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Political Pentecostalism and Faith-Based Development in Nigeria
Rethinking the Postcolonial Megachurch
Political Pentecostalism and Faith-Based Development in Nigeria
Rethinking the Postcolonial Megachurch
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Description
This book examines how the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) mobilises its theological teachings, financial resources, and political networks to invest in social development in Nigeria. Focusing on the megachurch's extensive portfolio of development institutions, the book explores the phenomenon of postcolonial megachurch Pentecostalism by analysing how the RCCG negotiates tensions between charity-driven social welfare and a prosperity-centred theology that underwrites large-scale commercial enterprises.
Drawing on ethnographic research and interviews with senior church leaders and officials managing RCCG-funded development institutions, the book shows how prosperity theology is not simply a doctrine of financial and material accumulation, but a strategic resource in a challenging and dysfunctional postcolonial context that enables the RCCG to bankroll an effective Pentecostal micro-state. Through investments in higher education, healthcare and public health, social welfare, and profit-generating enterprises, the RCCG compensates for Nigerian state failure while generating political capital to support a broader religious and socio-political vision.
Situating these practices within the framework of third-generation Pentecostalism, the book establishes productive parallels between RCCG theology and Catholic social teaching, demonstrating how both traditions draw on religious content to shape individuals, institutions, and communities. Through offering a balanced assessment of prosperity theology and a detailed organisational analysis of RCCG development institutions, this study provides a significant contribution to scholarship on African Pentecostalism, theology, and urban development.
Accessibility Information
Additional accessibility information
- PDF/UA-2, 1.4
- accessibility@bloomsbury.com
Hazards
The publication contains no hazards
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Has alternative text descriptions for images
Navigation
- Page list to go to pages from the print source version
- Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
- All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order
Table of Contents
List of Acronyms
Foreword
Table of RCCG-Funded Social Development Institutions
Preface
1. Who provides leadership in a dysfunctional state?
2. The Road to Prosperity
3. Decolonising Christian Charity
4. A Redeemed Nation
5. Holistic Evangelism
6. Holy Prosperity
Bibliography
Index
Product details
| Published | 12 Nov 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 352 |
| ISBN | 9781350646896 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 16 bw illus |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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This book is the product of meticulous and sustained intellectual inquiry. Its scholarly and practical significance lies not only in the originality of its findings, but also in the rigour and transparency of the methods through which those findings were generated.
Abel Ugba, University of Leeds, UK
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This is a timely and impressive study of one of African Pentecostalism's most significant movements. Refusing to ghettoize African Pentecostalism, the author creatively brings insights from Catholic theology, wrestling with how the RCCG can be transformative while promoting prosperity. Scholars, students, and activists from diverse disciplines will benefit immensely from the arguments propounded in this book.
Ezra Chitando, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe

























