Pentecostal Millenarianism and Underdevelopment in Africa

Abstract

Pentecostalism is a 20th century Christian movement characterized by aggressive evangelism and proselytism which is hinged on “holy ghost baptism”. The imminence of Christ’s return is paramount to the evangelistic favour of Pentecostalism. The baptism of the spirit is accompanied by the ability to perform ‘signs and wonders’ in the name of Jesus Christ to authenticate their evangelism. The rapid spread of this phenomenon in World Christianity has engendered debate among social scientists. There is the cultural imperialism thesis, which claims the ‘Americanization’ of the Christian religion in Africa and the World writ large. This paper extends the perspective of these debates. It contends that the capability to create health and wealth is removed from the individual and domiciled at the spiritual realm. This impacts negatively on development efforts in Africa by stifling individual and group initiatives in production. It is therefore seen as one of the structures that perpetuate underdevelopment in Africa.

LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research, 9(2), 190-200, 2012