Biblio Format	Annotation
Ahrens, Theodor. "Concepts of Power in Melanesian and Biblical Perspective." Missiology 5:2 (April 1977): 141-73.	The word "pawa" in Melanesian Pidgin and its equivalents in local vernaculars present key concepts in traditional Melanesian cosmologies as well as in the ideology of adjustment movements and in Christian folk-religion. This study explores Melanesian and biblical perspectives of "pawa", It was designed both to assist pastoral communication and to stimulate further theological discussion on an issue which is vital in a Melanesian context.
Hiebert, Paul. "The Flaw of the Excluded Middle." Missiology 10:1 (January 1982): 35-47.	Western world view has a blind spot that makes it difficult for any Western missionaries to understand, let alone answer, problems related to spirits, ancestors and astrology. Hiebert offers a reevaluation of these problems from a biblical perspective which challenges some of the assumptions of Western theology and opens the door for a more holistic, relational and relevant theology of mission.
Parshall, Phil. "Applied Spirituality in Ministry among Muslims." Missiology 11:4 (October 1983) 435-47.	What is spirituality in Islamic contexts? My spiritual pilgrimage of the past twenty-one years has been influenced significantly by the one-sixth of the world's population who adhere to the religion of Islam. This paper will highlight some of the more pertinent experiences which have formed my journey of "active passivity" lived within the matrix of Muslim society. The witness of others, much greater than myself, will also be shared.
Oosthuizen, George C. "Interpretation of Demonic Powers in Southern African Independent Churches." Missiology 16:1 (January 1988): 3-22.	African Independent Churches (AIC) have grown especially in South Africa at a tremendous pace. Various reasons account for this tremendous growth such as several major emphases: Africanization of the church, socioeconomic deprivation, the adaptation process from the microcosmic to the macrocosmic world, and a holistic approach to healing which takes note of the indigenous cosmology. The latter aspect is a central issue. There are two types of diseases--natural, behind which are no malicious external forces, and those which are understood only within the context of African cosmology such as witchcraft, sorcery, ancestor wrath, spirit-possession. The missionaries ignored these forces and the problems Africans encountered with them. To these malicious forces the AIC give attention and their handling of them makes a decisive impact. This is the main theme of the article.
Musk, Bill. "Dreams and the Ordinary Muslim." Missiology 16:2 (April 1988): 163-72.	Reality is seen in very different ways by people from different cultural backgrounds. Ordinary Muslims live in a world in which transempirical "beings" and "powers" impinge on their everyday lives. In that process, the role of dreams is significant. This article examines ways in which dreams function among ordinary Muslims. A summary of the significance of dreams in the Bible is followed by an analysis of the roles that dreams have played in the processes of conversion for those coming to Christ from a Muslim background. Finally, some conclusions are drawn for contemporary witness among ordinary Muslims.
Sterk, Vernon J. "Evangelism with Power: Divine Healing in the Growth of the Tzotzil Church." Missiology 20:3 (July 1992): 371-84.	In areas of the world where animistic cultures are resistant to the gospel, a ministry of healing that demonstrates God's power is indispensable to the effective communication of the gospel and the growth of the church. Such a ministry touches the core of the indigenous world view and is therefore an essential form of evangelism. Through four case studies, the author shows how evangelism coupled with divine healing has played a major role in the growth of the Tzotzil church in Chiapas, Mexico.
Berends, Willem. "African Traditional Healing Practices and the Christian Community." Missiology 21:3 (July 1993): 275-88.	The article draws attention to the continuing popularity of African traditional healing practices, and asks whether African churches and modern medical programs can continue simply to denounce or to ignore such practices The need for a further appraisal becomes apparent when it is shown that the purposes of these healing practices fulfill certain functions not met by modem medicine. When a comparison shows that the healing practices recorded in the Old and New Testaments often have more in common with African traditional practices than with modern medicine, the question whether the African Christian community should reevaluate the traditional healing practices becomes unavoidable.
Hill, Harriet. "Witchcraft and the Gospel: Insights from Africa." Missiology 24:3 (July 1996): 323-44.	Missionaries to Africa have long ignored the problem of witchcraft feeling that it was simple superstition that would evaporate in the face of modernity. Instead, witchcraft activities have not only persisted, they seem to be on the increase. Witchcraft is a daily, pernicious problem for many African Christians, and yet the gospel that is preached does not address it adequately. Social scientists have given much attention to witchcraft but discount any spiritual reality, and thus provide only a partial analysis. This article attempts to define what witchcraft is ontologically, and then presents a missiological response for consideration.
