Traditional Churches, Born Again Christianity, and Pentecostalism: Religious Mobility and Religious Repertoires in Urban Kenya

364 Pages·2018·3.65 MB·English

by  Yonatan N. Gez

Yonatan N. Gez
TRADITIONAL CHURCHES,
BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANITY,
AND PENTECOSTALISM
Religious Mobility and Religious
Repertoires in Urban Kenya
Christianity and Renewal - Interdisciplinary Studies
Series Editors
Wolfgang Vondey
University of Birmingham
Birmingham, UK
Amos Yong
School of Intercultural Studies
Fuller Theological Seminary
Pasadena, CA, USA
Christianity and Renewal - Interdisciplinary Studies provides a forum
for scholars from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, various global
locations, and a range of Christian ecumenical and religious traditions
to explore issues at the intersection of the pentecostal, charismatic, and
other renewal movements and related phenomena, including: the trans-
forming and renewing work of the Holy Spirit in Christian traditions,
cultures, and creation; the traditions, beliefs, interpretation of sacred
texts, and scholarship of the renewal movements; the religious life,
including the spirituality, ethics, history, and liturgical and other prac-
tices, and spirituality of the renewal movements; the social, economic,
political, transnational, and global implications of renewal movements;
methodological, analytical, and theoretical concerns at the intersection of
Christianity and renewal; intra-Christian and interreligious comparative
studies of renewal and revitalization movements; other topics connect-
ing to the theme of Christianity and renewal. Authors are encouraged
to examine the broad scope of religious phenomena and their interpre-
tation through the methodological, hermeneutical, and historiographical
lens of renewal in contemporary Christianity. Under the general topic of
thoughtful reflection on Christianity and renewal, the series includes two
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lections that allow scholars from a variety of disciplines to interact under
a broad theme related to Christianity and renewal. In both kinds, the
series encourages discussion of traditional pentecostal and charismatic
studies, reexamination of established religious doctrine and practice,
and explorations into new fields of study related to renewal movements.
Interdisciplinarity will feature in the series both in terms of two or more
disciplinary approaches deployed in any single volume and in terms of a
wide range of disciplinary perspectives found cumulatively in the series.
More information about this series at
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Yonatan N. Gez
Traditional Churches,
Born Again
Christianity, and
Pentecostalism
Religious Mobility and Religious Repertoires
in Urban Kenya
Yonatan N. Gez
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Israel
Christianity and Renewal - Interdisciplinary Studies
ISBN 978-3-319-90640-9 ISBN 978-3-319-90641-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90641-6
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(“The Pastor,” in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, The Black Hermit, (1974, 43))
A
cknowledgements
This work is based on a doctoral thesis pursued at the Graduate Institute
of International and Development Studies in Geneva (IHEID), between
2009 and 2014, and on a Swiss National Science Foundation project
running between 2010 and 2015.1 It is indebted to a large number of
individuals and institutions.
I am grateful to my Geneva research team, including Edio Soares and
Jeanne Rey-Pellissier, and above all my main doctoral supervisor, Yvan
Droz, who has been a huge source of encouragement and support.
Indeed, while I take sole responsibility for all errors in this manuscript,
I appreciate that many of the insights presented here arose by a way of
joint discussions within the team. I am also thankful to my secondary
doctoral supervisor, Hervé Maupeu of the University of Pau and Pays de
l’Adour. Thanks also go to my colleagues at IHEID and the institute’s
staff.
In Kenya, I thank my interlocutors, friends, and collaborators, who
have let me into their lives and their homes. They bore with my odd,
sometimes sacrilegious questions with forbearance and humor, received
me with warmth and generosity, and gave me strength. I sincerely hope
that I have lived up to their trust and did not distort their perspectives
1This support was granted within the framework of a project titled « Structures anthro-
pologiques du religieux: Butinage et voisinage » (or “Project StAR” in short). The project
was financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation from 2010 to 2013 (project no.
100013-130340) and was then prolonged until the 2015 (project no. 100013-146301).
vii
viii ACKNoWLEDGEMENTS
and stories. In particular, I acknowledge the tremendous help of Samuel
owiwa, whose insights and companionship were invaluable. Throughout
my research, I enjoyed an affiliation with the Institut français de
recherche en Afrique (IFRA) in Nairobi, and I thank the institute’s staff—
including scholars, administrators, and service personnel, as well as those
of the adjoined British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA)—for their help
and encouragement. I also extend my appreciation to the staff at the
various libraries and academic institutions that I had visited in Nairobi:
the University of Nairobi, the Catholic University of East Africa and
Hekima College, Kenyatta University, the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate
School of Theology (NEGST), Strathmore University, the archive of the
Nairobi Hebrew Congregation, and the Kenya National Archives.
In my current academic home at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
I thank the Martin Buber Society of Fellows in the Humanities and
Social Sciences, including colleagues, management, and staff, for the
rare privilege of an extended postdoctoral fellowship. My appreciation
also goes to the university’s Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the
Advancement of Peace, where I serve as a fellow, and in particular to the
committed members of the institute’s Africa Unit and the “Africounters”
team, including Ruthie Wenske Stern, Manya Kagan, Gregor Buss,
Marlous van Waijenburg, and Tamara Kerzhner. I also wish to thank
my students and colleagues at the university’s Glocal International
Development Studies program, from whom I have learned much.
Additional appreciation goes to Amir Atsmon as well as to my family, and
in particular to Dana Gez for her assistance.
Lastly, I thank the funding bodies that have supported me through-
out this research project (2009–2015), including the Commission
Fédérale des Bourses pour Etudiants Etrangers and the Caisse de Bourses
pour Etudiants Juifs en Suisse. In particular, the long-term support by the
Swiss National Science Foundation deserves special recognition. My priv-
ileges have not been taken for granted.
c
ontents
1 Introduction 1
The 2009 Kenyan Census 1
Example Interviewees 4
Judy 4
Steve 5
Rachel 6
Esther 7
Andre 8
Research Question and Hypothesis 9
The Religious Repertoire Model and the Structure of This Work 12
A Note on Language and Choice of Terms 15
Methodology 20
References 28
Part I Theoretical Perspectives on Religious Mobility
2 Scholarly Approaches to Religious Mobility 35
Introduction 35
Studying Religious Conversion 36
Critique of the Study of Religious Mobility as Conversion 39
From Diachronic to Synchronic Approaches to Religious Mobility 43
ix
x CoNTENTS
Lived Religion 48
Conclusion 54
References 56
3 Religious Repertoire: A Theoretical Model and Approach 65
Introduction 65
Religious Forms and Classification 66
Thinking in Terms of Repertoire 68
Familiarization Through Practice 72
Pivot and Peripheries 79
Conclusion 81
References 83
Part II Urban Kenya as a Case Study
4 Introducing Urban Kenya’s Religious Market 89
Introduction 89
Religion and Politics in Kenya 93
Christianity in Urban Kenya 105
The Transformation of Urban Kenya’s Religious Landscape 118
Between Religious and Secular Culture 129
Conclusion 141
References 142
5 Negotiating Normative Christianity in Urban Kenya 153
Introduction 153
Normative Christianity as a Common Religious Territory 156
“Funny” Religious Forms: Unorthodox Churches, Sects, and
Devil Worship 159
“Funny” Practices: Deception, Manipulation, and Hypocrisy 168
The Debate Over Church Vetting 180
The “Gift of Discernment” 188
Conclusion 192
References 193