Christian fundamentalism in sub-Saharan Africa : the case of Pentecostalism

This paper addresses the growth and spread of charismatic Pentecostal churches in sub-Saharan Africa as a fundamental turn in the development of African Christianity. It describes the basic features of African Pentecostalism and analyses some of its essential ideological parameters. It shows that a significant characteristic of Pentecostalism in Africa is its fascination with modernity, with modern styles of consumption, new technologies, and the achievement of a dominant position in modern everyday life. Its ideology appears to be profoundly inspired by an antitraditional and antinostalgic paradigm. Paradoxically, these new charismatic churches have developed into agents of change in countries such as Ghana and Malawi