Prophecy,Divination and Gender Justice in the Lumpa Church in Zambia

Introduction

The rapid growth of Christianity in Africa is well documented (Togarasei, 2015; Amanze, 2013; Kalu, 2008). As Amanze (2013:1) notes, much of the growth is taking place in African Initiated Churches (AICs) and Pentecostal-charismatic Churches. While recent studies about African Christianity focus much on the last three decades (Amanze, 2013; Sanneh, 2008; Jenkins, 2007), AICs in Sub-Saharan Africa started to make an impact in the 1950s. A good example of an African Initiated Church in sub-Saharan Africa that has grown rapidly is the Lumpa Church which was founded by Alice Lenshina in 1955 in Zambia (Anderson, 2001:136). This article first examines factors that contributed to the unprecedented growth of the Lumpa Church as compared to the Churches that were founded by Western missionaries in North Eastern Zambia. Secondly, the article argues that the growth of the Lumpa Church was based on Alice Mulenga Lenshina’s ability to practise divination, prophesy, eradicate witchcraft, predict future events and advocacy for gender justice. These qualities were taken by her followers as divine confirmation that she was a prophetess of God. The article examines divination and prophecy in ancient Israel and links them to the nature of divination as found in the Lumpa Church.

Amanze (2013: 1, 2) has established that prophecy in ancient Israel consisted of magical performances and prediction of what went on in the social and religio-political institutions of the time in ancient Israel and the surrounding nations. Taking Prophet T.B. Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Nigeria (SCOAN) as a case study, Amanze (2013:11) argues that modern prophetic activities in Africa resonate prophetic traditions in the ninth century bce in ancient Israel. This can be seen in the ministry of prophets Elijah and Elisha. Amanze (2013) further argues that prophecy and healing have largely contributed to the rapid growth of the Church in Africa in the recent past. This article concurs with Amanze’s (2013) observation by adding that divination and prophecy are some of the forces that drive the rapid growth of Christianity in Africa today. The article argues that in the case of the Lumpa Church, prophecy was in the form of divination and a search for gender justice (Kaunda and Nadar, 2012). It further argues that the main reason why many people joined the Lumpa Church in northern Rhodesia, today named Zambia, was to get personal and spiritual help from Lenshina especially against witchcraft and evil powers. David Gordon notes:

Spirits have been marginalized by post-Enlightenment Christianity that guides human actions in this world by focusing attention on the symbolic meanings of religion and on its moral implications. Spirits are distant, appearing only in an afterlife, in heaven and hell, instead of having a direct influence over happenings in the material world and the health and wealth of living beings (Gordon, 2012: 2).

Clearly this was the understanding of Presbyterian missionaries at Lubwa mission. They rejected the existence of demons and miracles through prayer. They separated the world of the living from the world of the dead insisting that ‘spirits did not inhabit and influence this world’ (Gordon, 2012: 200). African culture was dismissed by the European missionaries and colonial authorities as a fetish. On the other hand Africans saw no dichotomy between the secular and the spiritual. In reaction to the suppression of African cultural values by the missionaries and the colonial authorities, many AICs were formed in Africa.

Origin and Development of the Lumpa Church

The Lumpa Church was founded in 1955 by Alice Mulenga Lubisha Lenshina as a reaction to the Western form of Christianity practised at the Lubwa mission of the Presbyterian Free Church of Scotland (Anderson, 2001:136; Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 347). As Hastings (1979:124) observes, aspirations for an improved political and religious status had an impact on the development of African Initiated Churches in South Central Africa. The desire for ecclesiastical independence came at the same time ‘as a wider revolution in political consciousness marked either by a far more general and vocalized sense of disillusionment with white rule – as in the Federation of Central Africa – or the expectation of approaching independence’ (Hastings, 1979:124). Thus, the formation of the Lumpa Church confirms the notion that African indigenous Churches are usually founded by Africans who are unhappy with one or more features of the Christianity preached by missionary societies (Amanze, 1998: 68). Hugo Hinfelaar (1994: 73) and Kaunda and Nadar (2012: 348) note that the Lumpa Church was an answer to the dominating tendencies of European missionaries who undermined African culture, especially the role of women. According to Hinfelaar, the Lumpa Church resulted from the Bemba women’s reaction against the missionaries who kept confining them to subordinate positions.

As concerns the designation of ‘African indigenous Church’, Anderson (2001:11) insists that it is inadequate because most AICs are not completely free from foreign influence and cannot be regarded as ‘indigenous’ in any normative sense. AICs in the 1950s often suffered persecution from missionaries and colonial government authorities who regarded them as cults or separatist Churches (Hastings, 1979: 264). In the case of Lenshina the persecution was even worse because she was a woman. Male politicians, Presbyterian ministers and Catholic priests did not want to compete with an illiterate woman (Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 349; Gordon, 2012: 99).

The early childhood of Lenshina is shrouded in mystery. However, Anderson (2001:136) states that she was born in 1920 at Kasomo village in Chinsali District of northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). Alice is the name she was given at baptism while Mulenga was her traditional African name. Lenshina is a Bemba form of the Latin name Regina which means ‘queen’ (Hastings, 1979:125; Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 347). She attended baptismal classes (catechumen) of the Presbyterian Free Church of Scotland at Lubwa mission before her calling as a founder of Lumpa Church in her early thirties.

In September, 1953, Lenshina became deeply possessed with ancestral spirits (imyela) and went into a trance (a deep coma). She eventually regained consciousness and claimed that, in her trance, she had met Jesus Christ who gave her the task of spreading the gospel. She told the Revd Fergus MacPherson about her encounter with Jesus (Anderson, 2001:136; Hastings, 1979:125; Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 347). Lenshina began to preach against witchcraft and she rejected traditional rituals, adultery, divorce, polygamy, tobacco, and alcohol. Anderson states that she shunned the sacrament of Holy Communion, which she regarded as an ancestral rite (Anderson, 2001: 136; cf. Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 348).

