Abstract
How can we make Christological sense of the Zimbabwean Pentecostal prophets’ mediatory role? This article analyses the domineering and mediatory role of the Pentecostal prophets from a Christological perspective. The mediatory role of the Pentecostal prophets is riddled with competition against the mediatory role of Christ between God and humanity (1 Tm 2:5) as it tends to usurp Christ’s role over the church. Instead of being channels that lead people to depend only on Christ for their spiritual security, prosperity Pentecostal prophets present themselves as super spiritual authorities who must be relied upon by the believers in addition to Christ. Prosperity Pentecostalism, also known as the gospel of wealth and health, emphasises that prosperity in material wealth and good health is an integral component of the Christian faith. As super spiritual authorities, Pentecostal prophets project themselves as uniquely anointed by God. This places them closer to God than other people and, in turn, they receive spiritual power and authority over other believers. The prophets mediate their presence in the lives of their followers through anointed objects such as their personal pictures, anointed oil and armbands. This article analyses the distorted views about Christ created by the reliance on the prophets. The article concludes by proposing steps that should be taken to empower Christians to dissuade themselves from reliance on such prophets.
Highlights
The existence and operations of prophets in Zimbabwe can be traced to the initial rise of pioneer African indigenous prophets such as Samuel Mutendi, Johanne Marange and Johanne Masowe in the early 1900s, contemporary Zimbabwe is ‘under the grip of a “prophetic craze”’ (Chitando, Gunda & Kügler 2013:10)
This article has attempted to grapple with the Christological implications of the mediatory role of the prophets among Zimbabwean Pentecostals
The critical analysis reveals that Pentecostal prophets end up competing with Christ instead of enabling believers to rely on him only for their needs
Summary
The existence and operations of prophets in Zimbabwe can be traced to the initial rise of pioneer African indigenous prophets such as Samuel Mutendi, Johanne Marange and Johanne Masowe in the early 1900s, contemporary Zimbabwe is ‘under the grip of a “prophetic craze”’ (Chitando, Gunda & Kügler 2013:10). An important practical step towards addressing the reliance on the mediatory role of the Pentecostal prophets is presenting biblical and theological knowledge that empowers Christians to be connected to Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Saviour who is relevant to their unique African context.
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