Substantiality of the Spirit

Devison Telen Banda

Who Is The Spirit

Who or what is the Spirit? In the African perspective, “Spirit” with the capitalized beginning is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, or the Spirit of the Ancestors, while “spirit” is associated with the spirit of people or animals or impersonal matter. In the Chichewa or Chinyanja language of my people, the “who” and the “what” questions are distinguished by pronouns “a” and “u” respectively: “a” is used with “who” and “u” is used with “it” or “what.” Religious Africans understand the Spirit as a person—and it is hard to find a non-religious African. As John Mbiti observed, “Religion is found in all African peoples … The earliest records of African history show that the Africans of ancient Egypt were very religious people.”1 We should distinguish between the African Christianities and African non-Christian religions, specifying “Christianities” because Africa is a huge and complex continent with diverse indigenized forms of Christian understanding and community.

African Christian Perspectives

African Christian perspectives are influenced by the Bible and Western theologies. In these perspectives, the Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity, a persona present and “hovering” over creation (Gen 1:1) and promised to be poured on all flesh (Joe 2:28 – 32, Luke 24:49, Acts 1:1-8, Acts 2: 1-21). The presence of God is made real in the daily living experiences of people through the operation of the Holy Spirit, and prayers and petitions are offered to God in and through the power of the Holy Spirit. While there are differences in the understanding of the Holy Spirit in African Christianities, this basic understanding is shared among African

communities with diverse cosmologies and doctrines and constitutes the core African understanding of the Spirit.

The Chewa Christian Perspective

In non-Christian African cosmologies there are many spirits: divine, human, animal, and nature spirits. “Spirit” is always relational, and there is no “Spirit” in contrast to “spirit” in the Chewa cosmology because the cosmology is orally expressed. The designation Spirit (Mzimu) never stands alone. For instance, it may refer to human spirit (mzimu wa munthu), the spirit of the departed (mzimu wa malemu), the Spirit of God (Mzimu wa Mulungu), the “the Holy Spirit (Mzimu Woyera) or spirit of divination (mzimu wa mbwebwe).”2 There is a plurality of types of spirits, including “spirits of nature” such as “sky spirits” and “earth spirits,” or “human spirits” which may be “long dead” spirits (ghosts) or “recently dead” spirits (living dead).3 Generally, the spirits of the long dead are negative and fearful while the spirits of the living dead are positive and can even protect, especially where Azimu (the living dead) are pleased.

In Chewa cosmology, God is not only known through many names reflecting particular attributes, but also as the “Supreme Spirit” (Mzimu Wamkulla) in contrast with lesser spirits (mizimu yaying’ono or mizimu yocepa) of humans, animals, or creation in general. Thus, a Chewa listening to biblical texts such as, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12), does not struggle to understand because spirits of the sky (mizimu ya mumlenga-lenga or ya m’zakumwamba) and demonic forces (mizimu or ziwanda) are embedded in the Chewa cosmology. “Supreme Spirit” (Mzimu wamkulu) rules over all, in providence protecting but also allowing or disallowing the lesser and evil spirits to attack people of God.

Spirit and Culture

Culture provides the lens through which anything, including the Spirit, is understood. In Chewa culture, the work of spirits and of the Supreme Spirit is communicated through dances, song, food (all celebrations include good, communal food!), birth rites, rite of passage, death rites, annual festivals and celebrative rituals, prayers, liturgies, sacrifices, and offerings. The communal, joyful celebrations form practical linkages between the Supreme Spirit and the people, between the living dead and the living.

Works of the Spirit

In Chewa cosmology the spirit always affects people concretely, operating in the lives of people in visible ways. Whether the spirit or spirits are evil (mizimu yoyipa) or good (mzimu wabwino), or even if it is the Supreme Spirit, the spirit is understood in terms of its impact on life here and now. In Chewa Christian understanding the Spirit is inseparable from the church as the body of Christ, the ecclesia or ekklesia of God at work in the world. The body metaphor is Christocentric. The ekklesia concept is Theocentric. In Chewa understanding the Christocentric and Theocentric are supplemented by vibrant awareness that true ecclesia is infused with the Spirit. The Spirit can also possess an individual, but the truly possessed individual will always work for the community. In sum, for African Christianity there is no question about the reality and power of the Spirit, there is only the vital question of discerning where that Spirit is working. In that regard, consider the stories of two influential Africans.

