The Precarious Center

Religious Leadership among African Christians

Bibliographic Data

ID4314712
AuthorsThomas G Kirsch (0000-0002-6521-4128, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume5
Issue1
Publication date2014-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligion and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2150-9298 • E-ISSN: 2150-9301
PublisherBerghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3167/arrs.2014.050104
OpenAlexW1972642997
LanguageEN
Citations received2

This article addresses a long-standing conundrum in the anthropology of religion concerning the ambiguous status of religious leaders: they are subjects of power in that they are able to exert power over others, yet they are objects of power in that they rely on empowerment through others. Taking African-initiated Pentecostal-char­ismatic Christianity in Zambia as my example, I argue that church leaders’ strategies to stabilize their authority have unintended consequences since these strategies can con­tribute to the precariousness of their positions. By drawing fundamental distinctions between themselves and members of the laity as regards their own extraordinariness, church leaders raise high expectations about their own capacities that may turn out to be impossible to fulfill. Yet even the opposite strategy of strengthening one’s authority by embedding oneself in socio-religious networks can eventually lead to a destabiliza­tion of church leaders’ authority because it increases their dependence on factors that are beyond their control

Charisma · Charismatic authority · Christianity · Empowerment · Political science · Sociology · African history and culture analysis · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Law · Philosophy · Religion, Society, and Development · Religious studies

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