Prosperity Gospel Redefined: The Impact of Charismatisation of the Mailine Church in Tanzania , by Leita Ngoy

Pentecostalism is a thoroughly American religion. It traces its origins to the Azusa Street Revival of 1906 in Los Angeles, where a diverse group of migrants and refugees joined the son of formerly enslaved people to start a religious revival that reshaped much more than spiritual landscapes. Pentecostalism was a modern phenomenon. Highly individualistic, deeply emotional, yet spiritually empirical. It could be said to be the first evidence-based religion of our times. In Pentecostalism, it was not enough to believe in the divine. It was necessary to experience it, and more importantly, to provide evidence of it. In the early days, the evidence of such faith was glossolalia (or xenolalia), the practice of speaking in tongues. It soon included miraculous physical healings. By the late 1900s, a branch of Pentecostalism had grown to include material wealth and positive life outcomes as tangible evidence of God’s blessings. This movement came to be known as Prosperity Gospel. It is the Gospel of the American Dream—the idea that hard work and following the rules will reward believers with their heart’s desire.Yet this most American of gospels did not stay in the United States. Rather, it spread rapidly across the world. Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa experienced rapid and extensive growth of Prosperity Gospel. What happens when a thoroughly American religious creation is exported to a different country? What if that country already had its version of colonized Christianity? These are the questions Leita Ngoy seeks to answer in her book Prosperity Gospel Redefined.In this book, Ngoy focuses on the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania—Eastern and Central Diocese. She seeks to understand the charismatization of traditional Lutheranism in Tanzania as it confronts the larger cultural shift toward modernizing worship styles and Prosperity Gospel, specifically. This book presents in-depth interviews with leaders of Lutheran congregations in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city and a financial hub with over seven million residents. Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa and the fifth largest city in all of Africa. The churches profiled in this book exist in the midst of a city of tremendous growth and opportunities. The research was conducted creatively during the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring extensive online interviews to build a case using grounded theory. As an ordained Lutheran, Ngoy provides an insider’s perspective on this research.Ngoy introduces the concept of Mafanikio Gospel as the reinterpretation of Prosperity Gospel in Tanzania. Mafanikio is a Swahili word that means success, achievement, or accomplishment. It is a word commonly used by Swahili speakers to describe any kind of positive outcome. As such, it is a more acceptable term than “Prosperity Gospel” as adherents often seek more than material wealth and physical healing. Historian Kate Bowler refers to this as “soft” prosperity, as opposed to “hard” prosperity, which is focused mainly on material outcomes. Yet the rationale is ultimately the same: Believers who have faith and trust God should be rewarded with the lives they desire.The book explores various factors that contributed to the charismatization of Lutheranism in Tanzania. Some of these are similar to the reasons any religion might evolve, such as younger people demanding contemporary music and worship styles, or the global shift toward prioritizing personal feelings and experiences over communal and traditional values and rituals. Then there are the socioeconomic realities of the people. With a significant number of the population in Tanzania living in poverty, a religion in a city with opportunities naturally veers toward preaching hope and faith in the market system they believe will lead to more comfortable lives.The book could be strengthened with a more nuanced distinction between charismatization and Prosperity Gospel. In addition, by the author’s own admission, the book fails to explore the particularities of Lutheran theology as it adapts to Prosperity Gospel. This book offers insights into one particular city where Prosperity Gospel was exported and integrated into existing Christian traditions that existed in Tanzania for over a century. It’s part of the larger literature trying to understand religion in late modernity. Prosperity Gospel Redefined contributes to modern missiology, describing the consequences of exporting a religion that is deeply culturally aligned with Western consumer capitalism.