A MISSIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE ROLE OF THE BAPTISM AND INFILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN GHANAIAN PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES BY PETER WHITE (13424280) THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA, FACULTY OF THEOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE OF RELIGION AND MISSIOLOGY IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PhD) IN THE SUBJECT SCIENCE OF RELIGION AND MISSIOLOGY SUPERVISOR: PROF. C.J.P (NELUS) NIEMANDT APRIL 2014 DECLARATION I hereby declare that, except for the references to other people’s works, which have been duly acknowledged; “A missiological study of the role of the baptism and infilling of the Holy Spirit in Ghanaian Pentecostal Churches” is as the result of my own research and that it has not been submitted elsewhere for another degree. Additionally, I take responsibility for any inaccuracies and shortcomings, which may be detected in this work. …………………………………….. Dated: ………………………… Peter White (Student - 13424280) …………………………………….. Dated: ………………………… Prof. C.J.P (Nelus) Niemandt (Supervisor) ii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to God, and to all the missionaries tirelessly working in the harvest field of God through the help of the Holy Spirit. It is also dedicated to my lovely wife, Mrs. Esther White. “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor 1: 21 – 22) iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Prof. C.J.P. (Nelus) Niemandt, my supervisor, as well as to Prof. Thias Kgatla, Dr. Jaco Beyers and Dr. N.J. Gronum for their contributions to this research. Many thanks to Ms Hanré Janse van Rensburg for proofreading the final draft. I wish to also thank my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kpedzroku, for the educational foundation they gave me; not forgetting my siblings Francis, Rachael, Veronica, and Romeo for their love and encouragement. I would at this point also like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Boakye for their support; as well as Kofi, Kwame, and Amma for their love towards me and my wife in my absence. I wish to express my gratitude to Rev. Ekow Eshun, Rev. Eben Kwaku Dadson, Rev. Paul Owusu Yeboah, Rev. Yaw Nsiah Efriyie, and all the pastors of Revival Life Outreach Church. The same to Pastor Augustine Ayo, Pastor Toye Abioye, Pastor Bolaji Anani, and all the members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (Jesus House for All Nations and that of Mamelodi) in Pretoria, South Africa. I could not have accomplished this research without the field information supplied to me by Apostle Joseph Sakyi, the Christian Education Director of Christ Apostolic Church International Ghana, and Pastor Curtis Nartey of CACI (Tema Community 4), who was assigned by Apostle Sakyi to assist me with the relevant information. How would my life have been in South Africa without the wonderful support from the Niemandt family? They accepted me as one of them and also gave me all the necessary iv support. Many thanks to Mrs. Marthinet Niemandt, Marthinet, Dewald, Doret and last but not the least, to Chesta for the Cape Town experience. Prophetess Mrs. Ama Ofosu Koranteng, many thanks for helping me to get to know various places in Pretoria, and also to Mr. Ofosu Koranteng, Nicole and Jordan. I am so much indebted to my lovely wife Esther White for her contributions, which substantially improved the work. Finally, I wish to express my appreciation to our children Peter Holali(Jnr.), Helen Emefa, as well as to Suzzie, who took care of Peter and Helen during this very busy time. v ABSTRACT This research discusses the role of the baptism and infilling of the Holy Spirit in missions through a specific focus on Ghanaian Pentecostal Churches. Scripture, history, scholarly works, interviews, observations, ecumenical documents, as well as relevant documents of Ghanaian Pentecostal churches were used to study the issue under discussion. In order to achieve the objective for the topic chosen, the research also discusses some of the major factors that led to Pentecostalism in Ghana – i.e. the concern of the indigenes about their worldview not being addressed by the Western missionaries that came to serve in Ghana. In the desire of the then Ghanaian Christians to have their worldview addressed, they resorted first to the Pentecostalism initiated by the African Initiated Churches, and then to the current trend of Pentecostalism in Ghana. The findings reveal that, though one of the factors that has made Pentecostalism so acceptable to Ghanaians is the way it has addressed their worldview; Ghanaian Pentecostal Churches themselves are of the opinion that the role of the Holy Spirit is the major factor. Their argument is that, it takes the role of the Holy Spirit to convict a sinner of his or her sins and incorporate the person into the body of Christ. After this incorporation, the person needs to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit in order to be able to live according to the will of God. Furthermore, it is the Holy Spirit that also empowers believers to work both within and outside the church. This empowerment is manifested through the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to believers – for both their personal edification and the perfection of the church. As believers operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, God works through them in the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the missio Dei. It was finally revealed that, although the Holy Spirit is the power behind mission, the human factor cannot be forgotten. With this in mind, it was argued that Ghanaian Pentecostal churches have put into place various missional vi approaches, to help them to effectively participate in the missio Dei. These missional approaches were therefore discussed in the light of the “five marks of mission” (i.e. Evangelism, discipleship, responding to the social needs of people through love, transforming the unjust structures of society and safe guarding the integrity of creation) and Krintzinger et al.’s holistic mission approach (i.e. kerygmatic, diaconal, fellowship and liturgical). vii KEY WORDS Ghana, Pentecostalism, Holy Spirit, Mission, Missiology, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, infilling of the Holy Spirit, gifts of the Holy Spirit, missiological approaches, African Initiated Churches, worldview, culture. viii ABBREVIATIONS AICs – African Initiated Churches MICs – Missionaries Initiated Churches CoP – Church of Pentecost CACI – Christ Apostolic Church International WCC – World Council of Churches PENSOS – Pentecost Social Service PENSA – Pentecostal Students Association CASA – Christ Apostolic Students Association APOSA – Apostolic CCF – Campus Christian Family AGSA – Assemblies of God Students Association ix TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.........................................................................................................................II DEDICATION............................................................................................................................III ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..........................................................................................................IV ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................VI KEY WORDS..........................................................................................................................VIII ABBREVIATIONS....................................................................................................................IX CHAPTER ONE 1.1. Research Background............................................................................................................1 1.2. Research Problem................................................................................................................10 1.3. Research Objectives.............................................................................................................14 1.4. Relevance of the study.........................................................................................................14 1.5. Theoretical framework.........................................................................................................15 1.6. Research Methodology .......................................................................................................20 1.6.1. Data Collection Instruments.............................................................................................21 1.6.1.1. Literature Study.............................................................................................................22 1.6.1.2. Participant observation (Phenomenological methodology).............................. ............22 1.6.1.3. Interviews......................................................................................................................24 1.7. Definition of terms..............................................................................................................25 1.7.1. Holy Spirit........................................................................................................................26 1.7.2. Baptism of the Holy Spirit................................................................................................26 1.7.3. Infilling of the Holy Spirit................................................................................................27 1.7.4. Mission..............................................................................................................................27