Hohensee, Donald. "'Power Encounter' Paves Way for Church Growth in Africa." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 15:2 (April 1979): 85-87.	Elijah's confrontation with the prophets of Baal is seen as the model for the courage of an African preacher who dug up a local sacred rock, and then saw people come to Christ after he survived the encounter with paganism, This was the key to church growth in this isolated valley of Burundi, East Africa.
Otis, Gerald E. "Power Encounter: The Way to Muslim Breakthrough." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 16:4 (October 1980): 217-20.	Describes a power encounter in a Muslim setting in the Philippines and advocates it as a methodology for reaching Muslims.
Strom, Donna. "Why Knowing Animism Is Necessary to Reach Hindus." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 18:3 (July 1982): 146-51.	The majority of Hindus retain many preliterate animistic beliefs. Thus a study of animism helps us understand both popular Hinduism and indigenous tribal religions.
Entz, Loren. "Challenges to Abou's Jesus." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 22:1 (January 1986): 46-50.	Christ's power over the forces of darkness have been vividly demonstrated in the life of a former Muslim sorcerer. This article presents his story and the challenges he has faced since coming to Christ.
Peters, Ken. "Touching the Mystical Heart of Islam." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 25:4 (October 1989): 364-69.	A different approach is needed to reach Muslims who practice a simple Islam of the heart (mystical or folk Islam). The author believes that we could achieve positive results if we placed more emphasis on reaching them through a more mystical signs and wonders approach.
Baker, Ken. "Power Encounter and Church Planting." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 26:3 (July 1990): 306-12.	Why did my evangelical environment treat the demonic as unimportant, or as something limited to "pagan lands"? Because of the way we perceive and understand reality, which is Western and scientific. Our problem is perception and world view. The way Westerners in general perceive reality is the way most Christians do. That's why we have failed to grasp the significance of spiritual warfare.
McConnell, William. "Confronting the Occult in Christian Community." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 28:4 (October 1992): 408-11.	The rise of spiritism must be met with strong biblical knowledge and Christian fellowship. This article relates experiences and advice from work in Brazil.
Wagner, C. Peter. "Spiritual Power in Urban Evangelism: Dynamic Lessons from Argentina." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 27:2 (April 1991): 130-37.	Explores the successes of several Argentinean evangelists and pastors in light of spiritual warfare issues and advocates more conscious spiritual warfare strategies in reaching urban areas for Christ.
Kraft, Charles H. "What Kind of Encounters Do We Need in Our Christian Witness?" Evangelical Missions Quarterly 27:3 (July 1991): 258-65.	Power encounter must be biblically balanced with truth and commitment encounters if we are to succeed in our world mission. Kraft explains all three terms as he uses them in this article.
Wakely, Mike. "A Critical Look at a New 'Key' to Evangelization." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 31:2 (April 1995): 152-62.	Spiritual warfare is being offered as the new key to reaching the world for Christ, and there are accompanying strategies (e.g., strategic-level spiritual warfare) that should be examined critically. The author lists and explains eleven concerns he has with this shift in missions thinking.
Butler, Carolyn. "Applying God's Grace to an Animistic Society." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 29:4 (October 1993): 382-89.	These gleanings on the challenges of sharing the message of grace in an animistic culture are simply discernments from my readings and observations mostly resultant from my own sense of failure and frustration. But more recently. thankfully, have come insights into how to combat the forces of evil actively at work in this culture. Such personal findings must be viewed in a specific setting, discerned within a definite culture. This information is set against a background of the Bantu culture of Zaire, against the backdrop of the ministry of African Christian Mission (ACM).
Etuk, Udo. "New Trends in Traditional Divination." Africa Theological Journal 13:2 (1984): 83-91.	This article is not prompted by the need for more adaptation. Rather it is prompted by a certain practice which I happened to stumble on among traditional diviners which seems to have received little close study by African specialists in this area. This practice which for want of a better word we shall characterize as "adoptive"--a kind of adaptation in the opposite direction--shows traditional diviners or medicine-men praying "in Jesus Name" either at, the beginning or end (but usually a the beginning) of their mantic practices.
