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"Jesus Power - Super-Power!" on the Interface Between Christian Fundamentalism and New Religious Movements in Africa

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56 Klaus Hock "JESUS POWER - SUPER-POWER!" ON THE INTERFACE BETWEEN CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM AND NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN AFRICA In the course of the last decades, the usage of the term "fundamentalism" has been inflated exorbitantly: in the 70s, the term started to transgress its original meaning and became a label attached to radical political movements in the Muslim world. Later, its meaning was subject to further expansion, describing a general attitude of intransigence and intolerance in any given religious or political context. As far as Christianity is concerned, "fundamentalism" refers to religious movements which as allegedly "fitndamentalist movements" pose a major challenge to the established churches. This challenge seems to have a global dimension: not only in the US do the so-called Electronic Churches and radical conservative groups of evangelical, pentecostal or charismatic provenance exhibit a significant church growth at the expense of the mainline churches - also in Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Pacific, "fundamentalist move- ments" enjoy increasing membership at the expense of the mainline churches. Africa south of the Sahara seems to be a primary target of this fundamen- talist attack. First and foremost the ecumenical churches feel threatened by the impact of those new movements. It would however be misleading to draw a line between the "good" ecumenical and ecumenically oriented evan- gelical churches, on the one hand, and the "bad" fundamentalist movements, on the other. In approaching the question of the interface between Western fundamentalism and New Religious Movements (NRMs) in Africa in the perspective of Religious Studies, we should avoid this kind of precipitate classification. But nevertheless, we cannot deny that there are some asson- ances and similarities between Western fundamentalism and NRMs in Africa. Likewise, there is no doubt that those who know the tunes to play can claim an enormous sucess. In approaching our topic, we face a variety of problems: we have to make use of generalizations; for instance, there is no consensus on the definition of "flmdamentalism."' The term "New Religious Movements" moreover is not very clear - one may recall that even world religions like Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity once started as "New Religious Movements." This paper will focus on only one type of NRMs which has been referred to by Rosalind Hackett as the "pentecostal-evangelical" or "revivalist" variety.2 Two move- 57 ments which represent this "revivalist" type of NRMs in Africa, the Church . of God Mission and the Deeper Life Bible Church, will receive our attention. Benson Idahosa and the Church of God Mission . The striking example of Benson Idahosa's Church of God Mission Interna- tional, Ircc.3shows that the seed of Christian fundamentalism in its pentecostal variety falls on fertile soil in Africa - or, to choose a more appropriate simile: the success story of the Church of God Mission shows that Africa can yield a successful Christian fundamentalism of pentecostal variety. This church is not . imported from the West; it grew out of an indigenous, independent African movement. Likewise, the story of Bishop Idahosa's religious career resembles the career of a miracle healer, and his biography reads widely like the bio- graphy of a typical West African prophet. Only at a later period did Idahosa contact Christian fundamentalists in the United States and show himself anxious to establish dose relationships with them. Benson Idahosa was bom about 1937 into a traditional Edo family in Southern Nigera. His mother was forced by her husband to abandon the child which was of poor health. However, she changed her mind, returned, and accepted him again. After a childhood full of poverty and privation, Benson Idahosa against all odds became the manager of a Bata Shoe store. But finally, he resigned from his job in order to commit himself fully to his church. Benson Idahosa's religious career had started some years earlier: he was converted by a pentecostal Igbo pastor who imparted to him some basic knowledge of the Bible. Shortly afterwards, Idahosa opened a storefront . church in Benin City and started to organize evangelism campaigns in the . city and its vicinity. Due to his miraculous healings, he soon received wide- spread attention. Some time later, a vision directed him to an American missionary through whom he established contact with Gordon Lindsay's Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas where he studied for some months in 1971. Having returned to Nigeria, his church continued to grow far beyond Benin City: finally, he succeeded in establishing branches in other West African countries as well as . overseas. Idahosa emphasizes evangelism campaigns, TV ministry and Bible School education. He started a comprehensive project for ministry among women, and he is planning to establish a Christian university with faculties in theo- logy, medicine, and agriculture. Today, the Church of God Mission is a major international organizaton operating active missionary endeavours in the West .
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