the life and work of simon kimbangu.pdf

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African Indigenous Churches in Ghana Past, Present and Future

Clifton R. Clarke

Theological Education and Training: Challenges of African

Independent Churches in Ghana

Thomas Asante Oduro

Prophetic Movements in the Congo: The Life and Work of Simon

Kimbangu and How His Followers Saw Him

Emmanuel Martey

Globalization: A Perspective From the African Independent

Churches

Njeru Wambugu and John Padwick

African Indigenous Churches and the Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Humphrey Akogyeram

Journal of African

Instituted Church

Theology

Volume II, Number 1, September 2006

Published by Good News Theological College and Seminary

P.O. Box AN 6484. Accra-North, Ghana


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_____________________________

1

PROPHETIC MOVEMENTS IN THE CONGO:THE LIFE AND WORK OF SIMON KIMBANGU

AND HOW HIS FOLLOWERS SAW HIM

Emmanuel Martey, Ph.D.*

Introduction

T

he Independence Church Movement in Africa is a phenomenon

in which we have come to see an honest and unsophisticated

rebellion against mission Christianity brought to the conti-

nent from the West. Harold W. Turner has described the independentAfrican churches as those founded by Africans for Africans to worship

in African ways to meet their own most urgently felt needs in spiritual

independence under their own leaders.1These churches, therefore, at-

tempt to indigenize the Christian faith and to interpret it in such a way

that would render Christianity both practical and meaningful.

The reasons given for the emergence and proliferation of these

churches vary from one region of the continent to the other. In West

Africa, for example, where racial segregation and land problems with

European settlers have been non-existent, the reason for their emer-

gence has been chiey on religious grounds, that is, the quest for

religious and spiritual independence. But in Southern Africa, where

racial segregation and domination exist, the independence churches

have emerged mainly on politico-religious grounds. In East Africa,

these churches began as a protest to colonization and they have been

said to have contributed to the politicization of their followers andformed the mass basis for African nationalism.2

In this article, we examine the life and work of one of the great

African prophets, Simon Kimbangu, who inspired a mass-movement

toward Christianity, which has become one of the largest African inde-

pendent churches and has expanded phenomenally since the end of the

nineteen fties, In analyzing the ministry of Kimbangu, we will endea-

vour to nd out the prophets own self-understanding and how those

who followed him also saw and understood him and his activities.

* Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey is Associate Professor of Theology at

Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, in Ghana. He is also the cur-

rent Secretary of the Conference of African Theological Institutions

(CATI).


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Journal of African Instituted Church Theology.Vol. II. No. 1, 20062

Prophetic Movements in the Congo: Simon Kimbangu

The Prophets Life and Work

Simon Kimbangu, born in 1889, at Nkamba, north of Thysville

(now Mbanza-Ngungu), in the central Congo (Democratic Republic of

Congo). was brought up by the grandmother, Kinzembo, after losing

both parents at an early age. Reaching only the forth stage at school,

Kimbangu later became a Catechist of the English Baptist Mission.

His rst vision and call came in 1918, when he was a young man.

At this initial stage, Kimbangu sought to evade the summons with anexplanation that, he was not t for that tremendous task. He had replied

to a call telling him: I am Christ, my servants are unfaithful. I have

chosen you to witness to your brethren and to convert them, by saying

that he was not educated and that; there were pastors and deacons

who could do this work better.3Again, to another from a stranger in

his dream, who had attempted to hand a Bible over to him saying,

This is a good book, you must study and preach, Simon Kimbangu

had replied: I cannot do that, I am no teacher or preacher.4Thus,like the prophets Moses, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Kimbangu complained

of his inadequacy; and, like the prophet Jonah, he tried to escape the

divine call and ed to Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), where he worked

as a labourer, but soon returned to Nkamba. With further experiences,

Kimbangu could no longer resist the heavenly call.