Igenoza, A. O. "African Weltanschauung and Exorcism: The Quest for the Contextualization of the Kerygma." Africa Theological Journal 14:3 (1985): 179-93.	In light of contemporary hermeneutics how do we understand the ministry of exorcism in contextualizing Christianity in Africa?
Onunwa, Udobata. "The Biblical Basis for Some Healing Methods in African Traditional Society." Africa Theological Journal 15:3 (1986): 188-95.	A common phenomena is that Africans seek healing from traditional healers. This paper looks for a biblical basis and equivalents for some traditional therapeutic methods in contemporary society and a theological evaluation of those methods.
Miola, M. P. "The Effect of Belief in the Living Dead on the Church's Mission in South Africa." Africa Theological Journal 18:2 (1989): 140-50.	Intent of paper is to show how the Gospel should be communicated to the peoples of South Africa in light of the belief system surrounding the living dead and the effect of that system on how the church should communicate the Gospel.
Ogbonnaya, A. Akechukwu. "Person as Community: An African Understanding of the Person as an Intra-Psychic Community." Africa Theological Journal 22:2 (1993): 117-129.	Reflects on the human being as a community and deals with resulting implications, such as the ability to have exo-somatic (out of the body) experiences.
Chiu, Andrew. "Spirit and Spirits in Classical Asian Religions and Traditions." The East Asia Journal of Theology 4:2 (1986): 104-120.	Discussion on spirit and Spirit and their role(s) in classical Asian religions and traditions (tradition by tradition, from Animism to Zoroastrianism).
Southard, Samuel and Southard, Donna. "Demonizing and Mental Illness." The East Asia Journal of Theology 4:2 (1986): 170-183.	Explores case studies of demonization in Hong Kong and offers theological and psychological evaluation of the cases.
Clasper, Paul. "Christian Spirituality and the Chinese Context." The South East Asia Journal of Theology 18:2 (1972): 1-12.	Reflections on the significance of the Chinese tradition for the search of a new Christian spirituality.
Southard, Samuel and Donna. "Demonizing and Mental Illness (II) Explanations and Treatment, Seoul." Asia Journal of Theology 1:1 (1987): 189-205.	Continues the first article in exploring case studies of demonization in Hong Kong and offers theological and psychological evaluation of the cases.
Manus, Chris Ukachukwu. "Miracle-Workers/Healers As Divine Men: Their Role in the Nigerian Church and Society." Asia Journal of Theology 3:2 (1989): 658-669.	No study on religion, medicine, and healing today can exclude the charismatic leaders and faith healers. The roles of these types of people in traditional African society, in biblical society, and in contemporary society are explored.
Grenz, Stanley J. "Superstition: A Christian Perspective." Asia Journal of Theology 8:2 (1994): 365-378.	How can we explain the persistence of superstition in contemporary (modern, secular) cultures (in this case Marxist China), and what constitutes a proper Christian response to the presence of such superstition?
Asian Theological Association. "A Working Document Towards a Christian Response to Ancestor Practices." Asian Perspective No. 33 (n.d.): 1-9.	Working document from the Consultation on the Christian Response to Ancestor Practices held in Taiwan, Dec. 26-31, 1983. Explores historical, biblical, and practical perspectives.
Chevannes, Barry. "Some Notes on African Religious Survivals in the Caribbean." Caribbean Journal of Religious Studies 5:2 (Sept. 1983): 18-28.	Discussion of elements of African religions which survive in Caribbean religions. The article is confined to discussing religious survivals, although it is recognized that survivals in the secular areas, e.g. languages, gestures, games, work, still abound, and many are closely connected to religion. Also, within the focus on religious survivals, the discussion excludes forms through which African-derived religions express themselves, e.g., dancing, hand-clapping, musical forms such as harmony, lyrical structure and rhythm-forms through which basic rituals and beliefs may be adapted and expressed.
Namunu, Simeon. "Christian Worship and Melanesian Vision of the Cosmos." Catalyst 26:2 (1996): 79-95.	This article explores Christian worship as it is perceived by Melanesians from the background of biocosmic tradition. it is an effort to inculturate Melanesians' sense of life within the cosmic realities. It is also an effort to bridging the gap between Melanesians' sense of biocosmic relationship and the ultimate source of power and life.
Zocca, Franco. "Millenarianism in Melanesia." Catalyst 28:1 (1998): 67-90.	Surveys the numerous publications on millenarian movements in Melanesia, and then explores the cultural roots of these 'cargo cults'. He concludes with advice on how to deal with new outbreaks at the turn of the next century.
