritual Warfare and the Recreation of Place in Telefolmin.” Oceania 75 (4): 444–61. +Newell, Sasha. 2007. “Pentecostal Witchcraft: Neoliberal Possession and Demonic Discourse in Ivoirian Pentecostal Churches.” Journal of Religion in Africa 37 (4): 461–90. doi:10.1163/157006607X230517. 
 + 
 + 
 +## Other readings ## 
 + 
 +Omenyo, Cephas. 2011. “New Wine in an Old Wine Bottle?: Charismatic Healing in the Mainline Churches in Ghana.” In Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Healing, edited by Candy Gunther Brown, 231–50. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
  
 Werbner, Richard. 2011. Holy Hustlers, Schism, and Prophecy: Apostolic Reformation in Botswana. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. Werbner, Richard. 2011. Holy Hustlers, Schism, and Prophecy: Apostolic Reformation in Botswana. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.
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 * Pentecostal-charismatic churches, e.g. Nsofu in Zambia, or the people described by Meyer.  * Pentecostal-charismatic churches, e.g. Nsofu in Zambia, or the people described by Meyer. 
  
-## So, what do you want to understand? ## 
- 
-What questions do you want to ask about any one of these churches?  
- 
-Write some down now.  
- 
-## Asking questions ## 
- 
-Aristotle had some advice for his students about asking questions:  
- 
-> Not every problem, nor every thesis, should be examined, but only one which might puzzle one of those who need argument, not punishment or perception. For people who are puzzled to know whether one ought to honour the gods and love one’s parents or not need punishment, while those who are puzzled to know whether snow is white or not need perception. The subjects should not border too closely upon the sphere of demonstration, nor yet be too far removed from it; for the former cases admit of no doubt, while the latter involve difficulties too great for the art of the trainer. (Aristotle, Topics, Book I, Part 11) 
- 
- 
-Take a minute to think about this passage and try to get down the main idea here in your own, more contemporary language.  
- 
-## The three types of questions ## 
- 
-Aristotle says there are three types of questions. Let's come up with examples of each kind.  
- 
-* Type I: Factual questions 
-* Type II: Belief questions 
-* Type III: Research questions, or *why* questions 
- 
-## Do I know what rhetorical means?? Do I know what rhetorical means!?? ## 
- 
-A question someone might want to ask is this:  
- 
-> How did African Independent Churches resist the cultural domination by colonial powers in Ghana?  
- 
-Another one could be:  
- 
-> How do Pentecostal churches encourage people to see themselves as rational individuals? 
- 
-Are these questions "research questions"? 
  
 ## Explaining African Christianity and its diversity ##  ## Explaining African Christianity and its diversity ## 
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 * European intellectual history is plagued by its reliance on Biblical chronology, or the belief that you can figure out history from the Bible.  * European intellectual history is plagued by its reliance on Biblical chronology, or the belief that you can figure out history from the Bible. 
-* In this chronology, African peoples were the descendants of Ham, who had been marked by God.  +* In this chronology, African peoples were the descendants of Ham, who had been marked by God. 
-* Europeans used the Bible (as history) to imagine that non-Western people were separated from God's plan for humanity, and it was up to European colonial powers to bring the Gospel to the "heathens." +* Europeans used the Bible (as history) to imagine that non-Western people were separated from God's plan for humanity, and it was up to European colonial powers to bring the Gospel to the "heathens."
 * Many missionaries also did think that they were simply carrying out the same work as the Apostles, St Patrick, and the Irish missionaries to England. Were they being humble? Or just giving each other high fives for being humble? To be honest, I'm not really sure.  * Many missionaries also did think that they were simply carrying out the same work as the Apostles, St Patrick, and the Irish missionaries to England. Were they being humble? Or just giving each other high fives for being humble? To be honest, I'm not really sure. 
  
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   to spread Christianity, for its own sake, and for reasons of   to spread Christianity, for its own sake, and for reasons of
   establishing a common language with other people for purposes of   establishing a common language with other people for purposes of
-  cooperation and trade.+  cooperation and trade. And slavery. Converts to Christianity in many 
 +  cases became slaves, and vice versa, often with the permission of 
 +  local elites.
 * It was not until the 19th century when European Protestant missions * It was not until the 19th century when European Protestant missions
   came. In this case they were working in the shadow of   came. In this case they were working in the shadow of
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   very prominent churches in southern Africa, called apostolic   very prominent churches in southern Africa, called apostolic
   churches (see Engelke 2007).   churches (see Engelke 2007).
 +
 +## Questions and answers ##
 +
 +* What are some research questions we can ask about Johane Masowe and Masowe Apostolic Churches?
 +  * A good research question will have more than one answer, and each answer will need an argument to explain why it is right.
 +* What are some possible answers, or thesis statements, that we can pose in response to these questions?
 +
 +
 +
 +## The origins of Pentecostalism ##
 +
 +The Asuza Street Revival, led by William Seymour, 1906-1909: 
 +
 +> Men and women would shout, weep, dance, fall into trances, speak and 
 +> sing in tongues, and interpret their messages into English. In true 
 +> Quaker fashion, anyone who felt "moved by the Spirit" would preach 
 +> or sing. There was no robed choir, no hymnals, no order of services, 
 +> but there was an abundance of religious enthusiasm. (Synan 1997: 98) 
 + 
 +
 +
 +## How Pentecostalism differs from other holiness churches ##
 +
 +* The receipt of Pentecost, or a baptism of the Spirit.
 +* Very loose organization, and very egalitarian. Anyone can preach or
 +  minister.
 +* Many small churches, often completely independent, communicating
 +  through various media.
 +* Use of mass media, including films, radio and television, from very
 +  early on.
 +
 +## The global movement of Pentecostalism ##
 +
 +* Spreads through grass-roots networks. 
 +* Paradoxically both world-making and world-breaking (Robbins 2004).
  
