Abstract:
Leadership in Africa is inextricably connected to the spirit world. Leaders may be chosen
through elections or other human processes, but ultimately, they are seen as appointed by
God. Leaders may base their decisions upon science or intuition, but ultimately, they let
themselves be inspired by revelations from the spiritual realm. Yet, what is meant by the
spirit world in this respect? In this article, a new way is explored for investigating what
references to the spirit world mean. Instead of discussing which theoretical concept applies to
the kind of reality spirits have, or what analogy fits spirits, I demonstrate that we can discover
what it means to speak of the spirit world by investigating what we already know about it
before theoretical labels and comparisons. Such a Wittgensteinian approach in line with
the re-emerging brand of ethnographically informed philosophy of religion enhances our
understanding of what kind of reality the spirit world has. If you see leadership as being
empowered by the spirit world, this is not a choice, option or interpretation, but you cannot
see it any other way.
CONTRIBUTION : This article contributes to a better understanding of the kind of reality that the
spirit world has, in particular in an African context. The topic of leadership in Africa is used
here to illustrate how this kind of reality is often misunderstood. A clear understanding of the
kind of reality of the spirit world is indispensable for a proper investigation of Christianity in
Africa and religion in general.
Description:
This research is part of the
project, ‘University, Education
and Theology’’, directed by
Prof. Dr Johan Buitendag,
Department of Historical and
Systematic Theology, Faculty
of Theology, University of
Pretoria.
