Browsing by Author "David, Stephen Kioko"

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    From disengagement to engagement : interrogating the political hermeneutics of Neo-Pentecostals in Kenya (2000-2022)
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-02 ) David, Stephen Kioko; Muller, Retief
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Neo-Pentecostalism is the new face of Christianity with global and local manifestations. Studies on Christianity in Africa have shifted their focus from mainstream Christianity to Pentecostalism. This study contributed to the discourse on Pentecostalism specifically on Pentecostal engagement in the public sphere. Therefore, the study interrogated the political hermeneutics of Neo-Pentecostals explaining the shift from disengagement to engagement in politics in Kenya (2000 -2022). Towards this end, the study was guided by the following objectives: To analyse the history and the theology of Neo-Pentecostals in Kenya; to examine the theological shift of the Neo - Pentecostals from disengagement to engagement in Kenyan politics; to discuss the biblical-political hermeneutics of Neo-Pentecostals and its impact on the Neo-Pentecostals involvement in Kenyan politics; to analyse the nature, extent and the prophetic role of Neo-Pentecostal’s engagement in Kenyan politics. While studies have been done on Neo-Pentecostals and public engagement, this study delved into the Neo-Pentecostal aspect of biblical interpretation regarding political involvement. On methodology, the study used a descriptive research design employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches. To arrive at the appropriate study sample purposive, simple random, and stratified sampling procedures were used to sample bishops, pastors, and Church members from three Neo-Pentecostal Churches in Nairobi County and Nakuru County in Kenya. The study included two members of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK), which is a representative body of Pentecostals on social matters. In total, the study sampled 221 respondents. Questionnaires, interview schedules, Focus group discussions, and personal observations were utilized in data collection. The field data was integrated with library research in analysing Neo-Pentecostal’s political hermeneutics, especially the shift from disengagement to engagement. The study data revealed that Neo-Pentecostalism finds its emergence within classical Pentecostalism through a period of growth within the story of the church. That Neo-Pentecostal theology is pneumatic, and although initially borrowed from evangelicalism, with time their theology has become more experiential with an emphasis on the lived experiences of the adherents. Further, the study found that while historically, the Neo-Pentecostal shift from disengagement to engagement was situated in eschatological contexts, eschatology with the quest of understanding the millennium and its place in the church was not purely what informed the shift. Besides, eschatology was the different hermeneutics that accompanied the Neo-Pentecostal emphasis on the Third person of the trinity; Holy Spirit. With a pneumatic posture in theology, Neo-Pentecostals interpret the Bible from a spiritualized orientation; what this study labelled spiritualized-selective-literal hermeneutics Concerning the Neo-Pentecostal nature and extent of involvement in Kenyan politics, the study established that Neo-Pentecostals are not normally active in terms of being prophetic. However, with a pneumatic theology and spirituality, demons and evil spirits are interpreted as the cause of individual and national problems. Consequently, their involvement in politics is spiritualized in the sense that prayer takes the centre stage. This is accompanied by a theology of deliverance, exorcising the demons which destroy the nation and its citizens. The findings of the study put together formed this thesis. The thesis will later be a source of scholarly articles and research papers on Pentecostal political hermeneutics.