The impersonalisation of God? A theological analysis of the expression of the power of God’s kingdom among Zimbabwean Pentecostal prophets

Abstract

How can the expression of the power of God’s kingdom in the ministry and teaching of some Zimbabwean Pentecostal prophets be evaluated from the doctrinal perspective of the personality of God? The article analyses the expression of the power of God’s kingdom among some Zimbabwean Pentecostal prophets from the perspective of the doctrine of the personality of God. The article observes that, although Pentecostal prophets in Zimbabwe claim to be empowered by the kingdom of God, they tend, nonetheless, to project an impersonalised view of the power at work in the kingdom. It is argued that the impersonalisation of the power of God leads the prophets to commodify the kingdom into something that can be controlled by a person’s religiosity. Consequently, the article describes the Pentecostal prophets’ understanding of themselves as special agents of God’s kingdom. It further argues that the impersonalisation of the power of God’s kingdom leads the Pentecostal prophets in commodifying the kingdom of God by reducing it to something that can only be accessed through them. The article closes by examining how a biblically derived understanding of the personality of the God of the kingdom can assist in discouraging the common impersonalisation of the power of God’s kingdom among some Zimbabwean Pentecostal prophets.