Lagerwerf, Leny. "Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Spirit Possession--Pastoral Responses." Exchange 14 (September 1985): 1-62.	Introduces terminology, previous pastoral approaches, ways forward in terms of pastoral care, healing, and exorcism from an ecumenical perspective.
Heuter, R. "Conscience and Culture: Sickness and the Spirits of the Dead." Catalyst 4:2 (1974): 3-17.	An effort to show one the least known aspects of illness in New Guinea, the influence of the spirits of the dead. Goal is to open our horizons; to help foster a concept of wanting to learn, of wanting to develop and understand, and thereby become useful tools of medical work in New Guinea.
Dye, T. Wayne. "Toward a Theology of Power for Melanesia: Part 1. " Catalyst 14:1 (1984): 57-75.	Summary of the Melanesian concepts of power with an apologetic as to why such thinking should be taken seriously by the church.
Dye, T. Wayne. "Toward a Theology of Power for Melanesia: Part 2. " Catalyst 14:2 (1984): 158-80.	Summary of the biblical concepts of power with suggestions as to the kind of theology and lifestyle which might answer an inquiring Melanesian Christian's questions.
Mantovani, Ennio. "Ancestors in Melanesia: Towards a Melanesian and Christian Understanding." Catalyst 20:1 (1990): 21-40.	Presents an alternative to the traditional interpretation of 'offerings' to the ancestors; they are not necessarily sacrifices, but, most likely, exchanges of a social nature between members of the same social community. In effect, ancestral practices may be viewed more as secular exchanges than acts of worship. This helps clarify the nature of the relationship to the ancestors, and has resulting pastoral consequences.
Vincent, David. "Dreams as an Aid to Personal Development." Catalyst 22:1 (1992): 31-50.	Accepting that dreams often reflect inner tension over events in daily life, the author outlines an approach to dreams which can be of use to ordinary individuals. After consideration of how dreams can be understood, the author discusses the question of God's working in and through these experiences. Finally, some suggestions are offered for the practical use of dreams as an enrichment to life and ministry.
Eng, Lim Guek. "Christianity Encounters Ancestor Worship in Taiwan." Evangelical Review of Theology 8:2 (October 1984): 225-235.	The aim of this article is to develop a more adequate approach to Taiwanese ancestor worship. It rests upon the assumption that ancestor worship in Taiwan has never been effectively encountered by Christianity and hence continues in its current virile form as a major roadblock to the growth of the Church especially in rural villages. The author shows that ancestor worship among the Minnan Chinese of Taiwan has its roots in primitive animism (rather than in Confucianism). Using a theological analytical approach she suggests some functional substitutes for Christian Taiwanese.
Kim, Myung Hyuk. "Ancestor Worship in the Korean Church." Evangelical Review of Theology 8:2 (October 1984): 236-245.	The author outlines the history of the Korean Churches' response to ancestor worship and discusses the future possibilities in the light of growing secularization of Korean society. Concludes: It is time that we evangelicals should be alerted to fully understand the relation between the Christian Gospel and secular culture and to provide clear-cut solutions in concrete situations. We may be doing well if we realize the criticizing, transforming and recreating power and function of the Gospel in various cultures as it has been seen throughout the history of Christianity.
Musk, Bill. "Encounter with Jesus in Popular Islam." Evangelical Review of Theology 10:3 (July 1986): 247-257.	Encounters with Jesus of a provincial, Egyptian Muslim provided in the introduction provokes an enquiry into the understanding which ordinary Muslims have of the Christians' Christ. How do Muslims see Jesus? Where in their cosmological map does he fit? Can a grasp of the view of Jesus in popular Islam help the Christian to communicate more understandingly and effectively with his Muslim neighbor. Our starting-point will be with the ordinary Muslim himself. The primary aim is to reconstruct a picture of the world as he looks out upon it, to comprehend his cosmological map. The second step will be to examine the place of Jesus in that cosmology. The final task will be to suggest a rationale for patterns of encounter between Jesus Christ and the ordinary Muslim.
Porras, Nancy. "Doing Theology in a Chinese Context." International Journal of Frontier Missions 4:1-4 (1987): `53-67.	The Chinese world is increasingly raising up its own theologians--both those trained in the Western world as well as those trained in Asia. For both groups, one of the most vexing issues in Chinese theology continues to be ancestor worship. In the following article Nancy Porras attempts to analyze some current Chinese thinking on the subject while also offering her own helpful insights.
