Abstract
The leaders of certain New Prophetic Pentecostal Churches (NPPCs) perform rituals that are very unusual when compared with traditional church rituals and practices. These practices include eating grass, rats or snakes, drinking petrol and spraying Doom on people so that they would be healed and be closer to God. The trend to perform these unusual rituals has spread throughout South Africa. Leaders from NPPCs often quote Mark 7:14–19 and Matthew 15:10–11, 16–18 to justify their actions. In this study, these parallel texts will be considered in their literary and socio-cultural contexts to determine whether or not they can be taken to condone the activities of these church leaders.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The study will find that Mark 7:14–19 and Matthew 15:10–11, 16–18 either condone or do not condone the unusual activities of NPPCs and their leaders. Either way, the findings will be relevant for New Testament studies, practical theology, religion studies and systematic theology.
Highlights
In earlier publications, Kgatle (2017:1–2) uses the term ‘Neo-Pentecostal Churches’ and defines them as churches that are not bound by denomination
He makes a clear distinction between Neo-Pentecostalism and classical Pentecostalism, stating that the latter believes in salvation through confession in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is followed by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including speaking in tongues
Kgatle (2020a) describes ‘New Prophetic Churches’ (NPCs)’ as follows: The NPCs [New Prophetic Churches] are churches that have retained the fundamental teachings of Pentecostalism like the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues but have peculiar practices like one-on-one prophecy, one-on-one deliverance and consultations, where members pay a certain fee, miracle money, prophetic titles, with some prophets claiming superiority over biblical prophets and others
Summary
In earlier publications, Kgatle (2017:1–2) uses the term ‘Neo-Pentecostal Churches’ and defines them as churches that are not bound by denomination. To justify and legitimise their actions, NPPC leaders often quote Mark 7:15, where Jesus says that nothing entering the body can defile someone, or the parallel text in Matthew 15:11.
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