Ghana's New Christianity: Pentecostalism in a Globalizing African Economy (review)

Who cares about Africa? This seems to be the critical question Paul Gifford broaches in Ghana's New Christianity: Pentecostalism in a Globalizing Economy. Gifford spends many pages educating the reader about political and economic problems that make life in the African continent difficult. One assumption on which the book is based is that if people in the West were educated regarding the difficulties of the African situation, their response would be forthcoming, but Gifford is not content merely to remind us that more than half of Africa's 870 million people survive on less than a dollar per day: he points up and points out ways in which Christian churches in Ghana, especially the new Pentecostal churches, contribute to the problems of poverty and lead in the direction of transforming life for many. The book deals with the response of the new Pentecostal churches to socioeconomic and political conditions in Ghana, and it provides a window for understanding the role of Pentecostal churches in West Africa.

This text is informed by liberation theology. It begins with exposition and analysis of social, economic, and political issues that bedevil the continent, but it moves quickly from the general to the particular, as the author shows how the new churches adapt their messages to Ghanaian contexts. The test to which these churches must submit is to what extent they contribute to the liberation of the populace, not only spiritually, but also economically. Gifford raises serious concerns as to how much the churches contribute to the economic health of the nation, as even the progressive churches, which teach the value of education and industry, demand that their members take time off from work, sometimes a week to attend church conferences. This is one reason Gifford argues for the seeming lack of progress in the economic life of the country, granted the emphasis of many megachurches on education and industry.

Gifford, who seems to have collected hundreds of sermons from Pentecostal churches in Ghana, divides these churches into two categories On the one hand there are churches that teach the need for a miraculous response to the ills besetting individuals and the country. Churches that articulate the miraculous approach to matters of health and finances are categorized as "the faith gospel." This perspective, imported from televangelists in the United States of America, teaches that those who would succeed in their finances, or experience deliverance from the "bondage of poverty," or "conquer in the business world," need to rely on the grace of God and church teachings. "A man had been very ill in Nigeria, and spent the equivalent of 60 million cedis at Enugu hospital. He attended all sorts of clinics, but to no avail. One day, when passing this pastor's church, the man had gone in, and given his life to Christ; as he left the platform after giving his life to Christ, he staggered and when asked why, replied that his burden had been lifted" (p. 155). Not only was this man healed of his curse, but the man who placed the curse on him was sentenced to death by the pastor. The church protects Christians. It is quite clear throughout this text that the author's sympathies are not with the miraculous churches, which represent the "faith gospel" perspective, but on the other hand, with those which teach that individual and political development come not from the miraculous, but from industry informed by church teachings. Although Gifford does not use the term, we may refer to this perspective as the "political gospel," which is set in tension with the "faith gospel." Gifford expresses sympathies for the psychological benefits of the miraculous emphasis, as he maintains it helps self-esteem of individual members but cannot see any benefit beyond that. Because of this, he devotes much of the text to a discussion of the "political gospel" advocated by Evangelist Olabil, who pastors a 7,000...