Love, Richard D. "Church Planting Among Folk Muslims." International Journal of Frontier Missions 11:2 (April 1994): 87-91.	More than 3/4 of the Muslim world are Folk Muslims. Church planting among them must be based upon the theology of the kingdom of God that involves power, truth and cultural encounters.
Love, Rick. "Power Encounter Among Folk Muslims: An Essential Key of the Kingdom." International Journal of Frontier Missions 13:4 (Oct.-Dec. 1996): 193-195.	Power encounter is not the only key to reaching the hearts of Muslims, but it needs to be an essential factor to effectively evangelize Folk Muslims and to plant the Church of Jesus Christ in their midst.
Hayward, Douglas J. "The Evangelization of Animists: Power, Truth or Love Encounter?" International Journal of Frontier Missions 14:4 (Oct.-Dec. 1997): 155-159.	The successful evangelization of animists requires a correct understanding of animism as a belief system in conjunction with a combination of strategies that utilize the strengths of three encounters--a truth encounter, a power encounter, and a love encounter.
Yoo, Boo Woong. "Response to Korean Shamanism by the Pentecostal Church." International Review of Mission 75:297 (January 1986): 70-74.	The characteristics that Koreans have developed in the practice of Shamanism are fatalism, moral indifference, self-centred interest, escapism, and also fanaticism in its ceremonial rites. Two factors should be noted, however. First, the beliefs of Shamanism have enabled Koreans to comprehend more easily the references in Christianity to the idea of God, to evil in the world, to heaven and hell, and to benevolent and evil spirits. Second, the above characteristics, developed through belief in Shamanism, greatly affected the Korean appropriation and expression of Christianity, through revival and Pentecostal enthusiasm And an other-worldly orientation. All of the Protestant churches have had a critical attitude toward Shamanism, but most of them are influenced by it to a greater or lesser extent. In my understanding, the Pentecostal church has a structure and world view very similar to that of Shamanism.
Lartey, Emmanuel Y. "Healing: Tradition and Pentecostalism in Africa Today." International Review of Mission 75:297 (January 1986): 75-81.	Fictional though historically accurate case study of a young evangelical Christian in Ghana to point toward important pastoral and missiological issues raised by the presence, faith, and practice of the indigenous independent Pentecostal churches in Africa today. Concludes: There can be little doubt that the church was commissioned by Christ to continue a healing ministry that would point to and embody God's continued care for the people in the world. Healing continues to be a sign of the kingdom of God among human beings. In Africa the indigenous independent Pentecostal churches have challenged the western mission-founded churches into a reexamination of the place of healing through prayer and caring in their mission to the world. This is a challenge well worth heeding, not only in Africa but throughout the world.
Pobee, John S. "Healing--An African Christian Theologian's Perspective." International Review of Mission 83:329 (April 1994): 247-55.	Author defines self in terms of African, Christian, and theologian as foundation to exploring issues related to healing in the AICs and the healing ministry of the church around the world. Concludes; the yearning for churches to exercise healing powers in Africa has an important message for mission studies: missions and missionaries cannot occupy a methodological limbo in which they ignore the hopes and fears of the peoples to whom they address themselves. Missions must be set in the context of African cultures. Thus the criterion of success in mission will be the local significance of the activity of mission. But that should also contain a challenging dimension of the gospel, offering also a humble but trenchant critique on its cultural beliefs of illness and health, in short a transformation of the culture.
Offner, Clark B. "Healing in the 'New Religions.'" The Japan Christian Quarterly 48:1 (Winter 1982): 27-32.	A basic characteristic of traditional Japanese thought is a this-worldly emphasis. Clearly, one of the basic characteristics of most of these new religions, which is also a key element in their popular attractiveness, is their this-worldly emphasis upon healing. They have tended to give explicit emphasis to both doctrines and practices relating to healing and to skillfully utilize this emphasis in their propagation efforts and religious activities in general. he various doctrines relating to the cause of sickness in these newer religious movements generally can be subsumed under the following headings, which are not mutually exclusive: physical, mental, spiritual, religious, karma. Healing is effected through various channels, including physical treatment, mental readjustment, spiritual pacification, religious rectification, instruction, meditation, prayer, and worship. Explores healing rituals and the atmosphere in which the new religions bring healing to the Japanese people.