On the 6thof April 1921, with a concrete order which was against

his will, Kimbangu entered the house of a woman called Kiantondo,who was very ill. By laying his hands upon the woman, Kimbangu

healed her in the Name of Jesus. Later, other miracles were to follow,

which were performed by him. Included in these miracles was the rais-

ing of a child from death which, consequently, transformed Kimbangu

into a renowned prophet of God. News of the performed miracles

spread rapidly like bush-re which drew a lot of people to Nkamba.

People were said to have left their elds, their white-masters and work-

places to Nkamba to see the Ngunza (Prophet). Even hospitals anddispensaries were said to have been left empty as people travelled to

Nkamba seeking help from the African Prophet, whom God had raised

and through whom the message contained in Scripture became a living

reality, and salvation-history re-enacted and re-lived.


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Journal of African Instituted Church Theology.Vol. II. No. 1, 2006 3


The village of the prophet, Nkamba, has since become a sceneof massive popular prophetic and ecclesial activities. Nkamba has be-

come the New Jerusalem, the Holy City. The blind, who ocked to

Kimbangu at the village, were made to wash in a pool to regain their

sight (cf John 9:6-7). In all the miracles that he performed (or rather,

were performed through him), Kimbangu emphasized that he had no

power of his own and that it was the power of Jesus Christ that did the

miracles. He taught that healing and salvation depended entirely on

prayer and faith in Christ.The Prophet Kimbangu did not conne his activities to healing,

but also preaching the Word of God. He, vehemently, opposed the cults

of fetishes (minkisi) and ordered their destruction. He preached faith in

the One true God, who alone is to be trusted and worshipped. He taught

against polygamy and condemned all acts of immorality and non-

Christian dances, which led to debauchery and lewdness. Describing

the power and wonder in Kimbangus preaching, A. Walder wrote:

The words of Kimbangu had powerful and wonderful effect.

They spread all over the country like a ood in spring-time

and swept away the minkisi of the heathens. In some places,

the young men went from house to house collecting images

in order to destroy them... Aged traditional priests, who had.

hitherto, been conrmed believers in the validity of their own

doctrines, collected and destroyed the minkisi to which theyhad prayed. Minkisi-worship ceased as suddenly as though it

had been dispelled by wand of a magician. Even those who

hesitated to take a decisive step, if any such existed, were

carried away by the enthusiasm of the iconoclasts.5

As a matter of fact, Kimbangu was regarded by his own people a

a saviour through whom God has visited his people. Africans rejoiced

and believed that one of their own had become a prophet (cf. Deut

18:18). For, not only white people could be great and powerful, but also

a mighty one, a man worthy of note, could as well arise from the rank

of Africans, whom the Europeans scorned.

To the Africans in the Congo, the salvation which Jesus Chris

brought to humanity had now come to them through Simon Kimbangu


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and his preaching was to alleviate their plight and suffering by deliver-ing them from the domination of whites as Moses did for the people of

Israel when they were being oppressed by the Pharaoh.6

Unfortunately, these liberative elements in Kimbangus preach-

ing have often been ignored by most foreign writers. The hopes and

expectations of which Kimbangu was a symbol was eloquently dem-

onstrated by the way Africans. who were reduced to forced labour,

left their colonial masters and sought after the African prophet of

God. Kimbangu, therefore, became a threat, not only to the RomanCatholic and Protestant missionaries at the time, but also, to the colo-

nial masters.

It was, thus, not surprising that within few months of his min-

istry, not just the aura of sanctity surrounding Kimbangu, but, more

importantly, the symbol of hope and freedom which he represented,

inevitably, came to the notice of the Belgian colonial administration,

which appointed an investigation into the activities of the new move-

ment. This investigating team comprised of an administrative ofcer

in Thysville, L. Morel and the Protestant missionary, Jennings. In the

eyes of Morel and Jennings, the movement seemed religious, but the

fear that it could assume a political outlook was strong; for, mili-

tant songs had continued to multiply. In Jennings report, he wrote

seeing at Nkamba, Kimbangu and a school of prophets with barriers

raised within which sick people were gathered.7It was estimated that,

as many as fty prophets were at work, some of them preaching reli-gious war; and at Ntemo, report indicated that ve prophetesses were

reputed to be referring to the re from heaven which would fall on

the whites.8 It should be understood, therefore, why Kimbangu was

charged with xenophobia and accused of inciting the natives not to pay

taxes charges which were more political than religious.