Hastings (1979:125) notes that Lenshina continued worshipping at Lubwa mission after conversion and baptism. Hudson (1999:16) adds that Lenshina was directed by Jesus to start composing indigenous Christian hymns within the Mission Church and that she was not commanded by God or Jesus to start a new Church. However, Lenshina began to baptise people during revival meetings and this resulted in her expulsion, together with her husband, from the Free Church of Scotland by the Lubwa missionaries. After she had left the Mission Church, her revival movement gradually became a movement for the eradication of witchcraft. Eventually, in 1955, it evolved into a full-blown independent Church called the Lumpa Church (Hudson, 1999: ix; Hastings, 1979: 125).

The Presbyterian Church polity did not allow lay leaders to baptise people. Moreover there were no female ministers in the Presbyterian Free Church of Scotland at Lubwa mission. Consequently, Lenshina’s activities were seen to be subversive (Hudson, 1999:19). Revd Robert MacMinn felt that Lenshina was defying the established ways of ministry as enshrined in the Presbyterian Church polity. MacMinn rigidly distinguished between ordained ministers and other Church members (Hudson, 1999:19; Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 349).

The Lumpa Church attracted many followers and by 1959 the Church had more than 150,000 members in northern Rhodesia (Hudson, 1999: ix; Anderson; 2001:136, Hinfelaar, 1994: 78). The Church’s membership drive was so aggressive that it became one of the most powerful independent Churches in South Central Africa. In 1958, a cathedral was built at Zion (the name given to Kasomo, Lenshina’s home village) with a pillar upon which Jesus Christ was to descend for His second coming. Most of those who joined the Lumpa Church had until then been followers of either the Presbyterian mission at Lubwa or the Catholic mission at Ilondola. Hastings writes:

Lenshina’s Church drew together three strands of experience: missionary Christianity, the witchcraft eradication movements which have been such a feature from time to time of twentieth-century central African history, and the profound black frustration with political situation in the early years of the federation (Hastings, 1979: 125). ¹

It seems Lenshina’s determined attack on witchcraft and sorcery, polygamy and alcohol, made the Lumpa Church popular. Furthermore, Lenshina composed spirited Bemba hymns that appealed to Africans. The Church gathered its members into villages where the hymns and her rejection of life-denying traditional practices created what she referred to as Zion. Lenshina conceived of Zion as a new and cleansed society, worthy of receiving Jesus Christ who the members of the Lumpa Church were expecting to return soon (Hastings, 1979:125; Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 355). The eschatological aspect of her message contributed to the fast growth of her Church but it also made her come into conflict with political, religious and traditional institutions.

Lenshina’s Encounter with the Establishment

The Lumpa Church was, seen from an ideo-theological perspective, an anti-structure. It was opposed to all earthly authority, including the government (Hinfelaar, 1994: 78; Hastings, 1979: 125). In 1958 Lenshina rejected the need for the government to register her Church as an approved organization. The Lumpa Church also refused to pay taxes and formed its own villages which threatened the traditional authority of the chiefs. Furthermore, she challenged the dominant nationalist party, the United National Independence Party (UNIP) of Kenneth Kaunda that was fighting colonial rule in northern Rhodesia. Kasomo village became a near cleansed society (Zion) awaiting the coming of God (Hastings, 1979:126).

Initially Lenshina had supported the liberation of Africans from colonial rule. However, when Kenneth Kaunda broke away from the African National Congress (ANC) and formed the UNIP in 1958, she was critical of the new political party. As the fight for political independence in northern Rhodesia reached its climax, the UNIP became more militant and riotous. There was strong animosity between supporters of UNIP and supporters of ANC. Many people had stones thrown at their houses at night or their homes burnt (ukufolesha amabanshi). ² Lenshina saw in the political movement a stumbling block for the Christian revival movement (Hudson, 1999: 28). And so she ordered her followers to leave the villages where UNIP members lived and to establish separate villages. This resulted in clashes between members of the Lumpa Church and the supporters of UNIP and in the burning down of many houses (Hastings, 1979:126–28, 156; cf. Hinfelaar, 1994: 74). According to Hastings (1979:157) in 1963 there were numerous incidents in which Lumpa Churches were burnt and in which Lumpa members raided their antagonists in retaliation.

On 24 July 1964, a gun battle broke out between UNIP and members of the Lumpa Church, just before Zambia’s political independence. State troops were sent in by the new pre-independence Prime Minister, Kenneth Kaunda who declared a state of emergency. Members of Lumpa Church decided to fight and repel government forces. The biggest bloodiest battle happened two weeks before Zambia’s political independence on 24 October 1964. At Kasomo village more than 85 people were killed. In total, more than 1,000 people were killed and approximately 15,000 members of the Lumpa Church fled and took refuge in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) (Hastings, 1979: 157; cf. Hinfelaar, 1994: 74).

The fighting lasted for three months, ending with the Church being banned and Lenshina under arrest. On 3 August 1964, the Lumpa Church was banned and Lenshina and her husband Petros Chitankwa were jailed (Hastings, 1979: 157). She was later released but subjected to house arrest. In May 1970, while Lenshina was still in detention, Kaunda ordered the destruction of her cathedral in Kasomo village. Lenshina died on 7 December 1978, under continued house arrest, and was eventually buried at Kasomo village. Her husband had died in 1972. The Lumpa Church continues to exist to this day, although it is split and its resulting parts are called by different names. The most prominent ones are the Uluse Kamutola Church and the New Jerusalem Church.

