Elorm Ocansey

CH 511 Denominational Tradition Annotated Bibliography

Date: 03/09/2024

Denomination: African Charismatic Pentecostal

1. Burgess, Stanley M. 2006. Encyclopedia of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity.

Routledge Encyclopedias of Religion and Society. New York: Routledge.

In this text, Stanley Burgess provides a definitive encyclopedia on modern

Pentecostalism, and he catalogs the emergence of the charismatic movement within the
broader Pentecostal tradition. Although, it’s not focused on the African context, this work
provides a historical background that helps to understand the foundation of modern
Pentecostalism. It contains 135 articles covering four broad topics: Concepts, History and
Study of Pentecostalism, Practices and Institutions, and Regional Surveys.

2. Kalu, Ogbu. 2008. African Pentecostalism: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University

Press.

In this text, Kalu Ogbu shares an exhaustive history of the development of African
Pentecostalism. His text professes the African narrative lost within the global and
Western historiography on Pentecostalism. Specifically, he notes how African
Pentecostalism wasn’t a vestige of European missionaries, rather it was formed for and
by African Christians without missionaries or any foreign influence. Overall, this text
tells the story of African Pentecostalism by emphasizing the space, time, themes, and
scholarly discourse of African voices.

3. Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena. 2020. Pentecostalism in Africa: Experiences from Ghana’s

Charismatic Ministries. Regnum Mini Book Series. Oxford: Regnum Books
International, an imprint of the Oxford Centre for Mission studies.

In this text, Kwabena Asamoah‐Gyadu details the practice and experience of

contemporary Charismatic Pentecostalism in Ghana based on his insider perspective. He
writes to dispel the Western stereotype of African Pentecostalism as a bizarre, cultist
practice rooted in health and wealth prosperity gospel while people languish within a
poverty‐ravished continent. The author tells a different story, based on extensive research
in Ghana and with many vivid descriptions of Pentecostal practices, being both a critical
and a sympathetic observer.

4. Casselberry, Judith, and Elizabeth A Pritchard, eds. 2019. Spirit on the Move: Black
Women and Pentecostalism in Africa and the Diaspora. Religious Cultures of African
and African Diaspora People. Durham: Duke University Press.
 In this text, the authors examine the role, impact, and power of Black women within
Pentecostalism. Its findings are based on a symposium held at Bowdoin College that
brought together scholars in Africana, religious, feminist studies, history, anthropology,
sociology, and ethnomusicology to discuss Pentecostalism’s appeal to Black women.
They examined various settings and backgrounds from Brazil, Ghana, Grenada, Haiti,
Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, the United States, and Zambia. Overall, it concludes the
appeal of Pentecostalism for Black women was unrestricted access to a sense of spiritual
power.

5. Elorm-Donkor, Lord Abraham. 2017. Christian Morality in Ghanaian Pentecostalism: A

Theological Analysis of Virtue Theory As a Framework for Integrating Christian and
Akan Moral Schemes. Regnum Studies in Mission. Minnesota: Fortress Press.

In this text, Lord Abraham Elorm-Donkor explores the disconnect between theory and
praxis that often exists in African Pentecostalism. He dissects the separation of morality
from spirituality to understand why social injustice and corruption are usually rampant in
areas where Pentecostalism is thriving. He does this by studying and contrasting the Akan
religion of Ghana with Ghanaian Pentecostalism. Overall, he notes how within Ghanaian
Pentecostalism, evil spirits are often blamed for moral failures and therefore become a
scapegoat for individual moral responsibility. In contrast, within the Akan religious
praxis, one's morality doesn’t depend on religion.

6. Kgatle, Mookgo S. 2022. “‘Go Deeper Papa, Prophesy, Do Something’: The Popularity
and Commercialisation of Prophetic Deliverance in African Pentecostalism.” Verbum Et
Ecclesia 43 (1). doi:10.4102/ve.v43i1.2480.

In this article, the author explores the ministry of deliverance in African Pentecostalism.
The article specifically studies the deliverance ministry within New Prophetic Churches
(NPCs) in South Africa and argues that the transactional nature by which prophets
exchange spiritual deliverance for financial support is a violation of Christ’s teachings to
give freely as you have received freely.

7. Lauterbach, Karen & Bob-Milliar, George. 2023. “Grounding the Prosperity Gospel.”
The Pentecostal World. Routledge Worlds Series. London: Routledge.
doi:10.4324/9781003108269-32.

In this article, the authors seek to analyze the intersection between religion and prosperity
by examining a project to build a National Cathedral in Accra, Ghana, a project launched
by President Nana Akufo-Addo in March 2017 to celebrate Ghana’s sixtieth anniversary
as an independent nation. Overall, the authors found two different ways this project
intersects between religion and prosperity. Firstly, in how the project was branded by the
President as an act of national thanksgiving to God for the success of the nation, and
secondly, in how the chairman of the fundraising committee of the Cathedral, Pastor
 Duncan-Williams central justification for donors was the idea that giving to the project
would bring blessings from God.

8. Quampah, D, and Marilyn Naidoo. 2020. “Pursuing the Ideal of Integration in Pentecostal
Theological Education: A Case Study of Pentecost Theological Seminary, Ghana.” Acta
Theologica 40 (2): 300–320. doi:10.18820/23099089/actat.v40i2.16.

In this article, the authors, reports on a study evaluating the curriculum of Pentecost
Theological Seminary in Ghana. The author’s note how the Pentecostal movement’s
aversion to theological education made them dependent on other Christian traditions for
models on theological education. Overall, the article uses this case study to access the
effectiveness of Pentecostal theological education in Ghana and its capacity to produce
well-formed, and well-resourced Christian leaders.