  
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 * African societies find ways to resist colonial domination. * African societies find ways to resist colonial domination.
-* African religious practices will mix indigenous and foreign+* African religious practices mix indigenous and foreign
   elements, also known as syncretism.   elements, also known as syncretism.
  
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 Meyer argues that all of these religious types, Independent and Meyer argues that all of these religious types, Independent and
 Pentecostal, are really just variations on a theme. The concepts Pentecostal, are really just variations on a theme. The concepts
-scholars bring to them to understand are different.+scholars bring to them are different. 
 + 
 +## Witchcraft and sorcery ## 
 + 
 +Many cultures throughout the world find invisible causes for otherwise 
 +material, physical events, like illness, death and misfortune. Let's 
 +call any kind of belief of this nature *magic*. 
 + 
 +E. E. Evans-Pritchard, an anthropologist who studied the people who 
 +live in what is today South Sudan, has been very influential in 
 +helping anthropologists think about magic in social terms. 
 + 
 +## Key points about witchcraft and sorcery ## 
 + 
 +Some key points: 
 + 
 +* Witchcraft is mentioned every day, and invoked to explain any number of bad things, from minor incidents to death. "Witchcraft is not less anticipated than adultery" (which is also common) (Evans-Pritchard 1976 [1937]: 19). 
 +* Witchcraft belief coexists with reason and logic. When the granary collapsed on top of a person, and people saw that termites had eaten away the posts, they reasoned that termites made the granary fall, but a witch made sure it fell on that person at that time (Evans-Pritchard 1976 [1937]: 22). 
 +* Witchcraft doesn't explain everything: when people commit certain acts, like lying and adultery, they cannot claim that they have been bewitched (ibid.: 26). Similarly, sickness that results from breaking a taboo is not caused by a witch (ibid.: 28). 
 +* Witchcraft comes from an organ; one is born a witch, and one inherits from the mother and mother's brother. Sorcery by contrast is learned. "A witch performs no rite" (ibid.: 1).  
 +* If someone's witchcraft causes death, then the witch is killed in vengence (ibid.: 5).  
 + 
 +## Witchcraft and sorcery beliefs are common ## 
 + 
 +Many societies have very similar beliefs. We can speak of these beliefs as forming a package, because they often go together too. 
 + 
 +Some key variations: 
 + 
 +* Is the witch an "insider" or an "outsider"? 
 +* Is the witch typically male or female? 
 +* Is witchcraft always unintented or just covert? 
 + 
 +## Witchcraft: a gold mine for social theory ## 
 + 
 +Social anthropologists loved talking about witchcraft and sorcery. It seemed a perfect test case for their ideas about social function: 
 + 
 +* Witchcraft and sorcery functions in relation to ideas about egalitarianism. Only equals bewitch each other (Fortune 1932). 
 +* Witchcraft is a way of mediating social conflicts (Nadel 1952). 
 +* Witchcraft is a collective representation of deviance itself, the "standardized nightmare" of the society (Wilson 1951: 313). 
 + 
 +Witchcraft exist in an equilibrium, and is part of a process of 
 +maintaining social equilibrium. 
 + 
 +## Witchcraft has not gone away ## 
 + 
 +People have long debated the persistence and growth of these beliefs in the postcolonial period.  
 + 
 +Some, like Comaroff and Comaroff (1999), argue that they are not a belief in magic at all, but a diagnosis of the real workings of neoliberal global capitalism in Africa.  
 + 
  
 ## References ## ## References ##
  
-Engelke, Matthew. 2007. A Problem of Presence: Beyond Scripture in an +Comaroff, Jean, and John L. Comaroff. 1999. “Occult Economies and the Violence of Abstraction: Notes from the South African Postcolony.” American Ethnologist 26 (2): 279–303. doi:10.1525/ae.1999.26.2.279.
-African Church. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.+
  
-Meyer, Birgit. 2004. "Christianity in Africa: From African Independent +Engelke, Matthew. 2007. A Problem of Presence: Beyond Scripture in an African Church. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.
-to Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches." Annual Review of Anthropology 33 +
-(1): 447–74. doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143835.+
  
 +Evans-Pritchard, E. E., and Eva Gillies. 1976. Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande. Abridged edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  
 +Fortune, R. F. 2013. Sorcerers of Dobu: The Social Anthropology of the Dobu Islanders of the Western Pacific. Routledge.
  
 +Meyer, Birgit. 2004. “Christianity in Africa: From African Independent to Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches.” Annual Review of Anthropology 33 (1): 447–74. doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143835.
  
 +Nadel, S. F. 1952. “Witchcraft in Four African Societies: An Essay in Comparison.” American Anthropologist 54 (1): 18–29. doi:10.1525/aa.1952.54.1.02a00040.
  
 +Robbins, Joel. 2004. "The Globalization of Pentecostal and Charismatic
 +Christianity." Annual Review of Anthropology 33 (1):
 +117–43. doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.32.061002.093421.
  
 +Synan, Vinson. 1997. The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic
 +Movements in the Twentieth Century. Grand Rapids, Mich.:
 +Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
  
 +Wilson, Monica Hunter. 1951. “Witch Beliefs and Social Structure.” American Journal of Sociology 56 (4): 307–13.
  
  
2667/7.1429510726.txt.gz · Last modified: 2015/04/19 23:18 by Ryan Schram (admin)