Reid, David. "Japanese Christians and the Ancestors." The Japan Christian Quarterly 56:1 (Winter 1990): 24-41.	The present inquiry is concerned with the question of how Protestant Christianity has changed since its spread from North America to Japan. It focuses on the question not of official doctrinal or liturgical change in institutional Protestantism, but of how living Japanese Christians of the Nihon Kirisuto Kyodan regard and treat the ancestors. The approach employed here will be synchronic. It compares Christian with non-Christian in present-day Japanese culture, distinguishes two groups among Christian and non-Christian Japanese depending on how they relate to their ancestors, and asks whether the differences between the Christians in these groups signify a change in Protestant Christianity.
Yoshimasa, Ikegami. "Okinawan Shamanism and Charismatic Christianity." The Japan Christian Quarterly 59 (1993): 69-78.	This paper presents finding of intensive field research on a charismatic Christian church named the Okinawa Christian Evangelical Center. It began in the mid-1970s as a small Brethren meeting with just a few participants, but in less than twenty years it recorded the baptism of nearly 1,500 people. In the 1980s alone, OCEC is the church that baptized the largest number of people in Okinawa Prefecture. The concrete activities observed in this church will be explained as one typical example of the reorganization of a religious meaning system as individuals search for effective solutions to the new demands of modern urban life. It will be shown that these demands emerge from the struggle between the indigenous shamanistic, religion and the various features of modern industrial society that are rapidly becoming a part of life in Okinawa.
Nxumalo, Jabulani A. "Christ and the Ancestors in the African World: A Pastoral Consideration." Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 32 (September 1980): 3-21.	Explores various topics related to developing a pastoral ministry within the African context of the ancestors. Advocates that African theologians and pastors of souls should make constant attempts to 'purify' elements of African traditional religion and incorporate these into Christian Faith, for the benefit of the African Christian and for the benefit of the Universal Church.
Adogbo, Michael P. "A Comparative Analysis of Prophecy in Biblical and African Traditions." Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 88 (September 1994): 15-20.	There is a general impression, especially among the Jewish translators and ardent adherents of Christianity, that Israelite prophecy was something special and unique and, therefore, it cannot be compared with other forms of revelation as manifested in other religions. The primary objective of this paper is to examine the phenomenon of prophecy in the Bible and to show that the motives stood in some kind of relation to the greater human culture, especially the African traditions.
Kitshoff, Mike. "Isaiah Shembe's Views on the Ancestors in Biblical Perspective." Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 95 (July 1996): 23-36.	Characterizing the Shembe Church, Vilakazi et al stated that "the whole church could be said to be an attempt at an even blending of the Christian and Zulu teachings and practices" (1986:80). Concerning the role of Zulu religious practices, the authors asserted that the "real, vital religion of the Zulus" was based on the ancestral cult (1986:11). From these statements one may get the impression that the ancestral cult assumed a prominent place in the teachings and practices of Isaiah Shembe. To determine whether this impression is correct we are going to test Shembe's experiences and practices against what Vilakazi et al call "several ways by which the ancestral spirits can reveal themselves to the living" (1986:13-17), while at the same time listening to the views and teachings of Shembe himself on the place and role of the ancestors.
Harms-Wiebe, Raymond Peter. "A Pauline Power Encounter Response to Umbanda." Mission Focus 15:1 (March 1987): 6-10.	Provides a general treatment of Umbanda in Brazil and advocates a response utilizing the power of Jesus as seen in Pauline cosmology.
Hiebert, Paul G. "Spiritual Warfare: Biblical Perspectives." Mission Focus 20:3 (September 1992): 41-46.	The recent rise in interest in spiritual matters must be both welcomed and tested. It must be welcomed because the church too often has bought into the world view of a secular science that denies the reality of sin and spiritual realities. It must be tested because we are in danger of returning to the views of our pagan past. As we will see, the pagan Indo-European myth of our ancestors is still alive in our North American fables, sports, movies, politics, and business. The question must be asked, to what extent our renewed interest in spiritual warfare is drawn from Indo-European mythology, and to what extent from the Bible?
