"This is by far the most informative book about contemporary African Christianity around; nobody could have written a study as richly detailed and as informed by real insider knowledge as he has done.... It will be the most significant study of African Christianity to appear at a time when its importance for Africa is becoming ever more widely recognized." J. D. Y. Peel
"A sophisticated political and social analysis of the various Christian groups is allied to a most original, consistent exploration of their different theological positions and thinking.... An interesting, important...
"This is by far the most informative book about contemporary African Christianity around; nobody could have written a study as richly detailed and ...
"Gifford knows his subject totally, has vast and wide-ranging sympathy for his subjects (though without being uncritical), and explores these themes with admirable intelligence. This book is simply the best thing out there." Philip Jenkins
"Gifford s is an uncompromising, hard-nosed study... N]o one can again look at the subject without at least a respectful nod in his direction." Lamin Sanneh
In Ghana s New Christianity, Paul Gifford considers the explosion of Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa by focusing on one place: Greater Accra, Ghana. Gifford examines every dimension...
"Gifford knows his subject totally, has vast and wide-ranging sympathy for his subjects (though without being uncritical), and explores these theme...
As the pressures of globalization are crushing local traditions, millions of uprooted people are buying into a new American salvation product. This fundamentalist Christianity, a fusion of American popular religion and politics, is one of the most significant cultural influences exported from the United States. With illuminating case studies based on extensive field research, Exporting the American Gospel demonstrates how Christian fundamentalism has taken hold in many nations in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
As the pressures of globalization are crushing local traditions, millions of uprooted people are buying into a new American salvation product. This fu...
This study examines the role of Christianity in Liberia under the corrupt regime of Samuel K. Doe (1980-1990). Paul Gifford shows that, in general, Liberian Christianity--far from being a force for justice and human advancement--diverted attention from the cause of Liberia's ills, left change to God's miraculous intervention, encouraged obedience and acceptance of the status quo, and thus served to entrench Doe's power. This Christianity, devised in and controlled from the United States, thus furthered regional American economic and political objectives, which were designed to support Doe's...
This study examines the role of Christianity in Liberia under the corrupt regime of Samuel K. Doe (1980-1990). Paul Gifford shows that, in general, Li...
This volume focuses on the role Christian churches have played in Africa's democratisation movements since the late 1980s. In some cases churchmen have presided over national conferences; in many, Christians comprise arguably the most significant segment of civil society. In some countries pastoral letters have challenged dictators; in others, churches have provided an essential support for the status quo. The book comprises both theoretical analyses and case studies. The theoretical discussions include the history of Church-State relations; theology and democracy; Pentecostalism and...
This volume focuses on the role Christian churches have played in Africa's democratisation movements since the late 1980s. In some cases churchmen hav...
This study examines the role of Christianity in Liberia under the corrupt regime of Samuel K. Doe (1980-1990). Paul Gifford shows that, in general, Liberian Christianity--far from being a force for justice and human advancement--diverted attention from the cause of Liberia's ills, left change to God's miraculous intervention, encouraged obedience and acceptance of the status quo, and thus served to entrench Doe's power. This Christianity, devised in and controlled from the United States, thus furthered regional American economic and political objectives, which were designed to support Doe's...
This study examines the role of Christianity in Liberia under the corrupt regime of Samuel K. Doe (1980-1990). Paul Gifford shows that, in general, Li...
The most recently acknowledged--and the most private--of the masters of modernity, Paul Valery is perhaps the most radical and wide-ranging. He navigates freely within the mental galaxies known to scientists, poets, literary theorists, musicians, philosophers, historians and social anthropologists, always concerned with exploring the potential and limits of the human mind. This volume of essays by internationally recognized scholars offers the first comprehensive account in English or French of Valery's work. It brings into focus the deeper coherence that animates what Valery called his...
The most recently acknowledged--and the most private--of the masters of modernity, Paul Valery is perhaps the most radical and wide-ranging. He naviga...
Are religions intrinsically violent (as is strenuously argued by the new atheists )? Or, as Girard argues, have they been functionally rational instruments developed to manage and cope with the intrinsically violent runaway dynamic that characterizes human social organization in all periods of human history? Is violence decreasing in this time of secular modernity post-Christendom (as argued by Steven Pinker and others)? Or are we, rather, at increased and even apocalyptic risk from our enhanced powers of action and our decreased socio-symbolic protections? Rene Girard s mimetic theory has...
Are religions intrinsically violent (as is strenuously argued by the new atheists )? Or, as Girard argues, have they been functionally rational instru...
From his groundbreaking "Violence and the Sacred "and "Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World," Rene Girard s mimetic theory is presented as elucidating the origins of culture. He posits that archaic religion (or the sacred ), particularly in its dynamics of sacrifice and ritual, is a neglected and major key to unlocking the enigma of how we became human. French philosopher of science Michel Serres states that Girard s theory provides a Darwinian theory of culture because it proposes a dynamic, shows an evolution and gives a universal explanation. This major claim has, however,...
From his groundbreaking "Violence and the Sacred "and "Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World," Rene Girard s mimetic theory is presented as ...
