Faith and Pandemics: Responses of African Indigenous Churches
This study traces the resilience of Christian faith during times of global crisis by examining the responses of the African Indigenous Aladura (Praying Ones) movement during the 1918 influenza pandemic alongside those of contemporary Pentecostal and Charismatic churches in Nigeria during the COVID-1...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Ghana journal of religion and theology
Year: 2025, Volume: 15, Issue: 2, Pages: 75-89 |
| Further subjects: | B
African Pentecostalism
B Global pandemics B Aladura church movement B Hermeneutics of spiritual power B Nigerian Pentecostalism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei registrierungspflichtig) |
| Summary: | This study traces the resilience of Christian faith during times of global crisis by examining the responses of the African Indigenous Aladura (Praying Ones) movement during the 1918 influenza pandemic alongside those of contemporary Pentecostal and Charismatic churches in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that the prophetic impulse which emerged within the Aladura tradition in 1918 foreshadowed the theological and spiritual responses of present-day Pentecostalism. By situating these movements within Indigenous African cosmologies, the study demonstrates how belief in the reality and efficacy of spiritual power continues to shape Christian engagement with disease, suffering, and uncertainty. By employing a comparative historical-theological approach, the article highlights continuities in the use of prayer, prophecy, and ritual as modes of spiritual agency during pandemics. It further shows how Nigerian Christians have drawn upon indigenous understandings of the power of language and spiritual intervention to articulate hope, negotiate fear, and affirm divine sovereignty in the midst of global health crises. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Ghana journal of religion and theology
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