Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Religion, MA

First Advisor

Warren Simatele

Second Advisor

Laurențiu Moț

Third Advisor

Zoltán Szallós-Farkas

Abstract

Problem

Studies have shown that even after becoming Christians, African Christians maintain their traditional religious practices. Non-Christian studies in Zambia reveal that both Christian and non-Christian Zambians still combine biomedicine with sacred African traditional medicine. The goal of the current study is to identify the variables that lead Monze Central Church Seventh-day Adventist members to consult diviners.

Method

Sections one and two of a questionnaire were created to collect information on the variables that affect going to a diviner. To assess the role and self-efficacy of local church elders in assisting members who have been impacted by demonic spiritual forces, a different questionnaire was designed exclusively for them. The questionnaires were completed by 73 church members and 10 elders, respectively.

Findings

The results showed that demographic factors such as age, education, the length of church membership, the amount of time spent in Bible class prior to baptism had no effect on influencing respondents to consult diviners or not. Visits to a diviner were influenced by issues such as illness, infertility, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job or business, and attacks from bad spirits, with the latter having a greater impact than the others.

Conclusions

The Monze Central Seventh-day Adventist Church takes the instruction given prior to baptism seriously. All of the congregation's members get continuous Bible teaching through the Sabbath School system. However, this study has shown that some members still use diviners, despite the importance placed on Bible learning. According to this study, Africans require a form of Christianity that may assist them in resolving their day-to-day existential issues.

Subject Area

Seventh-day Adventists--Zambia--Monze; Religions--African influences; Africa--Religion; Zambia--Religion; Monze Central Seventh-day Adventist Church (Monze, Zambia); General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division. Southern Zambia Union Conference. South Zambia Conference; South Zambia Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/theses/202/

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