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Religious Dualism in South Africa

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Religious Dualism in South Africa Religious Dualism in South Africa Consequences of Inadequate Missions Theology of the Sprit World by Harald Froise I declare that the thesis hereby submitted by me for the Ph.D. degree at the University of the Free State is my own independent work and has not been previously submitted by me at another university/faculty. It reflects my own views which are not necessarily the views of the University. I furthermore cede copyright of the thesis in favour of the University of the Free State. CONTENTS List of Illustrations ......................................................................................................... v List of Tables ................................................................................................................ v List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... vi Abstract ........................................................................................................................ vii Opsomming ................................................................................................................... ix Version of Bible ............................................................................................................ xi INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................1 CHAPTER ONE A POWERFUL SYNCRETISTIC CHURCH MOVEMENT.................................9 Spiritism in the Church.................................................................................... 12 Spiritism in the Government ............................................................................ 15 Spiritism among Academics ............................................................................ 16 Spiritism in Secular Society............................................................................. 18 Spiritism in African Traditional Religion ........................................................ 19 Contributory Factors ........................................................................................ 20 CHAPTER TWO SYNCRETISING OF AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION WITH CHRISTIANITY............................................................................... 25 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 25 Rapid Growth of the Church in South Africa .................................................. 26 The Problem of Culture.................................................................................... 27 Missionary Ignorance ....................................................................................... 31 Secrecy............................................................................................................. 34 Attempts at Compromise ................................................................................. 35 Secrecy Broken................................................................................................ 41 Veneration or Worship..................................................................................... 49 Evaluation ........................................................................................................ 49 Incorporation of African Traditional Religion into ‘Christian Churches ........ 56 Summary .......................................................................................................... 59 CHAPTER THREE WESTERN WORLDVIEW UNDER SCRUTINY................................................. 61 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 61 Western Worldview Defined ........................................................................... 62 Evangelical Approach to Ministry of Deliverance .......................................... 68 Christians and Bondage ................................................................................... 75 The Effects of a Faulty Worldview .................................................................. 85 A Syncretistic Theology................................................................................... 91 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 97 iii CHAPTER FOUR BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW OF THE SPIRIT WORLD.....................................100 Introduction .................................................................................................... 100 Powers and Authorities in Scripture .............................................................. 101 Demonisation of Believers............................................................................. 108 Angels and Demons ....................................................................................... 110 Opposing Opinions ........................................................................................ 111 Continuity of Praxis and Belief in Church History........................................ 126 Science and Religion...................................................................................... 129 Contrasts between Biblical and Animistic Power Encounters....................... 132 Pitfalls and Erroneous Teaching on Spiritual Warfare .................................. 135 The Need for a Biblical Theology.................................................................. 137 CHAPTER FIVE APPLICATION OF BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW IN MISSIONS.......................139 Introduction .................................................................................................... 139 The Validity of Drawing Conclusions from Evidence .................................. 141 Different Perspectives on Healing ................................................................. 150 Superiority of Biblical Practices .................................................................... 152 Changed Perspectives .................................................................................... 164 Case Studies ................................................................................................... 165 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................184 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................193 iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page Figure 1: Comparative Religious Distribution in Singapore and South Africa.............18 Figure 2: Animistic Worldview ...............................................................................47 Figure 3: Animistic Worldview of Lamin Sanneh.....................................................48 Figure 4: Filipino Spirit World ................................................................................63 Figure 5: The Excluded Middle...............................................................................64 Figure 6: Western Worldview .................................................................................68 Figure 7: Syncretism ..............................................................................................93 Figure 8: Inhabiting Spirits.....................................................................................97 Figure 9: Satan’s Limitations ................................................................................103 Figure 10: Biblical Worldview - Authority of the Believer........................................125 Figure 11: Falloff in AIC Attendance ......................................................................146 Figure 12: Distribution of Church Growth in Brazil .................................................147 Figure 13: Supernatural Causes in Psychology .........................................................153 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: AIC Growth Tends ..................................................................................10 Table 2: Door Openers........................................................................................131 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ATR: African Traditional Religion AIC: African Independent Churches or African Initiated Churches v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to acknowledge the tremendous assistance I have received from my promoter, Professor Pieter Verster. Not only has he paid attention to academic excellence, but he has gone out of his way to make helpful suggestions and even gone the second mile in helping to find sources to assist me in my research. He has been timeous in his responses, and that has made working with him a real pleasure. Words of encouragement have spurred me on to complete my work. I also wish to acknowledge the tremendous resources that have been available to me from my wife’s vast resource library. Marjorie’s collection of books relating to missions, religion, culture in South Africa and many other topics has been invaluable to me in my research. Working from overseas on a topic related to South Africa has been richly enhanced by her library. Not only so, but in spite of a heavy academic schedule of her own, she has gone out of her way to assist me in finding material related to my topic. A further source of assistance has been the library of the Newman Theological College. Their own collection of books has been supplemented by the inter-university lending system, and books have readily been available to me
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