Alice Lenshina Mulenga of Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia)

Alice Lenshina Mulenga, known to many just as “Lenshina,” founded a movement in the 1960s at the peak of Northern Rhodesia’s fight for political freedom. Against all odds, a woman in the context of male dominance, pride, and arrogance, Lenshina mobilized an independent movement so powerful that it was mistakenly taken as a political movement. In the Chinsali district of Zambia (Northern Rhodesia), the colonial authorities perceived her movement as a nationalist threat. The missionaryestablished churches likewise perceived her as a threat. Even the United National Independence Party, which finally achieved Zambian independence, had misgivings because Lenshina did not allow her members to own political party membership cards. Lenshina and her members were subjected to torture and martyrdom, yet that did not crush the movement. The church survived exile and endured as an underground church in the Congo for decades before returning to Zambia in the 1990s as the Lumpa Church, which still commands a large following. Today Lenshina’s burial place is a shrine for the members of her church and the local people and is a protected heritage site. Lenshina managed to raise a movement that survived her in ways similar to the way that the New Testament church survived Jesus. In the eyes of many Zambians, the Holy Spirit led Lenshina and those in her movement to be courageous and fearless. She was Spirit-filled, so filled that she served her movement with dedication.

Simon Kimbangu of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (Zaire)

Simon Kimbangu was the founder of the Kimbanguist Church and a symbol of Congolese nationalism.4 He was said to cure the sick and to prophesize the future, including the liberation of Black people. The Kimbanguist Church is a member of the Council of Churches in Zambia and a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC). In Zambia, Kimbanguists are mostly in Lusaka and the Copper belt towns. The Kimbanguists are trinitarian in their faith, yet what shocks some is that they believe the Holy Spirit was incarnate in Simon Kimbangu. Songs and stories about Kimbangu project him not only as possessed by the Holy Spirit but as the Holy Spirit incarnate. All this is attributed to him because of the way he worked for and achieved the social liberation of his followers. Because of his service to others, even in the face of the persecution of the colonial state, people attribute to him a life closely linked to the Spirit.

These are but two of a multitude of examples of how Africans relate to heroes possessed by the Holy Spirit. While none is perfect, they are considered to be possessed by the true Spirit insofar as they are possessed like Samson was possessed, not for personal prestige and benefit but for the liberation of the people of God (Judges 16:1–22).

Conclusion

In sum, Africans are Spirit or Holy Spirit aware. They believe the Supreme Spirit is invisible but becomes visible in individuals whom he empowers not for personal prestige and benefit, but to serve real people against all odds for the liberation of the people of God over the whole array of spiritualties, including not only church ministries but in overcoming health impediments or for political and social liberation. Africans believe that only the Holy Spirit could transform ordinary people with traceable parentage and family lives like Alice Lenshina Mulenga and Simon Kimbangu, to render selfless services and meet the needs of the people in their contexts. African Spirit awareness and consciousness in transforming individuals and communities is the basis upon which the evangelical and charismatic movements, including tele-evangelism programs, succeed in Africa (Graham 1978).5 From grass-thatched shrines to brick churches, the Holy Spirit is celebrated in community socialization through special songs and exuberant dances using drums or modern instruments and keyboards that invoke and invite the Spirit. By any name, this Spirit is welcome to African Christianities, religions, and culture.

NOTES

1. J. S. Mbiti, Introduction to African Religion, 2nd ed. (Nairobi: EAEP, 1996), 14

2. S. Paas, English Chichewa-Chinyanja Dictionary (Blantyre: CLAIM, 2003), 146.

3. Mbiti, 70.

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Kimbangu

5. Billy Graham, The Holy Spirit: Activating God’s Power in Your Life (Waco: Word Books Publisher, 1978).

https://www.africabib.org/rec.php?RID=189172347. Downloaded on 01/08/2023 at 06:20

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/j.ctt1wf4cr0.10?searchText=Simon+Kimba ngu&searchUri=2Facion%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DSimon%2BKimbangu& ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly default%3A6c4 3319b4fd0bf945142d78ed17e81ab&seq=3. Accessed 01/08/2023 at 07:10

D.T. Banda is former principal of Justo Mwale Theological University College and now serves as deputy vice-chancellor and professor at Justo Mwale University, in Lusaka, Zambia. He holds a PhD in New Testament interpretation from the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa, and an MA in political science from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.