Religion has inspired those -- from Gandhi to Tutu -- who have sought to transform southern Africa. This volume presents voices from across the spectrum, passionately arguing that religion plays, and must continue to play, a vital role in shaping the political, social, and cultural reality of African people.

A complex and unpredictable factor in the explosive South African conflict, the Christian churches will almost certainly play a key role in its ultimate resolution. This book, which is based on a four-year research project, explores the possible dimensions of that role through a systematic examination of the connections between religion and the social, political, and economic life of the nation. Focusing on critical issues in the current debate, the authors look at how religion and religious attitudes function in facilitating or restraining social change and what consequences this may hold for South Africa's future. The authors begin by describing the social role fo religion in South Africa, together with the particular issues that have drawn churches into the debate. They provide comprehensive profiles of the patterns of religious affiliation and attitudes that characterize contemporary South Africa. Next they assess the social impact of various denominations and movements, including Afrikaner civil religion, the Black indigenous churches, and pietistic religious groups. Ongoing theological debates on human rights, racial equality, the power structure of society, and the question of violence are considered in detail. The concluding chapter integrates the findings of the study and considers religious values as an instrument for developing social consciousness and a commitment to universal justice. This authoritative analysis of the broader dimensions of religion in South Africa makes a significant contribution to our understanding of religion as a factor in contemporary social and political processes. It will be of interest to students and specialists in African studies and to scholars concerned with the role of religion in the modern world.

Professor Wilson examines the changes isolated communities undergo when they come into contact with the outside world.

This volume brings together seven empirically grounded contributions by African social scientists of different disciplinary backgrounds. The authors explore the social impact of religious innovation and competition in present day Africa. They represent a selection from an interdisciplinary initiative that made 23 research grants for theologians and social scientists to study Christianity and social change in contemporary Africa. These contributions focus on a variety of dynamics in contemporary African religion (mostly Christianity), including gender, health and healing, social media, entrepreneurship, and inter-religious borrowing and accommodation. The volume seeks to enhance understanding of religions vital presence and power in contemporary Africa. It reveals problems as well as possibilities, notably some ethical concerns and psychological maladies that arise in some of these new movements, notably neo-Pentecostal and militant fundamentalist groups. Yet the contributions do not fixate on African problems and victimization. Instead, they explore sources of African creativity, resiliency and agency. The book calls on scholars of religion and religiosity in Africa to invest new conceptual and methodological energy in understanding what it means to be actively religious in Africa today.