https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4222 2026-05-03T09:53:20Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4431 Independent church healing : the case of St Elijah cum Enlightenment School of the Holy Spirit in Zimbabwe Shoko, Tabona Health and religion are closely linked. Scholars in Medicine, Social Studies and Missiology have paid a great deal of attention to African health systems. AICs in Southern Africa have studied, in particular, the relationship between Christian healing and traditional healing. Pioneer studies of these religious movements by Sundkler (1961:238-239) depict AICs as custodians of traditional culture. Seen as the revitalisation of African culture in the disguise of Christianity, they are also perceived as “bridges back to paganism” (Kealotswe 2005:1). Daneel describes this form of syncretism as transformation of “old and new” in Zionist Churches in Zimbabwe. To date, discussion has been centred on the influence of the traditional worldview to the exclusion of charismatic forms of African Christianity. This essay tries to fill this gap by exploring the relationship between the African traditional religion and Christianity by examining the aetiologies of illness and healing in a particular African independent church; the approach used is an alternative approach, phenomenology. The essay tests the contention that independent churches are not only influenced by traditional worldviews, but also integrate charismatic forms of Christianity. Peer reviewed 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4430 Women and leadership in Nigerian Pentecostal Churches Fatokun, Samson The leadership role of women is a controversial theme in contemporary African Christianity. This paper is an overview of the place of women in Nigerian Pentecostal churches. Particular attention is paid to the leading role of selected women in the African Indigenous Pentecostal churches and the Neo-Pentecostal churches, in contrast to the subjective status of women in most Classical Pentecostal churches in the country. The paper highlights the contributory roles of some women leaders in Nigerian Pentecostal churches and also reveals the extent to which women are marginalised in some circles. Reasons for this are suggested, along with possible solutions. Peer reviewed 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4429 The church as golden calf in history and the meandering processes of the commonwealth of God Van Niekerk, Erasmus The idea of the church as a golden calf in history is discussed in terms of three approaches to society: the church-centred (= secularisation) approach which operates on the basis of the dichotomy of divine/semidivine church and ordinary human/natural world, the ghetto approach premised on an array of Christian versus non-Christian institutions and organisations, and the diaspora approach which embraces the diasporical scattering of Spirit-directed God-life-and-world experiences of different institutions, organisations and communities in society. The salvific sense and meaning of the three approaches to society is discussed against the background of First, Second and Third Testament perspectives and the meandering processes of the Commonwealth (Kingdom) of God encapsulated and manifested in the grand acts of God’s creation, reconciliation, renewal and consummation. Peer reviewed 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4428 Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr : die Baptiste Kerk en apartheid De Wit, Joep This article touches on the life of Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, his connections with the Baptist Church and his opposition to Apartheid. Some of his unparalleled academic achievements are referred to. The article refers to the fact that he was brought up in a Baptist Church and that his Baptist upbringing had a great influence on him throughout his life. His Christian principles brought him in direct conflict with the apartheid policies of the National Party. He can truly be called a prophet against Apartheid. He was a defender of the Jews and always championed their cause. Although he was minister of different portfolios at different times, as long as he was a member of the cabinet, he was always Minister of Education. He laid a foundation for equal education that was later uprooted by the National Party government. He was Deputy Prime Minister under General Smuts who said at his graveside that it was his desire that Hofmeyr should have continued the work that he (Smuts) had started. Hofmeyr believed that the Christian ideal would ultimately triumph in South Africa’s race relations. It is clear that many of Hofmeyr’s ideas have been validated in recent years and that Hofmeyr was way ahead of his time. Peer reviewed; Text in Afrikaans, abstract in English 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z