There is sufficient evidence to suggest that Lenshina was against the religious establishment which was predominantly Western. Hastings (1979: 264) writes that Lenshina’s theology prohibited participation in the non-religious politics of the wider society. She was suspicious of the mostly Western Mission Churches and chose to be in solidarity with the people at the grassroots. Her chosen position contributed to the continuing growth of her following so that the missionaries of the Presbyterian Free Church of Scotland and the Catholic mission at Ilondola saw Lenshina as a threat (Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 349). Hastings notes:

The traditional ecclesiastical patterns stressed a moderately strong sense of exclusivity – neither the catholic nor the protestant missionaries used to favour any mixing of their following in religious matters. And there are independent Churches which have cultivated an even greater degree of religious and social separatism than was seriously advocated by the “historic” Churches (Hastings, 1979: 271).

Lenshina preached against the exploitation and the exclusion condoned by the white missionaries at Lubwa mission. Paul Mushindo (1973: 40) reveals that racial discrimination was a prominent characteristic of the Lubwa mission. Missionaries like MacMinn supported a strict separation of people of different colour. He could not bear to share his food or tea with an African person. At Holy Communion the Europeans would use the cup first before the Africans used it (Mushindo, 1973: 40). When Lenshina received her calling to ministry, she realized that there would be restrictions to her work, first as a black person and, secondly, as a woman (Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 351). The Lumpa Church began by way of resistance against such attitudes. She claimed that she also had the prerogative to baptise (Hastings, 1979: 249; Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 351).

There is sufficient evidence that the Lumpa Church denounced indigenous authorities as well. Lenshina’s beliefs and rituals were at variance with African cultural values such as chieftaincy, polygamy and sexual cleansing (Hastings, 1979:156). She challenged the elements of African culture which were life-denying. She also largely opposed the suppression of African culture by colonialists and Western missionaries. Her influence suggests that some women in pre-colonial and pre-missionary Bemba society may have wielded considerable power. Female diviners (ba muchape), senior wives of kings (mukolo), midwives and tutors of sacred emblems (banachimbusa) were among the women who played a weighty role in society. Hinfelaar (1994:12–18), Kaunda (2010: 6–7), Kangwa (2011: 24–26) and Kaunda and Nadar (2012: 349–50) have all shown that, despite traces of patriarchy in indigenous African cultures, women in Bemba society held considerably important positions before the arrival of Christianity and European imperialism.

Firstly, women were seen as nacimbusa wa chisungu (‘mother of sacred emblems’) (Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 349–50). They were regarded as teachers and custodians of the Bemba religious and cultural heritage. Secondly, women were perceived as cibinda wa ng’anda (‘head of families’ religious duties’) (cf. Hinfelaar, 1994:12; Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 349–50). In indigenous Bemba society, the woman was regarded as the maker and the priestess of the home. In this sense, they were guardians of the family shrine. Thirdly, Bemba women were seen as kabumba wa mapepo (‘initiator of prayers’) (Hinfelaar, 1994:15, Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 349–50). In this regard, in times of disaster and epidemics, women were called upon to gather and initiate prayers that might appease ancestors that may have been wronged and caused the problems. Thus, Lenshina positioned herself as prophetess, minister, priest and a force to reckon with.

The African matrilineal social order provided a fertile ground for women’s involvement in the Church. In African Bemba culture, women performed social and religious leadership roles. However, the changes that took place with the coming of colonialism and Christianity did not work to empower women to contribute their full share to the life of the Church and society as a whole. Female mediumship in African culture was partly replaced by male mediumship given that according to the Presbyterian Church polity, only men were allowed to be ministers (Phiri, 2000: 5). Patriarchy, a father-ruled structure where all power and authority rests in the hands of the male head of the family, shaped (and continues to shape) how women were perceived in the African Church and society. It defined the roles which were assigned to women. This notion has continued to perpetrate oppression over women in the Church (Phiri, 2000: 12).

The Presbyterian Free Church of Scotland misused biblical teachings to construct an oppressing image and rule of women in Zambia. The Church empowered men who guarded that power to the exclusion of women in priesthood and leadership positions in the Church (Phiri, 2000: 16). It is clear that the Bible was written and edited within a patriarchal culture, through the years and has been interpreted by male theologians who have tended to make women invisible and presented them negatively (Phiri, 2000:17). As seen in the life and work of Alice Lenshina, women tried to make meaning of their lives within the Church through an alternative interpretation of the Bible which was sensitive to gender roles and African culture.

There is much speculation about the authenticity of the Lumpa Church. It is argued, for instance, that Lenshina gave urine to her followers, so that the source of her ministry could not be Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Coupled with this, it has been observed that Lenshina never subscribed to the doctrine of Holy Communion (Hastings, 1979:125). Those who challenge her calling assert that she used occult techniques and that many of her miracles were faked. However, Margaret Mwila-Buter has disputed the claim that Lenshina commanded her followers to drink urine. She believes this story was fabricated by members of the UNIP government to portray Lenshina as a false prophetess (Munshya, 2012). Mwila-Buter relates that state forces had difficulties in shooting members of the Lumpa Church (cf. Munshya, 2012). It is said that the guns of the state’s army sometimes fired water instead of bullets (infuti shalenya amenshi).

