The African Church's application of anointing oil : an expression of Christian spirituality or a display of fetish ancestral religion?
Date
2021-01-28
Authors
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AOSIS
Abstract
The content of Christian spirituality that made waves since the inception of the early church
soon took on different contours as the faith got adapted to different gentile contexts. The
expression of this faith, along with its liturgical symbolism and sacramental observances, is still
gaining momentum in African Christianity. The emerging practice of the use of ‘anointing oil’
in its religious expression is receiving more attention than the Christ of the Gospel. In this
article, we argue that against its primitive intent, the use of the ‘anointing oil’ by the African
Church is a mere display of fetish ancestral religion that expresses its unique African traditional
religious root rather than a true expression of Christian spirituality. Our thesis is framed on the
basis that the manner in which some African churches apply the purported ‘anointing oil’ is
discriminatory vis-à-vis its ancient understanding and purpose. In our attempt to address this
damaging practice to true Christian spirituality, also standing as a huge challenge for pastoral
theology, we undertook a careful historical–theological analysis of the extant biblical data and
its contextual interpretation vis-à-vis its distortion today. We concluded that what pastoral
theologians have to deal with within the Christian community in Africa is offering the right
biblical perspective against the distorted mode of the application of the contemporary purported
‘anointing oil’ that is falsely projecting the Christian faith and belief in a bad light.
Description
CITATION: Biwul, J. K. T. 2021. The African Church's application of anointing oil : an expression of Christian spirituality or a display of fetish ancestral religion? HTS Theological Studies, 77(4):a6266, doi:10.4102/hts.v77i4.6266.
The original publication is available at https://hts.org.za
The original publication is available at https://hts.org.za
Keywords
Christianity -- Africa, Spirituality, Pastoral theology
Citation
Biwul, J. K. T. 2021. The African Church's application of anointing oil : an expression of Christian spirituality or a display of fetish ancestral religion? HTS Theological Studies, 77(4):a6266, doi:10.4102/hts.v77i4.6266.