Abstract
This chapter argues that Zimbabwe Assemblies of God, Africa (ZAOGA) is pre-occupied with the gospel of health and prosperity as evidenced by the emphasis on healing and prosperity. Pentecostals believe that a born again needs a ‘total break from the past’. In order to realise that, the believer needs prayers for deliverence. This study argues that the emphasis on health and wealth by Zimbabwean Pentecostals has shaped its doctrine. Inevitably, this doctrine has seen Pentecostals beginning to follow the footsteps of major stakeholders in the economy of the country. Pentecostals are following the footsteps of Mainline and Protestant churches, who are big stakeholders in the country in terms of establishing and owning schools, colleges, hospitals and universities. What is the relationship between health and wealth? We unravel ZAOGA teachings on health and wealth and examine how it has shaped the ideology of total rejection of sickness and all forms of setbacks in life and also by cultivating a culture of accumulation. This calls for the need to re-examine the Pentecostal agenda on health and wealth and examine how it has shaped ZAOGA doctrine in the light of the prevailing socio-economic and political developments in Zimbabwe.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
This is a theory that emanates from the belief that God is able therefore, failure to achieve the desired goal is a sign of God’s wrath upon one’s lack of faith.
- 2.
E. Makandiwa, “Refuse to die in the Wilderness,” Audio taped sermon, 2013.
- 3.
Guti has delivered a series of sermons emphasising this and it appears that he negates what some of the teachings of his leaders who were teaching that to be poor is a sin before God. See for example, Kudzai Biri, African Pentecostalism and Cultural Resilience, Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa (ZAOGA), Unpublished Dphil Thesis, University of Zimbabwe, (2013).
- 4.
ZAOGA is a highly hierarchical. The local assembly is under the district and province. The province reports directly to the headquarters.
- 5.
Most leaders and members from Pentecostal churches have been among the long list of Zimbabweans who have been involved in corruption and shoddy deals. The message of prosperity has been cited as the source of the corruption and shoddy deals as members desire to get rich through quick and short cut methods.
- 6.
Birgit Meyer (1998) has examined Ghanaian Pentecostal emphasis on “complete break from the past”. However, it has been argued that the denunciation of the past, the old is rather more theoretical than being practical. This is because in many areas of their beliefs and practices, Pentecostals continue to source from the traditional paradigm. See for example, Obgu Kalu, African Pentecostalism: An Introduction, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008., on ZAOGA, Kudzai Biri, African Pentecostalism and Cultural Resilience: ZAOGA, Unpublished D.Phil thesis, Department of Religious Studies, Classics and Philosophy, University of Zimbabwe, 2013.
- 7.
Guti is teaching that people are burdened by the crisis and people should stop making the church a fund-raising forum.
References
Achunike, H. 2004. The influence of Pentecostalism on Catholic priests and seminarians in Nigeria. Onitsha: Africana First Publishers.
Anderson, A. 2000. Zion and Pentecost: The spirituality and experience of Pentecostal and Zionist apostolic churches in South Africa. Pretoria: UNISA.
———. 2001. African reformation: African initiated Christianity in the 20th century. Asmara: Africa World Press.
———. 2004. An introduction to Pentecostalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Biri, K. 2012. “The silent echoing voice”: Aspects of Zimbabwean Pentecostalism and the quest for power, healing and miracles. Studia Historiae Ecclesiaticae 33: 37–55.
Cox, H. 1995. Fire from heaven: The rise of Pentecostal spirituality and the re-shaping of religion in the twenty first century. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
———. 1998. Old and new in southern Shona independent churches. Vol. 3. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Dickinson, R. 1998. Economic globalisation: Deepening challenge for Christians. Geneva: WCC.
Gifford, P. 2004. Ghana’s new Christianity: Pentecostalism in a globalised African economy. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
———. 2009. Christianity and public life in Kenya. London: Hurst and Company.
Guti, E. 1984. The history of ZAOGA forward in faith. How it began and where it is going. EGEA: Harare.
———. 1992. Strategies for saving marriages for this generation. Marriage teachings for couples and group seminar. EGEA: Harare.
———. 2007. Prosperity that comes through obedience in tithing. EGEA: Harare.
Hollenweger, W.J. 1986. After twenty years of research on Pentecostalism. International Review of Missions 75: 3–12.
Kalu, O. 1998. The third response: Pentecostalism and the reconstruction of Christian experience in Africa, 1970–1995. Journal of African Thought Christian: 25–32.
———. 2008. African Pentecostalism: An introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Maxwell, D. 1995. Witches and prophets and avenging spirits: The second Christian movement in north East Zimbabwe. Journal of Religion in Africa 30 (3): 309–338.
———. 1998. Delivered from the Spirit of poverty: Pentecostalism, prosperity and modernity in Zimbabwe. Journal of Religion in Africa 28 (3): 350–373.
———. 2002. Catch the cockerel before Dawn: Pentecostalism and politics in post-colonial Zimbabwe. Africa 70: 249–277.
———. 2006. African gifts of the Spirit: Pentecostalism and the rise of a Zimbabwean transnational religious movement. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mayrargue, C. 2001. The expansion of Pentecostalism in Benin: Individual rationales and transnational dynamics. In Between Babel and Pentecost, ed. R. Marshall-Fratani and A. Corten, 275–290. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Meyer, B. 1998. “Make a complete break from the past”: Memory and post-colonial modernity in Ghanaian Pentecostalist discourse. Journal of Religion in Africa 38: 316–149.
Soothill, J. 2010. The problem with ‘Women’s empowerment. Studies in World Christianity 16: 82–99.
Suico, J. 2004. Pentecostal churches in the Philippines. In Studies in world Christianity 10., Part 2, 223–232.
Togarasei, L. 2010. “Churches for the rich?”: Pentecostalism and elitism. In Faith in the city: The role and place of religion in Harare, ed. L. Togarasei and E. Chitando, 19–40. Uppsala: Swedish Science Press.
———. 2011. The Pentecostal Gospel of prosperity in African contexts of poverty. Exchange 40: 336–350.
Ukpong, D. 2008. Nigerian Pentecostalism: Case, diagnosis and prescription. Uyo: Fruities Publications.
Sermon
ZAOGA Evangelist, 5-5-2012, Harare.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Biri, K. (2018). Health and Wealth in Zimbabwean Pentecostalism: The Case of the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa (ZAOGA). In: Togarasei, L. (eds) Aspects of Pentecostal Christianity in Zimbabwe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78565-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78565-3_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-78564-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-78565-3
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)