The intervention of the colonial administration to arrest Kimbangu

sparked off further agitation and more aggressive anti-white manifesta-

tion, especially from the Ngunzists, the emerging lesser prophets;although, Kimbangu himself resorted to non-violence and urged his

followers to do the same. Ndiokwere has given the true picture of the

Ngunzis:s anti-colonial feelings. He writes:


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that, after the destruction of Nkamba, it would die a natural death. Butcontrary to colonial expectation, it continued to survive. This led to

the persecution of the movement for twenty-two years, from 1925 to

1957. Consequently, thousands of people were deported by the Belgian

colonial government. But, as it has always been the case, whenever

people are persecuted for their faith and forced to disperse, they sow

the seed of their faith and spread it wherever they go. Thus, the mass

deportation of the followers of Kimbangu rather helped to spread the

movement and, as a result, the group became intertribal and interna-tional spreading to Congo-Brazzaville, Angola, Zambia, Uganda,

Chad, Rwanda and Burundi.

Simon Kimbangus Understanding of Himself

What, then, did Simon Kimbangu think of himself? Who did

he think he was? This is a question which is not so easy to answer,

since Kimbangus public ministry lasted only ve months, unlike other

African prophets, whose ministries lasted longer and, therefore, had

time to organize themselves and put into practice their thoughts and

ideas. Besides, some prophets had enough time to write (or had other

authors write about them whilst alive) and to place on record things

concerning their ministries. Even, there is no evidence that Kimbangu

intended to establish his own church. This happened after his death,when the persecution had ceased.

Because of this, legends grew up around the personality of the

prophet, some of which were mere conjectures. It was not easy to make

a clear distinction between Kimbangu the man from Kimbangu the

myth. In point of fact, it would have been difcult to gather any ac-

curate information about the activities of Kimbangu, since on account

of the persecutions, his true followers would have gone underground.

Furthermore, the documents on him from the colonial administrationwould not be reliable, since Kimbangu was considered a rebel and dan-

gerous and everything was done by the colonial authorities to discredit

him and to exterminate his movement.

Marie-Louise Martin has shown how ill-informed writers had

misrepresented and given inaccurate information, about the prophet


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and his activities. For instance, she refuted the allegation that whenthe prophet disobeyed his initial call to prophesy and to heal, he fell

ill, and another, that, he had fainted and fell while accompanying his

parents on a trip15With regard to Kimbangu s healing, Martin also

pointed out how some writers have attributed it to the fact that, either

his father was a feticheur (witch doctor) or that his mother was a

herbalist, who cured ... according to instructions received in vision.

Again, Simon Kimbangu was said to have been preaching in a long

gown of glittering silk and administered the blessing in a theatrical waywith pontical gestures.16Marie-Louise Martin further refuted the al-

legation that, on his death-bed the prophet was baptized into the Roman

Catholic faith.17In point of fact, most of the writings on Kimbangu and

his activities lack adequate information from the right sources.

How, then, are we to ascertain Kimbangus own self-understand-

ing? From Kimbangus reaction to his initial call, we can say that, he

regarded himself as a sinful human, who was not qualied to perform

the tremendous task before him. Like the prophets of old (Isaiah,

Jeremiah, etc.), Kimbangu was aware of his frailty and inadequacy,

and, therefore, complained that he was not educated and there were

other qualied people who could do the work better.

