Journal for the Study of Religion

The paradox of becoming: Pentecostalicity, planetarity, and Africanity

Julius Gathogo — 2024-09-12

In this book, Chammah Judex Kaunda, a Zambian scholar based at Yonsei University in the Korean Republic, and a professor of world Christianity, presents an African Pentecostal theology of humanism. In this innovative trajectory, he utilizes the Bemba (Zambian) concept of Muntu (humanism) in a manner akin to the Ubuntu (humane) philosophy that is rooted among the Nguni speakers of East, Central, and Southern Africa. As will be noted in this review, Kaunda’s Muntu concept also compares with the Igbos’ community-driven African philosophy (Igwebuike). The Igwebuike ideology, as a concept among the Igbo linguistic speakers of Nigeria, and as an indigenously lived philosophy, builds on the strength in numbers, a phenomenon where togetherness and the spirit of being in one accord, and being in a state of engagement, are the watchwords. Kaunda (2023:16), like other Africanist scholars finds the African resources as a critical partner in enriching the Pentecostal theology or any other Christian theology for that matter. Hence, Muntu finds its terminological parallels in Igwebuike, Ubuntu, and Utu (humanness) of the East African Swahili peoples. These concepts and/or African philosophies argue for the case of the human community as the exact locus in developing any Christian theology in tropical Africa, including the African Pentecostal theology.

The Life and Contribution of Reverend Doctor Obed Ndeya Obadiah Kealotswe

Fidelis Nkomazana — 2024-09-12

This dedication presents the life, accomplishments, and contributions of Rev. Dr. Obed Ndeya Obadiah Kealotswe in service of the community, profession, governance, teaching and learning, as well as his research and publications. Kealotswe’s contributions and accomplishments in various spheres of life are outstanding.

Orientalism and Monotheism in Studies of Early Japanese Christianity

Kegan Chandler — 2024-09-12

In the wake of Said’s landmark work, Orientalism (Said 1979), scholars have been widely concerned with countering the value-laden interpretations which have historically traveled with ‘colonialist’ or ‘Orientalist’ analyses of reli-gions in Japan. However, modern studies of early Japanese Christianity, i.e., Japan’s Kakure Kirishitan (hidden Christians), despite their emergence in the ‘post-colonialist world’, have often maintained a subterranean, Orientalizing tendency to generalize and abstract an inauthentic or compromised Christi-anity of early modern Japan against that of a more genuinely Christian West. Kakure interpretations of monotheism, the doctrine of the Trinity, and certain worship practices are portrayed as ‘polytheistic’, ‘syncretistic’, and as uniquely serious misunderstandings or abrogations of both ‘Christian theolo-gy’ and the very concept of monotheism. Meanwhile, Western Christianities, despite their own analogous and statistically-demonstrable penchant for mis-conception and theological imagination, are subsequently implied to be more authentically or quintessentially monotheistic or Christian. This essentializing configuration betrays an a priori separation of ‘Japanese’ and ‘Western’ reli-gions and raises the question as to whether analysts operating in the ‘post-colonial era’ have yet to become fully aware of the basic warning of Said’s Orientalism – a still-timely message which is not, as some seem to believe, centered on the errors of a specifically Western hegemony, but on the dangers of otherizing in general as a form of devaluation.

A Theological Reflection on the Akan Doctrine of the Human Soul

Isaac Boaheng — 2024-09-12

The Akan doctrine of the human soul (nipa-kraa) expresses the indigenous Akan worldview and theology. As a contribution to the contextualization of Christian theology within the Akan community, this article explored the Akan doctrine of the soul and then reflected on this doctrine from a Christian theological perspective. The article used a qualitative research approach through a critical review of relevant literature on the subject. In the process, it analyzed selected portions of the Nana Kwame Ampadu’s highlife song titled Yaa Amanua to provide further insights into the Akan understanding of the human soul. The article shows that Christianity can better serve the Akan community if indigenous ideas are connected to relevant aspects of the Chris-tian faith. Yet, in the process the Bible must be the final authority of that con-textualization process.

Re-imagining Religion

Beverly Vencatsamy — 2024-09-12

Examining the Introduction to Religion module, RELG 101, offered at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, reveals a rigid adherence to the World Religions Paradigm (WRP) in structure and content. This article assesses the alignment of the RELG 101 module with the content, context, and intellectual growth objectives of Clingerman and O’Brien (2015). It also highlights the limitations of the current framework in meeting the specified objectives, providing insights into the challenges which the students face, and proposes a shift from the current adapted WRP approach to a thematic approach.

The Marital Sexual Experiences of South African Muslim Wives of Indian Descent

Maryam Khan — 2024-09-12

This article explores the sexuality of South African Muslim Indian wives in monogamous marriages, analyzing the effect of religious teachings and cultural norms on sexual experiences using hermeneutic phenomenology. The abrupt shift from religious norms that promote chastity to the expectation of sexual activity upon marriage, together with variations in desire and sexual preferences remain relatively underexplored within Muslim marriages. Under analysis is the dynamic between intimacy, desire, and shame. Drawing on empirical research, results highlight emotional and psychological challenges faced by Muslim women during marital sexual initiation due to their interpretations of religious teachings and limited sex education. Muslim wives experience that their sexual desire discrepancies negatively impact their mental health and self-esteem. There is the invocation of gendered sexual conceptions perpetuated by cultural conditioning which is also negotiated and subverted. Despite challenges, a transformative potential in marital relationships is indicated through agentival capacity, understanding, communication, and mutual sexual satisfaction.

A Postcolonial and Material Theory of Knowledge for the Study of Religion

Johan Strijdom — 2024-09-12

This article addresses the fundamental question of how knowledge about religion is acquired in the academic study of religion. It does so by means of a comparison of the answers to the question by Emile Durkheim and David Chidester. Durkheim, in engaging with the conventional distinction between rationalist and empiricist theories of knowledge of his time, as well as their combination by Kant, argues that categories of thought (such as space, time, causality, number, and classifications) are not mere abstract conditions of understanding, but are to be conceptualized as constructs of particular societies. This social-anthropological shift in the theory of knowledge has been of decisive influence since the beginning of the 20th century, among others on the late 20th-century and beginning of the 21st-century South African scholar of religion, David Chidester. From a comparison of Durkheim’s epistemology with that of Chidester it is, however, clear that the latter brings new insights to the epistemological question by insisting on a postcolonial and material approach to the study of religion. The comparison of the two epistemologies that I provide here should give substance to this point by comparing ways in which they deal with a selection of categories and concepts in their study of religion.

Christian Learners’ and Parents’ Choice of Faith-Based Homeschooling

Norma Nel — 2024-09-12

Currently, the South African Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (BELA) (Clause 37) replaces and adds provision to the South African Schools Act including regulating homeschooling. Home education research found that more and more parents appreciate/opt for the benefits of faith-based home-schooling, in this case, the Christian faith. The main reason is that since COVID-19, many Christian parents had the urge to preserve their Christian principles, Christian worldview, and quality education by opting for Christian faith-based homeschooling. This is a qualitative study and the purpose of this research was to determine which driving forces propel the choice of parents and their children to do homeschooling. The findings suggest that Christian faith-based homeschooling is a process facilitated by a triadic relationship consisting of the pastor, the parent/s, and the learner/s. In addition, based on the factors identified, their faith is paramount as they believe/think they are led by the Holy Spirit. Recommendations are offered regarding Christian faith-based homeschooling.