In spite of the criticisms levelled against Lenshina and the Lumpa Church, Lenshina’s strong stance in her ministry against oppressive elements, both in African culture and in Western Christianity, is beyond doubt. She rejected life-denying elements in African culture such as the sexual cleansing of widows, polygamy and witchcraft. In all her activities she was one of the few Africans to challenge the status quo within mission-Christianity which was determined mainly by Western perceptions. Thereby she effectively used divination, prophecy and a call for gender justice as tools for mission. As a result the Lumpa Church became one of the most successful and prosperous Churches, numerically as well as financially, in South Central Africa (Hudson, 1999: 20).

Despite the criticisms levelled against her, Lenshina identified herself with the marginalized in society. African feminist biblical scholars have rightly argued that the Bible and African culture should be re-interpreted to challenge patriarchy (Dube, 2001a: 1). For Lenshina, divination and prophetic imagination were important tools in the life-giving interpretation of the Bible.

Divination and Prophetic Imagination as Analytical Tools in Biblical Interpretation

The emergence of rhetorical criticism and its appreciation of the generative power of imagination has created an awareness that public speech (and thus biblical texts) generate alternative worlds (Brueggemann, 2001: x; cf. Groenewald, 2010:1). It has become generally evident that biblical texts are acts of imagination that offer and propose alternative worlds that exist in the acts of utterance (Brueggemann, 2001: x). This means that, in the process of biblical interpretation, one must differentiate between the world behind the text, the world within the text, the world under the text and the world in front of the text (Kangwa, 2014: 42–43). ³ The consequence of this awareness is that biblical texts, in particular prophetic texts, can be seen as prophetic scenarios of an alternative social reality that might lead to direct confrontation with presumed and taken for granted worlds. According to Brueggemann (2001: xi), the canonical texts as norm for inter-generational community might also serve to find and to nurture obedience that is not necessarily confrontational but that simply acts out of a differently perceived, differently received and differently practised world. Thus, a focus on rhetoric as generative imagination has permitted prophetic texts to be heard and re-uttered as offers of reality counter to the dominant reality that characteristically enjoys institutional, hegemonic authority but that is characteristically uncritical of itself (Bruegemann 2001: xi). In this way, imagination becomes a proper channel of visionary awareness.

Biblical texts should be seen as materials in which we might find the would-be prophetic voice to give wisdom and courage and that invite us to immense imaginative activity in order to discover how we can move from such texts to actual circumstance. For Brueggemann, this implies taking the prophetic texts as text and not as ‘personality’ (2001: xii). It can be concluded therefore that prophecy and imagination are intertwined. Prophetic ministry without imagination is a non-starter. Thus, prophetic imagination as an analytical tool leads inescapably in an artistic direction whereby truth is presented in a way and at an angle that prevents it from being readily domesticated by hegemonic interpretative power. Imagination with its roots deep in the human unconscious becomes the link between human beings and the divine powers (vital force). But it must be noted that prophetic imagination in ancient Israel (as presented in the Old Testament) includes divination.

In sub-Saharan Africa, divination is used by religious functionalists to detect the cause of an ailment (Dube, 2001a: 11). In this process people ‘consult divining sets in order to diagnose various social problems, to work out solutions, and to maintain healthy relations’ (Dube, 2001a: 11). It is common in African indigenous Churches for a prophetess or prophet to use the Bible as one of his/her divining sets. The Bible is also used when performing healing miracles. Dube notes:

Diviner-healers read divining sets to diagnose problems and to offer solutions to consulting (non-professional) readers. Divining sets which could be composed of carved bones, beans, beads, coins, and so on, are not fixed or closed canons or stories. Rather, each consulting reader (…) writes and reads her/his own stories with the diviner-healer in the reading session (2001b: 181).

Thus, the Bible has become one of various divining sets. Prophets and prophetesses open the Bible and read its stories to diagnose or identify the causes of the problems of their clients or of a community and to seek ways of physical and spiritual healing. By so doing, the prophetess/prophet becomes a central figure in the community. She/he establishes the source of physical ailments and offers solutions that heal both the affected individual and the entire community.

It has to be noted that reading a divination set is not an esoteric activity. The diviner-healer (prophetess or prophet) invites the participation of divine powers (vital force) and, through imagination, a solution is found. In this manner, both divination and imagination become proper ways of communication. In this article I draw on divination and imagination as analytical tools to assess how prophecy has contributed to the growth of the Lumpa Church. In order to understand this process, it is important to realize the nature and function of prophets in ancient Israelite society. It is equally important to understand the nature of the message that they delivered to their people.

Prophecy and Divination in the Old Testament

Groenewald (2010:1) notes that the biblical text creates worlds or meanings and invites its readers to enter these. When the reader enters such a textual world or the world behind the text – which is often a strange and complex world – they are confronted with the theological claims made by the text or the world behind the text (Groenewald, 2010:1). Through divination and imagination the text communicates to the reader insights from God or the supernatural. This is true of the experience of prophets in the Old Testament (OT) and in AICs.

Biblical scholars have shown that there is no single definition for an Israelite Prophet (Amanze, 2013; Groenewald, 2010). There is evidence to suggest that in Mari, Mesopotamia and the whole of ancient Israel prophets and prophetesses were important figures in society who had different characteristics. In the OT these figures include Samuel, Abraham, Moses and Aaron (Num. 22–24, Gen. 20:7, Deut. 34:10). There are also female prophetic figures who include Deborah, Miriam, Noadiah and Isaiah’s wife (Exod. 15:20, Judg. 4:4, Isa 8:3, 2 Kgs 22:14, 2 Chron. 34:22 and Neh. 6:14) (Blenkinsopp, 1996: 9). Prophets were professionals who normally belonged to guilds (Groenewald, 2010: 2).

