Crashed Realities? Gender Dynamics in Nigerian Pentecostalism

Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-90-04-54569-4
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 52, 222 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 528 g

Reihe: Studies of Religion in Africa

Crashed Realities? explores the lived realities women Pentecostals encounter in male-founded Pentecostal churches. Idumwonyi demonstrates the gender dynamics at play in Nigerian Pentecostalism by exploring the ‘drama’ that played out in the wake of the nomination of the first woman Pentecostal archbishop in Nigeria and the subsequent attempt to 'erase' her from a significant leadership position and the pages of history. This case underscores how Pentecostalism, which presents as egalitarian, engages in and perpetuates gender disparity, revealing the realities that are crashed every day. This book further explores the profound ambiguities that result from an underlying commitment to patriarchy, making the calls to inclusivity illogical. In contrast, she proposes the advantages of the Pentecost Experience as favorable background to gender inclusivity and, in turn, human flourishing.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Idumwonyi, Itohan Mercy

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

1 A Note on Methodology

2 The Book

1 The Cultural Perception of the Woman and Its Related Dilemmas

1 Benin City and Its People: Socio-historically Speaking

2 Benin: Mythic-Historically Speaking

3 Women in Benin (Kingdom) Tradition: Cultural Beliefs and Related Dilemmas

4 Politicizing and Dehistoricizing Women as Historical Agents: A Sociological Exploration

5 Rituals and Repression: Politicizing Women’s Physiology

6 Omo Okpia Syndrome: The Mythic Ideology of Male Supremacy and its Exaggeration

7 Concluding Thoughts

2 The Emergence of Modern Pentecostalism in Benin City, Nigeria

1 Emergence: A New Breed of Pentecostalism is Born in Benin— Its Concept and Practices

2 The CGMi Headquarters’ Setting

3 Benson Andrew Idahosa: Notes, Autobiographical Texts on the Life and Times of a Hero of Faith, and Father of Modern Nigerian Pentecostalism

4 CGMi’s Doctrine

5 CGMi’s Organizational Structure

6 CGMi’s Ministries Arms

7 And “Mostly Women:” An Analysis of the CGMi Organizational chart

8 Expansion and Connection of CGMi with other Pentecostal Denominations

9 Concluding Thoughts

3 Crashed Realities: Tension and Contradiction in the Ranks

1 The Dawn of a New Era for Pentecostal Tradition and Religious Gatekeepers

2 Patterns and Representative Rites of Gender Relations in Nigerian Pentecostal Churches

3 Cultural Expectation and its Implication on Gendered Patterns in Nigerian Pentecostalism

4 Sacred Masculinity, Profane Femininity, and Power Capital

5 Concluding Thoughts

4 Margaret Ekhoeragbon Idahosa: An Insignia of Gender Twist

1 Margaret Idahosa’s Socio-Religious-History: An Emblem for Gender Inclusivity?

2 The Succession Crisis and the Making of the First Female Archbishop in npt

3 Women in Ministry and Margaret Idahosa’s Theological Stance

4 Margaret Idahosa Today: The Struggles, Achievements, and Expansion since 1998

5 Margaret’s Relevance to the History of the Nigerian Pentecostalism

6 Concluding Thoughts

5 Lived Religion: The Weight of Femaleness and Nego-Feminism

1 The Weight of Femaleness in Nigerian Pentecostal Congregations

2 Theorizing the Weight of Femaleness

3 Networks and Boundary Negotiation: Christian Women Fellowship International (cwfi)

4 African Women’s Theology

5 Concluding Thoughts

Conclusion: Transcending Gender Inequality and the Relevance of Inclusivity

1 Embracing the Principle of Nego-feminism as Key to Inclusivity and Way Forward

2 The Relevance of Gendered Inclusiveness

Appendix A: Semi-Structured Interview Guide

Glossary

Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Itohan Mercy Idumwonyi, Ph.D. (2018), Rice University, is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Gonzaga University. She has published many articles and book chapters, including "Ekpen'owa: Conceptualizing the Human-Animal Relationship in Benin (City, African) Worldview" in Susan Abraham & Geraldo Luiz De Mori y Stefanie Knauss (eds.), Concilium: Revista International de Teologia (Animal in/and Theology Series) (397) Sept. 2022/4.