Edited by Thomas Spear and Isaria N. Kimambo
“An important contribution to the field. Its emphasis on the examination of Christianity as a religious phenomenon is an important one, and one increasingly recognized as of central significance for an understanding of Africa’s history and society.”
Kevin Ward, University of Leeds
Christianity has been spread in Africa by Africans. It is the story of peoples seizing control of their own spiritual destinies—rather than the commonplace notion that the continent’s Christian churches represent colonial and capitalist powers that helped subdue Africans to European domination. In short, once introduced, Christianity took on a powerful life of its own and spun out of the control of those who would retain ownership of doctrine and practice. East African Expressions of Christianity examines the experiences of African Christians as they explored the new faith, interpreted it in the context of their own values, appropriated it for themselves, and forged their own distinctive churches. Prominent Tanzanian and American historians, anthropologists, political scientists, and church people examine the translation of religious meanings across cultural boundaries; the religious and social appeal of the new faith; and the vital roles played by African evangelists, teachers, and translators in the spread of Christianity and the development of an African church.
Thomas Spear received his doctorate in history at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He has written histories of Zwangendaba’s Ngoni, the Mijikenda (The Kaya Complex), eastern and central Kenya (Kenya’s Past), The Swahili (with Derek Nurse); and the Meru and Arusha peoples of Tanzania (Mountain Farmers). Formerly at La Trobe University and Williams College, he is professor of history emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. More info →
Isaria N. Kimambo is a professor of history at the University of Dar es Salaam. More info →
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Paperback
978-0-8214-1274-9
Retail price: $34.95,
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Release date: January 1999
362 pages
Rights: World (exclusive in Americas, and Philippines) except British Commonwealth, Continental Europe, and United Kingdom
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978-0-8214-1273-2
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Release date: January 1999
362 pages
Rights: World (exclusive in Americas, and Philippines) except British Commonwealth, Continental Europe, and United Kingdom
Ritual Cosmos
The Sanctification of Life in African Religions
By Evan M. Zuesse
In the West we are accustomed to think of religion as centered in the personal quest for salvation or the longing for unchanging Being. Perhaps this is why we have found it so difficult to understand the religions of Africa. These religions are oriented to very different goals: fecundity, prosperity, health, social harmony.
African Gifts of the Spirit
Pentecostalism and the Rise of a Zimbabwean Transnational Religious Movement
By David Maxwell
This book considers the rise of born-again Christianity in Africa through a study of one of the most dynamic Pentecostal movements. David Maxwell traces the transformation of the prophet Ezekiel Guti and his prayer band from small beginnings in the townships of the 1950s into the present-day transnational business enterprise, which is now the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God.
Religion · History | Modern | 20th Century · Africa · Eastern Africa · Zimbabwe · Religion | Christianity · History · African Studies · African History · Religion | Religion, Politics & State
Religion and Politics in East Africa
The Period since Independence
Edited by Hölger Bernt Hansen and Michael Twaddle
Religious activities have been of continuing importance in the rise of protest against postcolonial governments in Eastern Africa. Governments have attempted to “manage“ religious affairs in both Muslim and Christian areas. Religious denominations have acted as advocates of human rights and in opposition to one-party-state regimes. Islamic fundamentalism changed with the ending of the Cold War.
Political Science, Africa · Religion | Religion, Politics & State · African History · Eastern Africa · African Studies
The Law and the Prophets
Black Consciousness in South Africa, 1968–1977
By Daniel Magaziner
“No nation can win a battle without faith,” Steve Biko wrote, and as Daniel R. Magaziner demonstrates in The Law and the Prophets, the combination of ideological and theological exploration proved a potent force.The 1970s are a decade virtually lost to South African historiography. This span of years bridged the banning and exile of the country’s best-known antiapartheid leaders in the early 1960s and the furious protests that erupted after the Soweto uprisings of June 16, 1976.
Legal and Constitutional History · Religion | Religion, Politics & State · History · African History · 21st century · Law · Africa · Southern Africa · South Africa · African Studies
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