The word prophet comes from the Greek word prophētēs in the Septuagint, which is a translation of the Hebrew nābî’ (Groenewald, 2010: 2; Blenkinsopp, 1996: 9). The term hōzeh (‘to see’) and rō’eh (‘to see’) are translated as ‘seer’ (Groenewald, 2010: 2). The term ‘îš hā’ĕlōhîm is translated ‘man of God’ and the term qōsēm means to divine, predict or decide (Groenewald, 2010: 2). In the OT the terms nābî’, hōzeh, rō’eh and qōsēm are sometimes used interchangeably. Groenewald (2010: 2) observes:

Although, over time, the term nābî’ achieved primacy as the term for prophet, there were moments in the history of Israel when not all intermediaries were known as nĕbī’îm; these different terms thus point to situations in which not all intermediaries did the same thing and they point to periods when intermediaries simultaneously acted in diverse ways.

According to Amanze (2013: 3) persons designated as prophets had various characteristics and roles. They ‘were men and women believed to be recipients of divine messages through audition, vision or dream, and they passed such messages to others by means of speech or symbolic action’ (Amanze, 2013: 3). The functions of the prophetic figures included rebuking the king for immoral behaviour, helping to discover lost property, acting as military advisors to kings, acting as miracle workers, healing the sick, predicting the future and raising the dead (Amanze, 2013: 3; Matthews, 2007: 4, 6). Groenewald (2010: 1) adds that the role of prophetic figures included encouraging the king and the people during national disasters, delivering divine criticism by reminding the kings and people of their duties and pointing out their weaknesses. Prophets also rebuked persons they perceived to be enemies of the kings or the state. In the event of a military coup de’état or a conspiracy, prophecy served as a form of divine legitimation for the person preferred by the prophet (Groenewald, 2010:1; Matthews, 2007: 4–6). In this manner prophets positioned themselves as representatives and mouth-pieces of Yahweh, sometimes seemingly in opposition to each other and on different sides in political conflict (Amanze, 2013: 3).

Drawing on Georg Fohrer (1972), Amanze (2013: 4) identifies two forms of prophecy in Israel which correspond to nomadic religion and religion of the settled area. These were the ‘seer’ and nābî’. The ‘seer’ corresponds to a nomadic period. These proclaimed divine instructions on the basis of dreams. This role was similar, even identical to that of a priest, magician or clan leader. The seers could receive messages from the spiritual world through the sense of vision which were communicated through oracles (Amanze, 2013: 4). For Amanze, ninth century bce prophets such as Elijah and Elisha belonged to this category of prophets.

The second form of prophetic figure, called the nābî, was associated with the settled area (Amanze, 2013: 4; Blenkinsopp, 1996: 9). The eighth century (and sixth to seventh century) prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Amos are put under this category. Autobiographical information shows that these figures were set apart from the official class of prophets for a specific mission. Some of these prophetic figures were the fiercest critics of religious and political establishments. Amanze (2013: 5, 8, 11) argues that modern prophetic activities in Africa resonate with prophetic traditions from the ninth century bce in ancient Israel as can be seen in the ministry of Prophetess Huldah and Prophets Elijah and Elisha (cf. Blenkinsopp, 1996: 8).

It is clear that Prophets in ancient Israel especially in the ninth century displayed features of divination, imagination and magical powers in their ministry (1 Kgs. 18:41–46, 17:17–24, 2 Kgs 1:2, 3:16–17, 4:8–37, 5:1–7, 5:1–14, 6:12–32, 8:10–13). It seems most prophets in ancient Israel were well-trained professionals who had mastered a set of skills such as oracular divination, poetic expressions, musical expressions and ritual action (Amanze, 2013:12). As professionals, they functioned within well-established institutions such as the temple and the royal court (Groenewald, 2010:1).

It is worth noting that prophecy in ancient Israel went through different phases of development and its roots were in different sources. Groenewald notes:

It seems that most of the traditions in the HB [Old Testament] concerning the prophets are not descriptions of the actuality of prophecy, but, rather, they reflect later perceptions of prophecy in development of the tradition. Although they are not entirely imagination, images of prophets in the HB should not be taken as descriptions of prophecy in Judah and Israel (2010:1).

Apart from predictions of the future and God’s salvation, prophecy included revelation of past and present events including those that happened behind the scenes. In so doing prophets appealed to the people to live righteously, priests to teach the truth and judges to uphold justice (Groenewald, 2010: 2).

Two images of prophetic figures in the Hebrew Bible can be identified. These are individuals against the establishment on one hand and false prophets and true prophets on the other hand. There are individuals in the OT who are portrayed as delivering prophecies of judgment against a corrupt and hostile establishment. These figures are referred to as nĕbī’îm (prophets) (Groenewald, 2010: 2, 3). Examples include Amos (3:3–8, 7:14–15), Jeremiah (26:6–20), Ezekiel (1:3, 2:5, 33:33, 22:23–28). However, when the office of the prophet became corrupt and prophets no longer commanded respect in the Hebrew society, the individuals commissioned by Yahweh to deliver messages were identified as bearers of God’s word but the designation nābî was not used to distinguish them from other prophetic figures who were part of the corrupt establishment (Groenewald, 2010: 3). The destruction of Jerusalem around the sixth century bce and the subsequent exile was seen as failure on the part of Jewish prophets. Some prophets assured the king and the people that nothing would happen because Yahweh was in control. Thus, later redactors and writers avoided referring to those who spoke against the corrupt establishment as prophets (Groenewald, 2010: 4). The destruction of Jerusalem led to the development of the image of ‘false prophets’. Prophets were seen as misleaders of society and generally untrustworthy. But there were also prophets who were regarded as true. This can be seen in the designation ‘true servants of Yahweh’ (Groenewald, 2010: 5).

