Publisher's Synopsis
J. Kwabena Asamoah Gyadu ""offers his reader a comprehensive and highly perceptive account of the appeal and theological influence of this kind of Christianity, combining scholarly excellence with a deep insider understanding of resonances with African religious sensibilities."" Martin Lindhardt (From the Foreword) This is a scholarly piece of work, presented in a simple, readable style that should make it easily accessible and beneficial to all, scholars and non-scholars alike. In this book, Asamoah-Gyadu returns to many familiar themes; he dialogues with other scholars in the field and also engages with the leaders of Charismatic/Pentecostal Christianity themselves. He consistently allows them to speak for themselves. Though an ordained minister of the Methodist Church, Ghana, Asamoah-Gyadu often points out how the mission-founded churches in Ghana have fallen behind their Charismatic/Pentecostal counterparts and the need for the former to learn from the latter. It is clear that this learning process has already started. Asamoah-Gyadu constantly demonstrates the primal and, therefore, African underpinnings of much that is in African Pentecostalism today. He clearly has soft spot for this brand of Christianity, but that does not deter him from pointing out elements that lack adequate biblical grounding. We thus end up with is a very comprehensive and balanced examination of the African Pentecostalism that has a great deal to teach African Christians but even more so Christians elsewhere. After all, as A. F. Walls has often indicated, African Christianity will be, if it is not already, a major component of the representative Christianity of the twenty-first century. This makes this book required reading for all those interested in the current state of African Christianity and the future of Global Christianity. Rev. B. Y. Quarshie, PhD, Rector, Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture, Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana Rev. Prof. J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu holds PhD (Theology) from the University of Birmingham, UK and DD (Honoris Causa) from the Asbury Theological Seminary, Kentucky, USA. He is Bae¨ta-Grau Professor of Contemporary African Christianity and Pentecostal/Charismatic Theology at the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, Accra, Ghana. He is married to Theodora and they have three children: Theophil, Griselda, and Emmanuel.
