Religion & Society Blog

Bulawayo water crisis and prayer

November 21, 2012 by Giovanni del Autore
Earlier this month, Mayor Thaba Moyo appealed to the churches and Bulawayo residents to pray for the rains ‘because God is the owner of the rains.’  Around that time, the Christian Alliance leader Useni Sibanda spoke about religion and politics in the following terms, “Churches have been hesitant to vote. We want to encourage everyone to ...

Discussing Zimbabweans who take gospel (of prosperity) to other peoples

November 12, 2012 by Giovanni del Autore
The Gospel of Prosperity debate is alive and kicking in Zimbabwe. Moreover, it was taken to the foreign lands. Some observers like New Zimbabwe‘s Adventist Lot Masiane suggest that Christians need to uphold the standards in their faithful lives. While other Christians have no problem with agitating the poor from their flashy ...

The perfect storm: media and church

October 29, 2012 by Giovanni del Autore
“Are Zimbabwean journalists looking for sensationalism only when they cover activities of religious newsmakers?” I asked myself this question once again during a religious jourmalism conference at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv that I recently attended.  A special guest of the event was CNN’s senior Vatican analyst and the senior correspondent ...

What the destruction of Timbuktu in Mali has in common with Zimbabwean Christians’ attitude to the traditional Shona religion

October 12, 2012
by Tendai Huchu This summer, Islamist fighters attacked and destroyed centuries-old mausoleums and tombs in Mali’s Timbuktu with pick axes. Whatever their doctrinal rationale for doing this, they were not only destroying their own heritage, but a vital inheritance for the whole world. Iconoclasm is nothing new and has been ...

Young, single Christians face temptations that their counterparts in the biblical age didn’t face

October 11, 2012 by Giovanni del Autore
Browsing the net for inspiration, I came across an article by John Blake on the CNN blog with a straight-forward title ‘Why young Christians aren’t waiting anymore.’ The post cites an evangelical publication that claims that young, unmarried Christians are having premarital sex almost as much as their non-Christian peers in the ...

Some Johanne Marange members see their children as bricks

September 27, 2012
The Johanne Marange group is allegedly Zimbabwe’s second biggest Apostolic church. Of the 101 children Arnold Muzaruwetu fathered, he is survived by only 25. 76 died and most of them even before their 5th birthday. He passed away in April leaving behind 14 wives among whom is one who today ...

The rise of local Christian literature in Zimbabwe

September 26, 2012
In Zimbabwe, Bible-reading culture keeps advancing ahead of that of general books. And not only have people embraced the Bible as a source of divine inspiration but they have also gone beyond reading to writing from the Holy Book’s inspiration. Widely self-published, informative, interpretive and motivational Christian literature has emerged.Two ...

What the satanist refugees story teaches us

September 13, 2012 by Giovanni del Autore
Earlier this week, RelZim posted two stories that I can’t ignore discussing in public. “Police prepare to deport three satanists” and “Kambuzuma’s “Mother Theresa” invites you to look after children” appeared on our front page on the same day. But they seem to be worlds apart. The former is an account of ...

Do we really believe Jesus has “all power, all authority?”

September 5, 2012
Switzerland is a country of high mountains covered in snow all the year round. It is invigorating to walk there and breathe the pure air. I was staying with friends and one day we approached the highest peak, the Matterhorn, but we had to be satisfied with seeing if from ...

What a graduate of the UZ medical school thinks of the ‘salvation’ from the white Howard Hospital doctor

August 22, 2012
Unless you have been living in a cave the past month or so, you most likely have come across news that Salvation Army‘s Dr. Paul Thistle who through his dedicated service for the past 16 years has endeared himself to the community of Chiweshe (Mashonaland Central) in particular, will be leaving Howard ...