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The and Augustine: The Challenge of Symbolic Thought in the Modern World * Karla Poewe

Introduction It is the intention of this paper to puzzle about the nature and impor- tance of charismatic as a prevalent experiential form of religiosity.l I say prevalent because it seems to be occurring in all parts of the world, although it is particularly lively in those areas that are under pressure to change, are questioning their major traditions, and/or are subject to considerable human transience. is a religion of change. In South Africa, founders of independent churches are quite explicit in their view that charismatic churches are there to change South African society. Thus, the nine biggest and most vigorous recently founded independent churches arse the centers of a major social drama.2 It consists of the coming together of diverse ethnic and "racial" groups the members of which have lost faith in both, and its violent alternative. The change of which I speak is, therefore, not that of high technol- ogy or urbanization and modernization of the Third World. Nor is it primarily social or political. It is rather cultural in nature and starts with the breakdown of world views like apartheid and, especial- ly, the major western world view based on science, progress, and

*Karla Poewe is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology, The Uni- versity of Calgary, 2500 University Dr., N.W.Calgary, Alta. T2N 1N4 Canada

lIn the 1950s to 1970s a pentecostal style of Christianity became acceptable in, and spread through, mainline churches. Called the charismatic renewal, it caused considerable strife within these churches. During the late 1970s and 1980s, splits led to the creation of innumerable independent charismatic churches and ministries. These independent churches and ministries are nondenominational and they are centered on the gifts of the Holy Spirit (as in 1 Cor.12), hence the designation charis- matic. They were the visions of itinerant and highly visible evangelists and prophets. Included here are such men as Bill Branham, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, Jim Baker, Jimmy Swaggart. Kenneth Hagin, (some of them now in disrepute) of America; Reinhard Bonnkb of Africa and now in West Germany; Joy Dawson of New Zealand; Yongi Cho of Korea; Ray McCauley, Ed Roebert, Fred Roberts, Nicky van der Westhuizen, Paul Lutchman, and Michael Kolisang of South Africa (representing all ethnic groups including Afrikaner, Indian, and Black); Graham Kendrick, Roger Teale, among many others of Great Britain, and so on. 2These churches include: Durban Christian Center, Hatfield of Pretoria, Rhema of Johannesburg, The Christian Revival Centerof Chattsworth, Christian City of Johan- nesburg, Nicky van der Westhuizen Evangelistic Ministry, Maritzburg Christian Center, Victory Life, and the New Covenant FellowshipBryanston). All 9 churches have over 800 members (where membership is emphasized) and between 10,000 to 50,000 people in attendance at Sunday services. 22

development. It is as if a medieval mind set resting on mysticism and a hankering for closeness to the divine center were, paradoxically, breaking through the fetters of the now aged and, to many, stifling atti- tudes of the Eighteenth Century Enlightenment. What has been lost is faith in science and the supremacy of reason. What has been won is a renewed faith in intuition, vision, experience of the holy, and creativ- ity. It means, in effect, a greater sensitivity to one's environment including an increased sensitivity toward the humanity and gifts of non-western peoples. It also means listening and acting upon inner promptings and, hence, being open to and grasping new opportunities, be they of a relationship or entrepreneurial kind. The effects of this are quite dramatic, for example, in South Africa's integrated independent churches where the Afrikaner is being detribalized and many a black is being turned away from bitterness and frustration.3 The charismatic movement and other experiential religions, in- cluding urban new religions and the New Age movement, express loss of confidence in one or the other of the major world traditions only to reemphasize formerly ignored facets of them. This versagen und umwalzen of world views and the resulting eclecticism has penetrated academia as much as the general public. One need go no further than to mention a few recent works in anthropology to make the point, for example, Karl-Heinz Kohl's Abwehr und Verlangen, Johannes Fabian's Time and the Other, George Marcus' and M. J. Fischer's Anthropology as Cultural Critique, and so on.4 All either question, or respond to the failure of, various traditions in the discipline. At the risk of stating the obvious, there seems to be a difference, however, between academia and the religiously involved public. The former tend to be content with their criticism, while the latter feel uncomfortable with it and proceed to fill the critical vacuum with an overarching goal. Both shun specific traditions and programs, but charismatics do so in order to reestablish a direct tie with God (the source and center of all creativity) who is expected and seen to act in their everyday life. In its Sartrean-like goal specification and in the un- Sartrean expectation of concrete manifestations (of the Holy Spirit), this form of religiosity is eminently existential. One of the ironies of rejecting a tradition is that the very rejection of its more recent doctrinal interpretations and religious practices gives a heightened respectability to its original doctrines and practices. Thus charismatic Christians see themselves as reenacting first Century

30ther as yet unpublished papers about South Africa's charismatic churches are available from the author. 4Karl-Heinz Kohl Abwehr und Verlangen Qumran: im Campus Verlag, 1987; Johannes Fabian, Time and the Other New York: Columbia University Press, 1983; George marchs and M. J. Fischer, Anthropology as Cultural Critique Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.