One of the remarkable recent trends in Nigeria has been the rise to religious and social prominence of the ‘charismatic’ or ‘Pentecostal’ Christian movement. In little more than a decade, thousands of new churches and evangelical groups have cropped up in the cities and towns of the south. Those established earlier, either by US and British missionaries or Nigerians, are experiencing an unprecedented revival. While research continues on the dizzying multitude of ‘indigenous’ new religious movements, still focused for the large part on the ‘Aladura’ churches of western Nigeria, very little has appeared in the literature on this new wave of Christian churches. Because of the strong links between these churches and their US or British brethren, as well as the marked increase of this type of Christianity throughout the continent, many scholars and religious leaders are tempted to view the rise of these churches solely from the point of view of their foreign origins and connections. Although the concern often expressed about the infiltration of what is seen as a pernicious US doctrine serving as a vehicle for the promotion of the ‘New Religious Right's’ political agenda for the continent may be justified in some contexts, in the southern cities of Nigeria, the ‘politics’ of these churches are of a different sort.

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Publication date (Print): November 1991

One of the remarkable recent trends in Nigeria has been the rise to religious and social prominence of the ‘charismatic’ or ‘Pentecostal’ Christian movement. In little more than a decade, thousands of new churches and evangelical groups have cropped up in the cities and towns of the south. Those established earlier, either by US and British missionaries or Nigerians, are experiencing an unprecedented revival. While research continues on the dizzying multitude of ‘indigenous’ new religious movements, still focused for the large part on the ‘Aladura’ churches of western Nigeria, very little has appeared in the literature on this new wave of Christian churches. Because of the strong links between these churches and their US or British brethren, as well as the marked increase of this type of Christianity throughout the continent, many scholars and religious leaders are tempted to view the rise of these churches solely from the point of view of their foreign origins and connections. Although the concern often expressed about the infiltration of what is seen as a pernicious US doctrine serving as a vehicle for the promotion of the ‘New Religious Right's’ political agenda for the continent may be justified in some contexts, in the southern cities of Nigeria, the ‘politics’ of these churches are of a different sort.

Journal

Journal ID (publisher-id): crea20

Journal ID (archive): CREA

Title:Review of African Political Economy

Publisher: Review of African Political Economy

ISSN (Print): 0305-6244

ISSN (Electronic): 1740-1720

Publication date (Print):November 1991

Volume: 18

Issue: 52

Pages: 21-37

Affiliations

a St.Peter's College , Oxford , UK

Article

Publisher ID: 8703919Coden ID: Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 18, No. 52, November 1991, pp. 21-37

DOI: 10.1080/03056249108703919

SO-VID: e4227ac4-9727-4091-b121-2c2aba092d7f

License:

All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History
Page count

Figures: 0, Tables: 0, References: 19, Pages: 17

Categories

Subject:Original Articles

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  3. 1987. . ‘The Contextual Significance of the Charismatic Movements in Independent Nigeria’. . _Africa . , Vol. 58((2))
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  15. Mbembe. . 1990. . ‘Pouvoir, violence et accumulation’. . _Politique Africaine . , Vol. 39:
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  17. Bayart. . 1986. . “‘Civil Society in Africa in Chabal. ”. In _Reflections on the Limits of Power . , Edited by: Political Domination in Africa. . Cambridge : : CUP. .
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  19. Othman Shehu. . 1989. . “‘Power for Profit — class, corporatism, and factionalism in the military’. ”. In _Contemporary West African States . , Edited by: O'Brien D. Cruise, Dunn J. and Rathbone R.. Cambridge : : CUP. .

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