It was on the 6thof April 1921, after his rst miracle, to be fol-

lowed by other events of similar nature, that he became convinced that

the Lord had chosen him to heal the sick, raise the dead and to ask the

people to put away their fetish practices. He believed he had no powerwhich he could call his own, but the power of Jesus Christ through

whom he could accomplish any miraculous work. It would be wrong,

therefore, for any of his followers today or in future to deify

and regard him as an object of worship. Kimbangu saw himself as a

messenger of God, who represented a people, who were sinners and

through prayer, he interceded for them. He prayed for the sick and the

dead; for unity among all humanity even those who plotted against

him that they might be saved. The following prayer, one of the fewrecorded prayers attributed to the prophet speaks for itself:

I thank Thee, Almighty God, Maker of heaven and earth.

The heaven is Thy throne and the earth is Thy footstool. Thy

will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Bless all peoples of


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the earth, great and small, men and women, black and white.May the blessing of heaven fall on the whole world so that we

all may enter heaven. We pray to Thee trusting that Thou dost

receive us in the Name of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.18

How Kimbangus Followers Saw Him

The response of Kimbangus own people to his activities wasboth religious and political. This came out clearly from the activities of

the Ngunzist Movement. African peoples attitude towards Kimbangu

was a blend of religious awe and admiration. What was important to

them was that, even among oppressed and despised Africans. a prophet

had emerged, who was to pass on to them the will of God. The prophet

was, therefore, looked upon as a signicant gure with pride. He was

not merely a teacher, but also a prophet. E. Bazola wrote:

The news that the despised blacks now had a prophet of their

own swept over the land like a tidal wave, and their attitude

towards Kimbangu was a blend of religious awe and admira-

tion. They rejoiced to think that one of their members had

become a prophet.19

But also connected with this notion of a prophet was that of asaviour or a liberator. Thus, like Moses, through whom Yahweh deliv-

ered the Israelites from the oppression of the Egyptians, so would God,

through Kimbangu. save and liberate Africans from colonial domina-

tion, forced labour and oppression.

Salvation in the African experience occurs at both individual and

community levels. It is also the belief of Africans that God rescues

people from material and physical dangers that confront the indi-

vidual and community. John Mbiti has pointed out Gods salvationin an African experience. At the individual level, the African believes

God rescues him or her from dangers of sickness, witchcraft, sorcery,

magic, barrenness, misfortune, troublesome spirits, calamity, failure

and death. At the community level, rescue comes from such dangers

as drought, war, oppression, foreign domination, slavery, locust inva-


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sion, epidemic, oods and so on.

20

Therefore, thought of as a saviour,the Prophet Kimbangu was not only to bring salvation to individuals

through healing of sickness or raising individuals from death, but also,

to liberate the African community from oppression, foreign domina-

tion and all that tended to enslave them.

Simon Kimbangu was seen as a national hero, even if in his

short ministry, he was said not to have shown any manifestation of

nationalistic tendencies. Therefore, it is not surprising at all that,

since the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) attained indepen-dence in 1960, Kimbangu has been hailed by politicians as the rst

great African nationalist in the Congo,21and also, that an offer was

made to the Eglise de Jesus Christ stir la terre par le prophete Simon

Kimbangu (EJCSK) to become the National Church of the Congo.

How Kimbangus early followers saw him is best seen in the rise of

the movement that followed his arrest. His arrest and imprisonment

did not destroy the work he had initiated: rather, his imprisonment and

subsequent deportation of his followers and also, the strong measures

taken by the colonial authorities provoked massive resistance on the

part of some of the more fanatical followers. With the prophets ab-

sence, the activities of these zealots started to take shape which, at the

same time, developed along new lines.22In fact, although it has been

pointed out that Kimbangus wife continued to give spiritual support, it

was through the Ngunzists that the movement, initiated by the prophet,

continued to grow, and it was only after the formation of the EJCSK in1958, that the Ngunzists and radical elements with nationalistic tenden-

cies were separated from orthodox Kimbanguism.

