Putting Old Wine in New Wine Skin: The Place of African Indigenous Churches in the Nigerian Pentecostals
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Date
2019
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Institute for African Renaissance Studies Education, University of South Africa.
Abstract
The phenomenon of Pentecostalism has been exhaustively discussed as a
contemporary and topical issue. Thus, Pentecostalization of African Christianity
has become a new phenomenon that has engaged the attention of many
scholars since the mid-1960s. African, perhaps, Nigerian Pentecostalism, has
constituted the fastest growing Christianity in the world. A handful of scholars
have attributed this growth to the fact that they are distinct from the influence
of the African Charismatic movements. In addition, some opine that Nigerian
Pentecostals have no resemblance with African Instituted Churches. Despite
the fact that some claim independence from the Pentecostals of Kenneth
Haggin, Seymour, Topeka and Osborne, others subscribe to the fact that the
above-named televangelists influenced the popularity of African perhaps
Nigerian Pentecostalism. Out of these several submissions, the emphasis has to be placed on historical fact. Pentecostalism as a religious movement that started
in the 20th Century has its origin in the emergence and spread of the African
Independent Churches and emphasizes on visible gifts of the Holy Spirit, faith,
healing and miracles as evident in both Old and New Testaments. Besides,
some of the features of African Indigenous Churches are re-enacted and reemphasized
in the Nigerian Pentecostals. The paper, therefore, adopted
historical, theological and interpretative methods leading to the fact that the old
wine in the new wineskins is the corresponding re-definition, re-emergence,
continuity, and re-emphasis in the Nigerian Pentecostals that enhance the faith
of both Pentecostal Christians and contemporary Neo-Pentecostal churches
with new vigour and modern vitality. The paper, therefore, postulates that the
emergence and spread of African Charismatic Movements immensely and
tremendously contributed and still contribute to the phenomenal growth and
popularity of Nigerian Pentecostalism. The paper concludes that the Holy
Spirit, which though poses intellectual difficulty in scholarship, is the catalyst
behind the old wine in the new wineskins.
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Keywords
Old and New Wine, Pentecostalism, African Christianity, Nigeria