LibGuides: The Anthropology of Christianity: Africa

Africa

Of Revelation and Revolution: Christianity, Colonialism, and Consciousness in South Africa by Jean Comaroff; John L. Comaroff
Call Number: DT 1058 .T78 C66 v.1-2
This two-volume study is a comprehensive investigation of the history of colonialism and Christianity in South Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries.
A Problem of Presence: Beyond Scripture in an African Church by Matthew Eric Engelke
Call Number: BX 8095 .E574 2007
(also available as an eBook). Engelke studies a Zimbabwe church whose practice includes avoiding the Bible in favor of their direct access to God's spirit.
Aladura: a religious movement among the Yoruba by J. D. Y. Peel.
Call Number: BX 6600 .C5235 N56 1968
A classic text in the Anthropology of Religion, documenting the religious culture of churches in Nigeria at a time of colonial tension.
Translating the Devil: Religion and Modernity Among the Ewe in Ghana by Birgit Meyer
Call Number: BR 1463 .G5 M49 1999
The author's fieldwork studies the ways that German missionaries tried to contextualize Christianity for the Ghanian Ewe people, which lead to a re-enchantment of the Ewe worldview. The theology of the Ewe places overwhelming significance upon the role of the devil and evil spirits in their understanding of sin.
Faith in African Lived Christianity: Bridging Anthropological and Theological Perspectives by Karen Lauterbach (Editor); Mika Vähäkangas (Editor)
Call Number: BR 1360 .F35 2020
This book offers a comprehensive, empirically rich, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of faith in African Christianity. The book brings together anthropology and theology in the study of how faith and religious experiences shape the understanding of social life in Africa.