Salvation: Prosperity or Poverty. An Assessment of African Pentecostal Christianity
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Date
2020-12
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PACU
Abstract
The doctrine of salvation has wrongly been construed by many African Pentecostal adherents. The problem, in particular, emanates from a misunderstanding of the doctrine of salvation as presented in the Bible. The crux of the problem lies with two critical terms: prosperity and poverty. This has elicited an endless debate among scholars, theologians, and Christians in general. At first, the debate gained its popularity in the wake of the prosperity gospel which started in America in the late nineteenth century. One school of thought overemphasizes prosperity as a sure mark of true salvation while another school emphasizes poverty as the mark of salvation. Today, the reality of this debate plays out in everyday life in African Pentecostal Christianity. It has left sincere adherents confused and unable to grasp what salvation means in raelity. While the two emphases are representative of certain aspects of salvation the extremes must be avoided in discussing the doctrine of salvation. This study is an assessment of the doctrine of salvation in African Pentecostalism. It explores the two sides of emphasis of the doctrine of salvation that has dominated African Pentecostalism; prosperity or poverty. By so doing, the study seeks to respond to the fundamental question: Is salvation representative of prosperity or poverty or both? The study responds to the question by assessing selected passages Scripture on salvation. The study will analyze those passages for their correct interpretation and application. It is hoped that in so doing the impasse which exists in discussing salvation on the narrow sense of prosperity and poverty will be resolved. Thus, the study is exegetical, biblical, and theological
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African Christianity,, African Pentecostalism,, poverty,, prosperity Pentecostalism, salvation,, wealth and health.
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