The Ngunzist Movement (or Ngunzisin) began when there was no

outstanding gure to take over the work initiated by Simon Kimbangu

and to succeed him. As this new movement grew and new prophets arose,

there began a preaching of hatred for white domination. The movement

conscientized the natives, thus, making them aware of their situation

under colonial domination and oppression. The movement declared aholy war, and the imminent return of the saviour Kimbangu, who

would take sovereignty away from the whites, was announced. With

the appearance of Kimbangu, the kingdom of the whites will be over-

thrown.... This is the Holy War in which the whites will be judged, because

they have loved money and worldly fame instead of serving Christ.23


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This proclamation of the Ngunzisrs that Simon Kimbangu would sooncome back was, thus, translated into some sort of apocalyptic expec-

tation, so that with the prophets return, things would totally change

and people would be liberated from political, social and economic

exploitation and domination. In this expectation, writes Marie-Louise

Martin,

Kimbangu had become a kind of catalyst for all the dissat-

isfactions and insecurity which had come through the socialarid colonial upheavals in the Congo, changing the old order

. He was expected to bring salvation, liberation from sick-

ness and witchcraft, but, above all, freedom from the yoke of

colonial power. He would drive the whites into the sea an

ever-recurring motif reaction in Africa against conquest and

colonization.24

This, indeed, shows that, the natives became aware of the ra-

cial discrimination and disdain which the white colonialists showed

towards them. In such a situation, they saw in Kimbangu, a gure,

who would come to liberate them. T.A. Beetham is, therefore, right in

saying that, in such a situation, a black messiah is needed, because

people are tired and need one to lead them to a new promised land out

of the bondage of living for a life-time in a world the white man has

divided, in neither part you are free to be yourself. He then goes onfurther to say that, this messianic strain became actualized in the ...

teaching of Simon Kimbangu ... [and] following his death, ... he was,

for his followers, their black saviour.25

Thus, even if the prophet Simon Kimbangu had had no national-

istic tendency, as some writers insist, to his followers, especially before

the toleration and recognition of Kimbanguism in the late 1950s, the

prophet was seen, not only as a religious gure, but also, as one who

gave political inspiration, which led to nationalism in the Congo.


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Kimbanguism By the Close of the 20th Century

The discovery of the Magna Charta of human rights in 1957 by

some Kimbanguists, including the sons of the prophet working in the

colonial administration, led to the toleration of the movement that year,

to be followed two years later by its recognition. In 1959, the move-

ment then came to be known as the Church of Jesus Christ on Earth

through the Prophet Simon Kimbangu (Eglise de Jesus Christ stir la

terre par le Prophete Simon Kimbangu).The unity and organization of the group under the Ngunzists

were not possible. Before the death of Simon Kimbangu in 1951,

he had appointed his youngest son, Joseph Diangienda, as the spiri-

tual head of the group, so when the group was recognized and the

surviving exiles returned in 1960, the spiritual head was faced with

the great task of unifying all the groups in the dispersion, which

claimed to have originated from the prophet. In the process of do-

ing this, the Church purged all radical and Ngunzist tendencies,disengaged from politics and assumed a purely religious character.

The Church was structured in such a way that Joseph Diangienda be-

came the spiritual head (chef spiritual) and its legal representative, with

his two brothers Charles Kisolokele and Solomon Dialungana as

chief counselors (conseillers directs) to assist him. There were also

ve bansadisi (sacricateurs or sacricers) made up of three men and

two women, who survived the persecution and were close associatesof Simon Kimbangu. There were also legal representatives in the three

countries, where the church became strong and had large following,

namely, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo and Angola. The

organizational structure of the church, thus, followed a hierarchical

pattern.

In 1958, a constitution, which expressed the Churchs aims,

statutes and faith was adopted.26The stated purpose of the Church is

to spread the light of the liberating Gospel of Jesus Christ. In do-ing this, the Church knows no boundary. The foundation on which the

Kimbanguist Church rests is the Law and the Prophets. Its message is

what is revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and teaches through the power

of the Holy Spirit, love of the good, horror of evil, the practice of truth

and divine justice.27


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The Church refrains from all political activities, which are in-compatible with the exclusively spiritual role that it plays in the world.

