Women of Fire and Spirit: History, Faith, and Gender in Roho Religion in Western Kenya

ISBN-13: 9780195097917 / Angielski / Miękka / 1996 / 304 str.

Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton

Opis

The African Christian Roho religion, or Holy Spirit movement, is a charismatic and prophetic movement that arose in the Luo region of western Kenya. This movement has fascinated students of history and religion for more than sixty years, but surprisingly has not been extensively studied. This book fills that lacuna.

In Women of Fire and Spirit, Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton uses the extensive oral histories and life narratives of active participants in the faith, giving them full voice in constructing the history of their Church. In doing so, she counter-balances the existing historical literature, which draws heavily on colonial records. Hoehler-Fatton's sources call into question the paradigm of "schism" that has dominated the discussion of African independent Christianity. Faith, rather than schism or politics, emerges here as the hallmark of Roho religion.

Hoehler-Fatton's book is doubly unusual in foregrounding the role of women in the evolution and expansion of their Church. She traces the gradual transformation of women's involvement from the early years when--drawing on indigenous models of female spirit possession--women acted as soldiers, headed congregations, and served as pastors, to the present condition of Western-style institutionalization and exclusion for women. Despite this marginalization, women members continue to be inspired by the defiance of past heroines.

Recenzje

an important contribution to the scholarship on Christianity in Africa ... what makes this study so valuable is the sensitivity and skill with which Hoehler-Fatton treats two topics that are too often overlooked in studies of Christianity in Africa: the historical dynamics of the 'religioyus imagination' in church life; and the important role of women in preserving and fostering a Christian faith in Africa. Women of Fire and Spirit will be important reading for all those interested in the intersections of religion, gender, and colonialism in Africa for some time to come.