Kiernan, J. P. "The Weapons of Zion." Journal of Religion in Africa 10:1 (1979): 13-21.	Zulu Zionists form small-scale curing communities in which reserves of spiritual power, called umoya, are ritually built and expended to offset the effects of human and mystical agents which afflict the individual. Since it is not my intention to deal here with the complete repertoire of Zionist powers, it is necessary to distinguish between 'powers' and 'specifics'. 'Specifics' are contingent infusions of spiritual power designed to cope with particular problems, e.g. drinking a potion of water and ashes transmits power sufficient to alleviate stomach pains, having been blessed for this purpose. While 'specifics' are exhausted in their application and are thus renewable, powers are permanent and lasting endowments. Some belong personally to gifted individuals, such as prophets; others are attached to the functions of membership or of office within the community. Here I deal only with the latter category.
Walker, Sheila S. "Witchcraft and Healing in an African Christian Church." Journal of Religion in Africa 10:2 (1979): 127-38.	Harrist Church leaders emphasize the fact that the major factor that sets them apart from the other Christian churches in the country is the fact that the Harris Church represents a form of Christianity that grew out of the African environment. Thus, in counter distinction to the European Christianity of the Protestant and Catholic churches, it is totally adapted to the realities and requirements of the African way of life. The existence of witchcraft and the effects thereof are an important reality that the Harrist Church must explain and with which it must come to terms. The church institution concerns itself with the philosophical issues of the ontology of witchcraft and its ramifications for the individual and the society, in addition to other concerns about humankind's moral and social being and becoming. It is in the village of Bregbo, under the guidance of Albert Atcho, that the issue of witchcraft is concretely addressed.
Anderson, Allan. "Pentecostal Pneumatology and African Power Concepts: Continuity or Change?" Missionalia 19:1 (April 1990): 65-74.	Posits that a teaching and practice concerning the Holy Spirit found in Africa that is both biblical and contextualized in African life spawns a dynamic Christianity that goes a long way towards meeting Africa's needs in this realm.
Mbiti, John. "Dreams as a Point of Theological Dialogue between Christianity and African Religion." Missionalia 25:4 (December 1997): 511-22.	In African life dreams play a central role, as is evident both in African Religion and in African Christianity. It is clear that the coming of Christianity has not erased this African dream culture. There is great potential for inter-religious dialogue between Christianity and African Religion if the dialogue already taking place on the plane of dreams can be developed. Key issues emanating from dreams that are rife with dialogue insights and call for theological reflection are: angelology, artistic inspiration (dreams as primary source of cultural innovation), dreams of calling to specific ministries, dream causality, Christology, Christian identity, cosmology, the experience and understanding of God, illness-health-death. African theologians need to dream and to research dreaming, in order to develop an African theology of dreams.
Mercado, Leonardo N. "Power and Spiritual Discipline among Philippine Folk Healers." Mission Studies 7:1 (1990): 63-75.	In recent years the Philippines have attracted the worldwide attention of scientists and an increasing number of non-Filipino patients who come to be treated for various diseases. The object of their visits are Filipino faith-healers who do psychic surgery with their bare hands and close the wounds without scars. In fact these healers seem to follow the ancient tradition of the Filipino shamans. This paper will study two related topics, namely the concept of power and the spiritual discipline among Filipino folk healers. How do the Filipino healers think of power? Is it acquired, inherited, or God-given? Is the power of healing lost through commercialization and vice? What are the spiritual disciplines connected with acquiring the power of healing and conserving it? What is the Filipino healer's concept of asceticism? Since the therapeutic aspect of Philippine faith healing has sufficient literature, we shall not deal with it in detail.
Shorter, Aylward. "Christian Healing and Traditional Medicine in Africa." Kerygma 20 (1986): 51-58.	The task of building truly therapeutic communities centered on the healing power of Christ is the most difficult option of all. This task may become easier according to the measure in which due recognition is given to integral healing in the Church's ordinary life. It is in that context that the sacraments, and especially the Eucharist, have to be celebrated. The healing gifts of individuals must also be integrated into the pastoral practice of the Church, as well as pilgrimages to centers of healing. Finally, the pastoral care of the sick, in the light of a Christology centered on the divine power to heal, cannot be content with a Church involvement in medical treatment and health care alone. A seriously organized pastoral care of the sick must aim at giving people a foretaste of the transcendent wholeness proclaimed and inaugurated by Christ, sharing with them something of the joy, the certainty and the security of Heaven.