According to Bosman (2014) several divinatory methods were employed in ancient Israel. The first method was Hepatoscopy which involved investigating the livers of sacrificial animals. It is reported that in Ezekiel 21:21 the outcome of the battle between the king of Babylon and Jerusalem was indicated by the result of divination for which the inspection of the liver was used (Bosman, 2014: 379). The second method was Rhabdomancy which involved paying attention to the flight patterns of birds and arrows. The shaking of arrows as a form of divination is mentioned in Ezekiel 21:21. In 1 Samuel 20:18–42 Jonathan shot several arrows to communicate with David (Bosman, 2014: 379). Hydromancy was another method of divination. It involved decoding messages from water and oil mixed in special utensils. In Genesis 44:5–15 the silver cup of Joseph was both used as a drinking and divining utensil (Bosman, 2014: 379).

Another method of divination was Necromancy which involved spirit mediums seeking oracular advice from the dead in different ways. The most comprehensive lists of abominable or detestable divinatory practices are found as an introduction to the description of a true prophet in Deuteronomy 18:9–14 and 15–22 respectively. Further, Saul seeks advice from the dead Samuel through the spirit medium of Endor (1 Sam. 28:3–15). In Isaiah 8:19–20 the necromancers are referred to as those who consult ‘the ghosts and the familiar spirits that chirp and mutter’ (Bosman, 2014: 379). The different methods of divination indicate the tension that existed in the use of prophecy and divinatory methods. There are several instances in the OT where knowledge of the will of God was sought by means of divinatory practices such as the Urim and Thummim (Lev. 8:8). But in Leviticus 18:10–13 a collection of different divinatory practices are rejected (Bosman, 2014: 381). It seems that in the postexilic period only divinatory methods modelled on Moses were regarded as authentic.

There was an overlapping of purpose and practice between prophecy and divination in ancient Israel. Martti Nissinen (cited in Bosman, 2014: 379) indicates that prophecy in ancient Israel was understood as ‘human transmission of allegedly divine message’ and was ‘seen as another, yet distinctive branch of the consultation of the divine that is generally called “divination.”’ It was seen as ‘noninductive’ kind of divination similar to dreamers who ‘act as direct mouthpieces of gods whose messages they communicate’ (Bosman, 2014: 379). However, later developments redefined prophecy to distinguish it from divination.

Following this trajectory it is clear that prophecy was now modelled on Moses who became the spokesperson of the Lord according the regulations of the Torah. The office of the prophet and the office of the priest were combined. Moses was seen as prophet par excellence due to his face-to-face relationship with Yahweh (Deut. 34:10) (Bosman, 2014: 381; Blenkinsopp, 1996:12). The written Torah replaced the function of prophets to represent God’s revelation to Israel (Deut. 34:10).

Eckart Otto (cited in Bosman, 2014: 386) argues that the predominantly oral pre-exilic prophecy became literary prophecy in the postexilic period. Authors in the postexilic period ‘were convinced that the “face to face” revelation between God and Moses had ended with the death of Moses’. The only revelation that remained was through the interpretation of the Torah. However, the OT portrays postexilic prophetic circles claiming that divine revelation went on during the time of prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and that the Torah was written in the hearts of people suggesting that it was internalized (Jer. 31:12–13, 31–34) (Bosman, 2014: 387).

Recent biblical scholarship has identified that the concept of ‘Torah and Prophets’ was coined and reinforced by priests and kings during the Hasmonean monarchy to resist Hellenistic influence and maintain elements of traditional Jewish religiosity. There was textual standardization and delimitation of approved books during the second temple period (Bosman, 2014: 389, 390).

Prophets and diviners existed in Syro-Mesopotamia. Although eighth century bce prophets and diviners like Amos and Hosea may not have been interested in the title ‘prophet’ because it was being used by non-Israelite prophets and diviners, they nevertheless saw their office as that of a prophet (Blenkinsopp 1996: 9). Based on this background, it may be argued that Lenshina’s prophetic ministry was similar to that of the prophets and prophetesses in ancient Israel. Prophetic ministry included divination, imagination, miracles and predictions of events that came to pass. The same happened in the case of Lenshina. She was well known for divination, prediction and healing (Munshya, 2012; Gordon, 2012: 51, 52).

Prophecy and Divination in Lumpa Church

Shortly after the formation of the Lumpa Church, it became evident that Lenshina was not an ordinary person. Followers realized that God was using her to do things that made her rise above others. It is claimed that she performed impressive feats of healing. In response to the growing membership of the Church and, it is said, on the instruction of Jesus Christ, Lenshina built a cathedral at Kasoma village which she named Zion. As people became aware of the Lumpa Church and her eradication of witchcraft through divination they began to travel to Kasoma from all parts of what was then northern Rhodesia and beyond (Mulenga, 1998:11, 20; Kaunda and Nadar, 2012). Four factors played a major role in the growth of the Lumpa Church. The first factor was prophecy and divination. Lenshina’s divinatory skills and the accuracy with which she predicted future events attracted many people to Church. Robert Kaunda, the brother to Kenneth Kaunda the first president of Zambia and Helen Kaunda his mother also joined the Lumpa Church and remained members for a considerable period of time (Hastings, 1979:157; Mulenga, 1998: 20). Lenshina frequently used divination to eradicate witchcraft. It was always asserted that her divination was a gift from Jesus Christ and that whatever she predicted always came to pass. This made Lenshina into one of the most popular prophetesses in sub-Saharan Africa. It is said that she predicted the political independence of Zambia on 24 October 1964, and the proclamation of Zambia as a Christian nation in 1991 (Munshya, 2012).