As Joseph Diangienda, the spiritual head of the Church, pointed out

in his 1959 Statement on Kimbanguism, the Church has only one

sphere in view that of religion and that the responsible members

of the [Kimbanguist Church] will always refrain from any interference

in politics.28Thus, unlike the earlier period, when the prophets fol-

lowers displayed political and nationalistic tendencies, later followers

or, what came to be known as orthodox Kimbanguism, refrained frompolitics.

The pertinent question to ask, is whether the Church would have

taken such an outlook, if Simon Kimbangu had had time to organize it.

Had the prophet no political aspiration at all? Or, was he also anti-white

and nationalistic like the lesser prophets who followed him? Were the

revolutionary activities of the Ngunzists to be deployed?

Although, the prophets public ministry lasted only a few months

and, for that matter, little could be said about his activities, he was not

unaware of the domination and exploitation of his people by the colonial

administration; yet, we cannot say that, he had anti-white feelings as the

prayer we have referred to above demonstrates. Kimbangu prayed for

all people on earth for Gods blessing, including the white oppressors.

However, we would agree with Nathaniel Ndiokwere that, whatever the

case may be, it has been recognized that, many African independent church

movements, which had begun at rst with strictly religious character,were later forced into nationalistic and anti-white opposition, as the co-

lonial governments attacked them as subversive political movements.29

This was precisely what happened when the Belgian administration

arrested Simon Kimbangu and started persecuting the movement. The

prophets followers took on a nationalistic and political outlook, which

was to be purged only when the persecution had ceased and the Church

had been recognized. The rise of the Ngunzist movement was, there-

fore, a reaction against the hostile attitudes of the colonial government.It was an organized force through which enthusiasts and patriots sought

to defend their newly-founded African way of worship, as well as the

national interests of the people of the Congo.30

The fact that, later, Kimbanguism refrained from politics did not

mean the Church accepted white domination and exploitation. In fact,


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in the nineteen fties, when the Church took its present form and itsstance on politics, then, the country was preparing for political inde-

pendence from the colonial masters and power was being passed on to

Africans. Members of the Kimbanguist movement were also prominent

politicians, who fought for their countrys independence. And here, the

Kimbanguist leader, Emmanuel Bamba, who later became a cabinet

minister under General Mobutu Sese Seko, could be cited.

As early as 1957, the Kimbanguist Church published a catechism

called Catechisme de Kintuadi (Catechism of the Assembly), whichmade considerable references to the life of the prophet-founder,

Kimbangu. But this was replaced with a new one, which did not men-

tion the prophet at all, but was rather christologically concentrated.

This is one of the indications that the Church had been undergoing

gradual transformation and changes, most of which had characteristics

closer to the historic or mainline churches than most of the African in-

dependent or instituted churches like the Church of the Lord (Aladura)

in Nigeria and the Musama Disco Christo Church in Ghana.

The gradual movement toward orthodoxy made the

Kimbanguist Church to be more acceptable to be admitted to the World

Council of Churches (WCC). It was admitted to WCC in 1969-1970,

and was also accorded recognition by the International Ecumenical

Dialogue with African religions.31 The Church is actively engaged

in social work, especially work among women and gures promi-

nently in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the eld of education.

Conclusion

We conclude by saying that, the prophet Simon Kimbangu, like

most founders of African Instituted or Charismatic Churches, presented

himself as one sent by God to pass on Gods will to his people. Today,

he is seen, not only as a prophet, a witness, or Gods messenger, but heis also seen by some as a saviour, a liberator and a national hero, who

has inspired his people to nationalism.

In many ways, the movement he founded was a religious move-

ment, but was known to have taken on a nationalistic and political

outlook from the beginning, because of the attacks and persecution of


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the Belgian colonial government. It was only when the Church hadtaken its present form, after the persecution and subsequent recogni-

tion, that it was purged of all radical and political inuences.

Many groups that called themselves by Kimbangus name had to

exclude themselves from orthodox Kimbanguism, because the EJCSK

refrained from political activities. Some had to leave the movement

to found their own nationalistic Kimbanguist movements as the

case of Emmanuel Bamba when the Church declined the offer to

become the National Church of the Congo. By the close of the twenti-eth century, the Kimbanguist Church, which had blended many church

traditions Roman Catholic, Protestant and Salvation Army

continued to grow and increase its inuence on the African continent

and to expand phenomenally since the end of the nineteenth fties.

