Reconsidering Syncretism and Contextualization: The sangoma-Prophet Phenomenon in South African Neo-Prophetic Pentecostalism

Abstract

The emergence of African Christianity from missionary tutelage towards the close of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century raised concerns of syncretism that only eased with arguments of contextualisation in the 1970s. The arguments some missiologists in Southern Africa made, especially about the older Spirit churches (Zion and Apostolic churches) as indigenising agents, almost retired the concept of syncretism in relation to these churches in favour of recognising them as being responsive to their context—hence, agents of contextualisation. The advent of the neo-prophetic movement requires a reconsideration of both the concepts of syncretism and contextualisation of the Christian faith, especially in light of the alleged interaction of some in this movement with ancestral spirits. The article concerns itself with the question: why does the advent of neo-prophetism require a conceptual reconsideration of syncretism and contextualisation and to what end? The search for an answer to this question adopts a qualitative desktop research approach. The study seeks to understand the reasons for the traditional healing (sangoma) prophet phenomenon requiring a reconsideration of the mentioned concepts.