Dear Panelists, I am a Westerner who has lived and worked in South Africa all my life. Specifically I have worked with African Students over the last 6 years. I’d like to make two observations about your reflections above. These don’t have anything to do with GAFCON, as much as observations I have made about African culture and the Charismatic movement:
1. Firstly, I agree that African culture generally seems to fit with Charismatic culture: There are a number of overlaps: warmth, relational, community focussed [i.e. anthropocentric], etc. There is actually an African word for it that has nothing to do with Christianity: ‘Ubuntu’. Desmond Tutu has even written a book on it - which also has nothing to do with Christianity[!] It is an difficult word to translate, but carries the notion of ‘Humanity’: That is, amongst other things, Ubuntu is an attitude of considerateness and pleasantness towards others. Superficially, it sounds quite Christian. The dark side however is that Ubuntu values relationship above truth. It doesn’t take much to see how that can quickly become wickedness. If, for example, a colleague is stealing from the office, I won’t tell due to being more committed to not disrupting our relationship than to righteousness or morality.

2. A much more sinister and serious consideration is that one of the reasons the Charismatic movement now dominates the Churchscape in SA and beyond is Charismatic pneumatology: African Traditional Religion is essentially omenistic. That is, the deceased ancestors guide and communicate through good and bad omens. Compare this view of guidance to the Charismatic view - which is virtually identical. When Africans are called upon by Charismatics to become Christians, they find it easier, because when it comes to guidance and God speaking, THEY DO NOT NEED TO REPENT OF THEIR PAGANISM! That is, they simply replace the ancestors with the Holy Spirit in their thinking and practice. The HS becomes an Ancestor. This has a devastating trajectory and effects almost everything - most obviously the doctrine of Scripture.

I’d value your thoughts.

Very interesting thoughts guys.

If you are right in saying that the charismatic culture is really african culture, this a reverse of cultural imperialism’s effect on some Christian missionary work in the past 200 years.

So where it was sometimes communicated (explicitly or implicitly) that being Christian meant behaving like a white westerner, perhaps in western charismatic circles the reverse happens. That is, that being a Christian means behaving like African Christians.

Not sure I buy all that yet but it is interesting to consider.

Two things I know for sure are: (1) I think the way African Christians worship during a church meeting is wonderful and inspiring. (2) I feel like a goose when I try to do the same.