On a Long Neglected Player: The Religious Factor in Poverty Alleviation
The Example of the So-Called ‘Prosperity Gospel’ in Africa
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Much of poverty alleviation theory and practice fails to sufficiently consider the following crucial factor: the religious dimension. This paper elaborates this thesis by focusing on the African context and the valuable resources African religious communities and movements can provide in the struggle against poverty. One particularly influential streak of present-time African religiousness serves as a case study: the so-called ‘Prosperity Gospel’ as part of Pentecostal Christianity. The author first argues for the continuing formative influence of religion on African conceptions of self, other, and world. Secondly, she provides a critical assessment of the impact of Pentecostalism and the ‘Prosperity Gospel’ on poverty alleviation. In comparison with secular ngos, Pentecostal churches emerge as the more effective agents of change. A third part situates the insights gained into a wider perspective, seeking ways to integrate the religious factor into a more holistic conception of and engagement against poverty
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A. Heuser, “‘Refuse to Die in Poverty!’ Armutsüberwindung und Varianten des Wohlstandsevangeliums in Afrika,” Theologische Zeitschrift 69 (2013), [146-171] 155. Translations are mine, if not indicated otherwise.
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In 2012, the eight poorest countries world-wide were all located in Africa, see the website of the un Development Program: Human Development Reports, http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-2-human-development-index-trends-1980-2013#a, last access 25 September 2014.
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G.O. Folarin, ‘Contemporary State of the Prosperity Gospel in Nigeria,’ The Asia Journal of Theology 21/1 (2007), [69-95], 73. For a detailed analysis of the spread of Prosperity Gospel from an ethnographic point of view cf. Coleman, The Globalization of Charismatic Christianity.
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K. Davis, ‘Das Wohlstandsevangelium in der tansanischen Pfingstbewegung,’ Freikirchen Forschung 19 (2010), 202-209, 203.
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D. Maxwell, ‘Delivered From the Spirit of Poverty? Pentecostalism, Prosperity and Modernity in Zimbabwe,’ Journal of Religion in Africa 28/3 (1998), 350-374.
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W. Richards, ‘An Examination of Common Factors in the Growth of Global Pentecostalism: Observed in South Korea, Nigeria and Argentina,’ Journal of Asia Missions 7/1 (2005), [85-106] 98.
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On a Long Neglected Player: The Religious Factor in Poverty Alleviation
The Example of the So-Called ‘Prosperity Gospel’ in Africa
In: ExchangeSearch for other papers by Christine Schliesser in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Much of poverty alleviation theory and practice fails to sufficiently consider the following crucial factor: the religious dimension. This paper elaborates this thesis by focusing on the African context and the valuable resources African religious communities and movements can provide in the struggle against poverty. One particularly influential streak of present-time African religiousness serves as a case study: the so-called ‘Prosperity Gospel’ as part of Pentecostal Christianity. The author first argues for the continuing formative influence of religion on African conceptions of self, other, and world. Secondly, she provides a critical assessment of the impact of Pentecostalism and the ‘Prosperity Gospel’ on poverty alleviation. In comparison with secular ngos, Pentecostal churches emerge as the more effective agents of change. A third part situates the insights gained into a wider perspective, seeking ways to integrate the religious factor into a more holistic conception of and engagement against poverty
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 753 | 227 | 16 |
| Full Text Views | 220 | 11 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 65 | 24 | 1 |