Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 39:1 (Apr 2025)
Article: Holy Spirit And "Missio Ecclesiae" In Africa: Contexts, Diversity, And Confusion
Author: Jiofack Kana C. Jésus

SATS 39:1 (April 2025) p. 86

Holy Spirit And Missio Ecclesiae In Africa: Contexts, Diversity, And Confusion

Jiofack Kana C. Jésus

Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary

About The Author

Jiofack Kana C. Jésus is an ordained minister of the Cameroon Baptist Convention. He holds a Ph.D. in Missiology from the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary. He also earned a Maîtrise in Linguistics and African Language and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Dschang, in Cameroon. His areas of research include African missiology, contextual theologies, African philosophy and ethics, and applied linguistics.

Email: [email protected]

This article: https://www.sats.ac.za/conspectus/holy-spirit-missio-ecclesiae-in-africa https://doi.org/10.54725/conspectus.2025.1.6

Abstract

Due to some points of connection between pneumatology and the African worldview, all sorts of paranormal experiences have been attributed to the Holy Spirit. This phenomenon has caused a section of the Church to view any emphasis on the Holy Spirit with suspicion. Interestingly, in theological research, discussions on pneumatology seem to be restrained to the reinforcement of orthodoxy, with little or no awareness of Africans’ spiritual concerns. The main thrust that drives this study is that a contextual approach to pneumatology can provide a beneficial tool for engaging African Christians in relevant reflections on the beliefs related to the spirit world and so provide Bible-based responses that will strengthen the witnessing of the church. This article uses a comparative approach to analyze some major representations of the Holy Spirit in the African Church movement that make the contextualization of pneumatology necessary. The research findings indicate that Western Systematic Theology does not make a definite statement about how non-Western Christians are to understand the works of the Holy Spirit in relation to the spirit world. While local pneumatologies do engage the African worldview, they often incorporate unbiblical categories and practices. This study proposes a hermeneutics of the Spirit and a praxis-based theology as two essential components of a contextual pneumatology for the Evangelical Church. This article is a contribution to reflections on a contextual theology of mission in Africa.

Keywords

contextuality, mission, Pentecostalism, pneumatology, praxis

SATS 39:1 (April 2025) p. 87

1. Introduction

One recent development in the history of Christian missionary movements is the shift of the center of Christianity from the West to Africa. Scholars submit that these new dynamics are evidenced ...