Lenshina’s divinatory activities were to a large extent involved with the eradication of witchcraft and the breaking of generational curses in her clients’ lives. The belief in witchcraft and curses is strong in the African worldview. The Bemba people in the pre-Christian and precolonial era controlled the spiritual realm that served to ensure fertility and protection against evil powers (Gordon, 2012: 25–49). With the arrival of colonial government and Christian missionaries, the social, political and religious structure of the Bemba people changed. Missionaries and colonial authorities condemned African culture. Ancestral spirits, African rituals, the natural world and women were marginalized. Traditional chiefs were also disempowered. As already noted, the main concern of Africans was to overcome the powers of evil (Amanze, 2013: 2; Gordon, 2012: 51, 52). Due to this, many Africans were attracted to Lumpa Church where the prophetess eradicated witchcraft and assured them of protection.

As Hudson (1999:17) and Gordon (2012: 200) note, the European missionaries did not believe that witchcraft had the power to harm people. However, Lenshina could relate to indigenous people in North Eastern Zambia and their understanding of reality. Her method seemed more attractive to the local people than the foreign traditional method of the Presbyterians and Catholics at Ilondola mission. Furthermore, Lenshina condemned traditional methods of divination (ukubuka ku Ng’anga) in dealing with witchcraft and she provided a Christian alternative (cf. Hudson, 1999:17, 18). By so doing, she attracted a large following.

In the 1930s, an anti-witchcraft movement by African Christian diviners (ba muchape) emerged to protect people from witchcraft. This was because colonial authorities, missionaries and traditional chiefs did not protect people from witchcraft. African Christian diviners used Christian concepts to eradicate witchcraft which missionaries accommodated by denying its existence (Florescu, 2014: 50; Gordon, 2012: 50–68). The African Christian diviners cleansed afflicted people from witches some of whom were members of the Mission Churches. Thus Lenshina’s ministry was part of this movement in the region.

The second factor which played a major role in the growth of the Lumpa Church was that hymns appealed to the African worldview. Divination was accompanied by vibrant singing (Hastings, 1979: 125). Among the most appealing aspects of the Lumpa Church were the songs, composed by the Church, that were largely eschatological and spoke to the African reality. The hymns were a unique phenomenon and helped both the prophetess and her clients to enter into the realm of prophetic imagination. They also believed that singing hymns would help them fly to heaven (New Jerusalem) and meet with Jesus.

When Lenshina’s Church was banned, the Roman Catholic Church (especially the Legion of Mary) reclaimed many of its former members from the Lumpa Church by adopting the very hymns that had resonated with Bemba cultural feelings. This is confirmed by Hinfelaar (1994: 191,192) who notes that the Lumpa movement did challenge the Roman Catholic Church to inculturate its hymns and liturgy in line with the resolution of the Vatican II (cf. Hinfelaar, 1994: 154, 155).

The third contributing factor to the church’s growth and popularity was healing. Divination and vibrant singing were accompanied by healing miracles (Hastings, 1979:127). Lenshina healed the sick and delivered people who she sheltered in her Church. As Ronzani (2007:15) notes, health is a major concern for Africans. Traditionally many herbs were used which contained healing properties. The cause of the disease was also detected through divination. In the African worldview there is a complex interaction between God, spiritual forces, ancestors and spirits. When someone becomes sick, people always want to find the cause. Sickness is seen as representing a lack of harmony and balance, a disorder introduced into the social and cosmic fabric. This disorder can be caused by offending the ancestors or contamination from a human being who may inflict pain or an illness on others using witchcraft (Ronzani, 2007: 16). The emphasis on divination and rituals of healing in African culture is a clear indication of the centrality of the value of life and a deep desire for harmony and coexistence. However, the Scottish Presbyterian and Catholic missions never used to practise divination and healing through prayer (Gordon, 2012: 200). Gordon (2012: 200) records:

For the missionaries, spiritual interventions, the miracles of the distant biblical past, rarely occurred, and if they did, they were performed by a chosen few within Church hierarchies that excluded Africans. For most, the stories of the Bible were to be understood as symbolic, intended to demonstrate how to lead a moral life free from sin. Beliefs in the immediate presence and influence of spirits in everyday affairs of health, wealth, and power were rejected as false superstition.

This made many African Christians seek rituals of healing in the Lumpa Church. Through divination and rituals of healing, Lenshina engaged with the spiritual, social, economic and political needs of her followers in North Eastern Zambia. This accounts for the tremendous growth of the Lumpa Church.

The fourth factor was Lenshina’s search for values that promoted gender justice and equality in both Christianity and African culture (Kaunda and Nadar, 2012). She used the Bible to challenge the oppressive elements of Christianity and African culture. AICs had a positive search for values from African culture which were not found in Mission Churches (Hastings, 1979: 70). Hastings (1979: 126) reports that the age of the Lumpa Church was also the great time of expansion for Bana Ba Mutima (children of the Sacred Heart) an AIC founded by Emilio Mulilo which broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The Bible became the source of positive criticism levelled against the missionaries and the colonial authorities. The values which stood against injustice and discrimination were retrieved from the complex diversity of the Bible. Lenshina retrieved from the Old Testament values which resonated with African culture and were in support of the fight against injustice and discrimination. These included revelation through dreams and visions, rituals, first harvest, bad effects of polygamy, prohibition against ancestral worship, the descent of the spirit of God upon prophets and prophetesses and the assertion of a single sacred place, the holy city of Jerusalem (Hastings, 1979: 71, 72). While believing in Jesus Christ, Lenshina avoided the sacrament of Holy Communion which she regarded as ancestor worship and therefore inappropriate.