References1Harold W. Turner, African Independence Churches and Economic

Development in World Development vol. 8 (Oxford Pergamon

Press, 1980), p. 523. These churches have been described in so

many different ways, maintaining the same acronym AICs as:

African independent Churches, African Indigenous Churches,

African initiated Churches, and African Instituted Churches. Here,

it is not our intention to enter the debate.2Josiah U. Young,Black and African Theologies: Siblings or Distant

Cousins?(Maryknoll, NewYork, Orbis Books, 1986), p. 20; cf.

Ko Appiah-Kubi, Indigenous African Christian Churches: Signs

of Authenticity in Ko Appiah-Kubi and Sergio Torres (eds.)

African Theology En Route (Maryknoll, New York, Orbis Books,

1979), pp. 117ff.

3Marie-Louise Martin,Prophetic Christianity in the Congo(n.p., Christian

Institute of Southern Africa, n.d.), p. 4.4Ndiokwere,Prophecy and Revolution(London, SPCK, 1981) p.47; cf.

E. Anderson,Messianic Popular Movements in the Lower Congo

(Uppsala, 1968), p. 48.5Quoted in Ndiokwere,Prophecy and Revolution, pp. 47-48.6Cf. Ibid., p. 48.


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7

Ibid., p. 49.8Ibid., p. 48. C. Irvine, The Birth of the Kimbangu Movement in the

BasZaire. 1921 , Journal of Religion in Africa, vol. IV. 11974, p.

40.9Ibid., p. 49; cf. Irvine, The Birth of the Kinibangu Movement..., p.4410Martin,Prophetic Christianity in the Congo, p. 6.11Ndiokwere,Prophecy and Revolution, p. 50.12Martin,Prophetic christianity in the Congo, p. 6.13

Ibid., p. 6.14Ibid., p. 6.15Ibid., p. 34. Marie-Louise Martin contended that this would not have

been true, because the prophet lost both of his parents when he was

young and was brought up by the grandmother.16Ibid., p. 35.17Ibid., p. 37.18See Diakanua Ndofunsu, The Role of Prayer in the Kimbanguist

Church,in E. Fashole-Luke, R. Gray, A. Hastings and G. Tasie (eds.),

Christianity in Independent Africa(London. Rex Collins, 1978), p.

580.19E. Bazola. Le Kimbanguisme in Cuhiers des Religions Africaines,

July, 1968, p. 323. Quoted in Ndiokwere,Prophecy and

Revolution, p. 48.20John Mbiti, Our Saviour as an African Experience in Christ and

Spirit in the New Testament, edited by B. Lindars and S.S. Smalley(London, The University Press, 1973), pp. 397-414.

21Martin,Prophetic Christianity in the Congo, p. 20.22Ndiokwere,Prophecy and Revolution, p 50.23Ibid., pp. 50-51.24Marie-Louise Martin, Menees Prophetiques de 1925-1931 (Documents

Secrets Belges); cf, her Kimbangu An African Prophet and His

Church (Oxford, 1975), cited in ibid., p. 51.

25T.A. Beetham, Christianity and the NewAfrica(London, Pall Mall,1967) p. 21.

26For details of the Aims, Statutes and Faith of the Kimbanguist Church,

see Marie-Louise Martin,Prophetic Christianity in the Congo, pp.

28-3 1.27See ibid., pp. 28ff. for the extracts from the Statutes of the Church.28Ibid., p. 27.


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29

Ndiokwere,Prophecy and Revolution, pp. 54ff.30Ibid., p. 53.31See ibid., p. 54; cf. Harold W. Turner, Patterns of Ministry and

Structure Within Independent Churches in E. Fashole-Luke, R.

Gray. A Hastings and G. Tasie, Christianity in Independent Africa,

p. 45.