Original Research

Allan Anderson’s African Pentecostalism theology and the ‘othering’

Selaelo T. Kgatla
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 79, No 1 | a7904 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v79i1.7904 | © 2023 Selaelo T. Kgatla | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 08 July 2022 | Published: 27 January 2023

About the author(s)

Selaelo T. Kgatla, Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Faculty of Humanities, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

Allan Heaton Anderson is one of the few white South Africans who succeeded in getting out of the entrapment of racial prejudices when it came to the written history of African-initiated churches. He became aware of the fact that an authentic theology can only be examined within context, and thus his theological analysis of African independent churches (AICs) reflects his status in the margins. Anderson not only conducted research among the poor and the downtrodden, where he challenged assumptions made by his white contemporaries, but he also identified with the ‘othering’, those who were powerless and marginalised – contributing immensely to African theology of inclusivity. This article comprised three sections: firstly, it traced Anderson’s journey within and his contribution to the theology of African Pentecostalism; secondly, it explored the notion of typology of AICs using the lens of ‘othering’; and thirdly, it concluded with recent trends in neo-Pentecostalism. Following the philosophical axiom of critical theory, the article was involved in dialogue with Anderson, interrogated European missionary typologies of African-initiated churches and, finally, critiqued the convergence of ‘progressive Pentecostals’ and ‘globalisation’ in shaping a new mission paradigm.

Contribution: This article paid closer attention to intersectionality of historiography and hybrid theological subjects such as practical theology and African theology. The contribution of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research by white African scholars on African theology was appraised. The article further appreciated the contribution by a white theologian who had mastered African epistemology of being and living by critiquing the theory of paternalistic ‘othering’.


Keywords

Pentecostalism; African-initiated churches; typology; Messianism; othering; prejudices; syncretism; theory.

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Crossref Citations

1. Invigorating Interfaith Consciousness for the Common Good: Reimagining the Role of African Religion and Pentecostalism in Contemporary South Africa
Gallous Atabongwoung, Johannes M. Lütz, Denise A. Austin
Religions  vol: 14  issue: 4  first page: 486  year: 2023  
doi: 10.3390/rel14040486