Lenshina also retrieved values from the New Testament which resonated with African culture and were life-giving to both men and women. These included the eschatological and apocalyptic teachings, interpretation of dreams, miracles, healing through prayer, casting out of demons and the deep denunciation of the Pharisees and hypocritical Church leaders (Hastings 1979:71). As Hastings (1979:125) observes, there is a possibility that the theology of ‘Christian millennialism’ widely propagated through the Watch Tower literature of the Jehovah’s Witnesses had contributed to Lenshina’s strong beliefs in the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ.

The Lumpa Church and other AICs wanted a form of Christianity which could relate to traditional African culture. Lenshina used the Bible to sift out bad elements in African culture while upholding those which were life-giving especially to women. She developed an African biblical hermeneutics of liberation which in the words of Musimbi Kanyoro can be called ‘feminist cultural hermeneutics’ (Kanyoro, 2002: 18, 61; cf. Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 352). Lenshina identified herself with women and others who were marginalized in the Mission Churches.

Authenticity of Lenshina’s Prophecy And Divinatory Methods

Many Christians in the contemporary world associate prophecy with revelation through the power of the Holy Spirit. A genuine prophet or prophetess is regarded as someone who predicts the future by the power of the Holy Spirit. They do not associate a prophet with magic and divination because ‘they rarely would accuse the biblical prophets of magic or trickery’ (Groenewald, 2010:1). They strongly believe that Old Testament prophets had direct access to God. For this reason people question the source of power of Prophets who perform extraordinary miracles and do things beyond human explanation.

Nonetheless, it is evident that divination and prophetic imagination as practised by Lenshina shares some aspects with divination in ancient Israel as seen in, for example, the prophetic ministries of Elijah, Elisha and Huldah. Amanze (2013), Groenwald (2010), Bosman (2014), Blenkinsopp (1996) and Matthews (2007) have all shown many features of prophetic ministry in ancient Israel which relate to prophetic ministry in African initiated Churches. In the first place, prophets and prophetesses in ancient Israel identified themselves with the marginalized (Amanze, 2013: 4; Matthews, 2007: 4, 6). They were concerned with the needy in society (2 Kgs. 4: 8–37). Similarly Lenshina practised an inclusive ministry. Zion in Chinsali was home to people from different parts of central Africa who came to Lenshina for both physical and spiritual assistance (Kaunda and Nadar, 2012: 348). This links her strongly to the prophetic ministries of the Old Testament.

Secondly, prophets and prophetesses extended their field of action to include authoritative religious and political figures. They had political influence which they could exercise for the benefit of those in troubles (Groenwald, 2010: 1–3; Amanze, 2013: 4; Matthews, 2007: 6). Similarly, Lenshina confronted the religious, political and traditional establishment of her time. As a result the government of Kenneth Kaunda was uncomfortable with Lenshina and the Lumpa Church (Gordon, 2012). Like Hebrew prophetic figures she was for years detained without trial. There is evidence to suggest that during the Lumpa uprising, women and children who supported Lenshina had stakes thrust into their anus or vagina or down their throats and were further tortured to death (Hudson, 1999:17; Katulwende, 2010; Gordon 2012:139–40). Such dehumanizing acts, committed by the state against followers of the Lumpa Church can be described in legal and international human rights terms as crimes against humanity (Katulwende, 2010).

Thirdly, as Amanze (2013: 12) suggests, there was a connection between prophecy and magic in the traditions of ancient Israel. Magic involved the use of charms, rites, incantations or spells, believed to have supernatural power over natural forces. Thus, the prophetesses and prophets of ancient Israel used divination and an element of magic to reveal things from the spiritual realm or summon the power of the supernatural being to predict the future (cf. 2 Kgs. 3:16–17, 4: 38–44, 4:1–7, 6:1–9, 5:1–14, 8:10–13; 1 Kgs. 18: 41–46, 17:17–24). To a large extent these are the kind of insights that are also attributed to diviners in Africa (Ing’anga or Kamuchapi). They certainly were attributed to Lenshina. Lenshina could make her clients fall to the ground foaming at the mouth. She could make those who had powers of witchcraft urinate (Munshya, 2012; cf. Gordon, 2012). Such events defeat logical explanation and can be likened to the work of a magician which is why Lenshina has been accused of giving urine to her clients. It is also the reason why some think that the Lumpa Church was a cult (cf. Hinfelaar, 1994; Munshya, 2012; cf. Gordon, 2012).

On the basis of the above we may conclude that prophecy and divination do often play a very important role in the growth of AICs and Pentecostal-charismatic Churches. The Lumpa Church is a case in point. Unlike the Presbyterian missionaries at Lubwa and the Catholic missionaries at Ilondola mission, Lenshina was able to provide African answers to the need of people through divination and healing miracles (Ipenburgh, 1992: 247).

Conclusion

This article examines prophecy, divination and a search for gender justice in the Lumpa Church in Zambia. The article shows that prophetic tradition in ancient Israel included divination, imagination, magic, healing and predicting the future. The article argues that the prophecy found in the Lumpa Church of Lenshina was apparently similar to prophetic traditions in ancient Israel as it also emphasized prophecy, divination, healing and predictions of future events that, apparently, came to pass. The article suggests that divination and miracles appeal to the African spirituality which expects that for every personal and social problem a cause can be identified. As a result of her deep understanding of the African mind and of the spiritual, social, economic and political needs of African people, Lenshina became famous and her Church attracted a huge following in Zambia. The article concludes that Lenshina endeavoured to inculturate the Christian faith within Bemba African culture by denouncing practices which were life-denying such as witchcraft, polygamy, widow cleansing and marginalization of women while giving a Christian alternative to the traditional ways of prophecy, divination and leadership roles of women.