Prophetism, charism and agwu: Striking a balance between discriminatory belief and reality

Abstract

Charismatic gifts, though tautological, is a catch word amongst Christian denominations, Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Claim of charisms is an assurance of a team of followers and adherents. The more one is able to hypnotize the people into believing that he has charisms, the more famous he becomes and the greater respect he commands. He immediately begins to answer „Man of God‟. Fortune telling confused as prophesying is the most popular amongst these uninformed. Uttering of unintelligible sounds, frenzy shaking and rolling or dancing in spirit are common signs that one is possessed by the spirit of prophecy amongst Christians of today. This paper questions the authenticity of the Christian prophetic gift claims against the backdrop of African (Igbo of Nigerian) traditional possession by the Agwu spirit. One gets increasingly concerned with the truth value of the claims that Christian prophetic spirit is good while African Agwu spirit is evil since most signs seen amongst Christian prophets and prophetesses are not really different from the ones seen in the life of those possessed by Agwu in African Traditional Religion understanding. If this is the case, why must the later be repudiated by the former and why must Christians regard them as unbelievers and in need of conversion? Could it not be that the native Africans are coerced into accepting the belief of the Westerner as authentic to the unfortunate neglect of the even superior African belief and experience? This and other similar issues form the status quaestionis of this paper.

Keywords: Prophetism, Agwu, Africans, Christians, Spirit, Discrimination