Production and Management of Therapeutic Power in Zionist Churches Within a Zulu City

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Year:
Pages:300
ISBN:0-88946-283-6
978-0-88946-283-0
Price:$199.95 + shipping
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Deals with health-coping mechanisms in the Zionist church, and how the employ of religious powers for healing is carried out. Focuses on the mystical powers which are used to combat illness. In a situation of religious pluralism, the Zionists are unique in their construction of "havens of health" or sheltered communities which provide care for the afflictions of the urban poor.

Reviews

". . . these essays present an intimate and sympathetic analysis of the social, religious and political structures of the village. They are provided with an introductory preface which describes the evolution of the volume. The bibliographical essay, 'The Study of African Independent Churches: Themes and Trends' . . . provides an excellent selective introduction to this corpus of literature." - The Christian Librarian

"Most readers of the Review are involved in some sort of day to day ministry in or with AICs and may find themselves, like myself, looking for points of contact between this kind of academic study of AICs and their own ministry. These points of contact are not hard to find. Take, for example, Kiernan's chapter on the relationship between prophet and preacher. Kiernan describes how Zionist services are divided into two ritual phases: preaching and healing. Minister-preachers dominate the first phase of the service while prophets dominate the second. . . . this is true both for the 1960s South African churches which Kiernan observed and the 1990s Botswana churches with which I work. . . . Similarly, Kiernan's brief discussion of the children of Zionists again led me to think about my own work . . . . Although Kiernan's book will be of most interest to academics, readers of the Review will find many points of contact between the subjects addressed in the book and their own work." - Baragumu (OAIC Research and Communication Services)

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