Christianity in South Africa: An Annotated Bibliography

(Hardback)

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In all its diversity, Christianity has been a powerful force in South African life. From the history of colonial missions, through the development of denominations, to the emergence of African initiated churches, Christianity has assumed a variety of distinctively South African forms. This comprehensive guide offers detailed reviews of over 600 works that have established the importance of Christianity in South African history, society, and religious experience. Of interest to scholars and students of religious studies, cultural anthropology, African Studies, and history, this volume, together with African Traditional Religion in South Africa and Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism in South Africa (both Greenwood, 1997), will become the standard reference work on South African religions. In each sectionChristian Missions, Christian Denominations, and African Initiated Churchesan introductory essay identifies significant themes in the literature. The annotations are concise yet detailed essays, written in an engaging and accessible style and supported by an exhaustive index. The book therefore provides a full and complex profile of Christianity as a religious tradition in South Africa.

Reviews

Christianity in South Africa: An Annotated Bibliography is a well researched, meticulously annotated, comprehensive work on the many faces of Christianity in South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Its historical, sociological and anthropological approaches to the study of literature on South African Christianity give it a wide angle on "religious" studies - a study of religion whose methodology makes it readily accessible to many academic disciplines as well as the lay reader. The annotations are insightful and engaging, and the historical and political treatment of Christian denominations is as informative as it is provocative....Libraries - private or public - are enriched by this book.-Journal of Asian and African Studies
Offer[s] a sound base for further research on the religious experiences of South Africa.-The International Journal of Africal Historical Studies
Unraveling the strands and bonds of religion, culture, and politics in the turbulent history of South Africa comes as second nature to this estimable bibliography. Crisply written and exhaustively researched, this work provides content and contrast illustrating the context for Christianity within South African society....Christianty in South Africa is appropriate for academic libraries supporting programs in the history of religion of African history and politics (including apartheid).-Reference & User Services Quarterly
"Offers a sound base for further research on the religious experiences of South Africa."-The International Journal of Africal Historical Studies
"Offer[s] a sound base for further research on the religious experiences of South Africa."-The International Journal of Africal Historical Studies
"Unraveling the strands and bonds of religion, culture, and politics in the turbulent history of South Africa comes as second nature to this estimable bibliography. Crisply written and exhaustively researched, this work provides content and contrast illustrating the context for Christianity within South African society....Christianty in South Africa is appropriate for academic libraries supporting programs in the history of religion of African history and politics (including apartheid)."-Reference & User Services Quarterly
"Christianity in South Africa: An Annotated Bibliography is a well researched, meticulously annotated, comprehensive work on the many faces of Christianity in South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Its historical, sociological and anthropological approaches to the study of literature on South African Christianity give it a wide angle on "religious" studies - a study of religion whose methodology makes it readily accessible to many academic disciplines as well as the lay reader. The annotations are insightful and engaging, and the historical and political treatment of Christian denominations is as informative as it is provocative....Libraries - private or public - are enriched by this book."-Journal of Asian and African Studies

Author Bio

DAVID CHIDESTER is Professor of Comparative Religion and Director of the Institute for Comparative Religion in Southern Africa at the University of Cape Town. His recent books include Savage Systems: Colonialism and Comparative Religion in Southern Africa (1996), Religions of South Africa (1992), and Shots in the Streets: Violence and Religion in South Africa (1992). JUDY TOBLER is Research Manager for the Institute for Comparative Religion in Southern Africa at the University of Cape Town. DARREL WRATTEN is Lecturer in Religious Studies and Associate Director of the Institute for Comparative Religion in Southern Africa at the University of Cape Town. Chidester, Tobler, and Wratten are coauthors of Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism in South Africa: An Annotated Bibliography and, with Chirevo Kwenda and Robert Petty, African Traditional Religion in South Africa: An Annotated Bibliography (both Greenwood, 1997).