Owoahene-Acheampong, Stephen. "Theology and Healing of African Independent Churches." Kerygma 27 (1993): 93-109.	Among the activities of AICs, healing activity stands out as a very important element. We shall, in this paper, (which is mostly descriptive, and only hints at interpretation at the end), look at the theology and healing practices of the AICs, how they see themselves as fulfilling the will and mandate of Christ, and how they are serving the spiritual, physical and the existential needs of Africans through the integration of African traditional elements into Christianity. We shall do this by looking at some factors that are common to them all as regards their theology and healing practices. The major difference we note among them in this area is their attitudes to Western medicine and African traditional medicine.
Kelty, Matthew. "Dreams and Visions and Voices." In Christ in Melanesia, Point Series, ed. James Knight, 13-20. Goroka, Papua New Guinea: Melanesian Institute for Pastoral and Socio-Economic Service, 1977.	I privately maintain that the only important thing going on here is the Church. I do not feel any consensus on that view. Development is good, but unless that development is of the whole man, it will not work, not for long. If attention is not given to the spirit, to the immaterial, the unconscious, if you will, the development will be schizoid, split. The frustrated area will eventually erupt. Within this orientation dreams, visions, and voices in the context of Papua New Guinea are discussed.
Narokobi, Bernard. "What is Religious Experience for a Melanesian?" In Christ in Melanesia, Point Series, ed. James Knight, 7-12. Goroka, Papua New Guinea: Melanesian Institute for Pastoral and Socio-Economic Service, 1977.	A fundamental problem for a Melanesian to describe a Melanesian religious experience is that he has to use non-Melanesian language and techniques to characterize and concretize and make real his cosmos. It is like using blacksmith tools to perform an operation. Although the net result of a person's total, experience, in terms of salvation, might be the same for any religious experience, the approaches would differ greatly. Concludes: Melanesian experience is not, of course, always right. But it has almost always been held to be wrong. Time is long overdue for some of our religious experience to be given its proper dignity, as has been given to the religious experience of all the great religions of the world.
Carrington, Don. "Jesus' Dreaming: Stories in Intercultural Hermeneutics, Australian Aborigines." St. Mark's Review 128 (1986): 3-18.
Aerthayil, James. "Interiority: A Universal Search for Contemplative Experience." In Light from the East: Essays in Commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of Carmel Vidya Bhavan (19430'93), ed. James Aerthayil, 279-88. Bangalore, India: Dharmaram Publications, 1993.	A universal yearning for contemplative experience is discernible in the contemporary search for divine depth or interiority in the human person. Religionists and psychologists speak about it in order to combat the growing human stress, alienation and superficiality. The lack of intimacy with one's self and consequently with others, is what created the loneliest and most alienated people in the world. Hence they do not want to talk about their inner life, but they are actually very much involved in a search for meaning, intimacy and inner peace. This search and process of growth, however, is one from within the human person, essentially an inward process. Any inward looking tendency with a goal of personal growth and inner peace has a contemplative dimension, we maintain. It is this dimension that we want to develop and promote in this article as the new contemplative trend in the religious and secular world of today.
Suh, David Kwang-Sun. In Asian Christian Spirituality: Reclaiming Traditions, ed. Virginia Fabella, Peter K. H. Lee, and David Kwang-Sun Suh, 31-36. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1992.
Hagan, George P. "Divinity and Experience: The Trance and Christianity in Southern Ghana." In Vernacular Christianity: Essays in the Social Anthropology of Religion Presented to Godfrey Lienhardt, ed. Wendy James and Douglas Hamilton Johnson, 146-56. New York: Lilian Barber Press, 1988.	Incidents of Christians going into a trance state (Akan si) are now becoming commonplace among Christian groups. While some pastors and priests of the orthodox churches treat trance manifestations with caution and even cynicism, others appear quite ready to accept them and go as far as to encourage the formation in their parishes of charismatic and spiritualist prayer groups, believing that this would check the movement out of their own churches and into the mushroom spiritual sects and prayer groups springing up all over southern Ghana. The anxiety of the churchmen suggests that the tendency of believers to move openly or secretly from one religious group to another is quite widespread in southern Ghana and out of their control. Are the trance and the spate of conversions reactions--delayed, maybe--to orthodox Christianity? One can assume that, at the level of religious consciousness, there would occur reactions to Christian modalities of apprehending divinity, especially where, as in the socio-cultural ambiance of southern Ghana, there is a strong awareness of a contrasting, ethnic religious mode of apprehension. And it is this I intend to explore, as, indeed, trance manifestations and frequent conversions are elements related in ethnic religious praxis to the modes of apprehending divinities.