DREAMS AND VISIONS IN AFRICAN PENTECOSTAL SPIRITUALITY: THE SUB‐SAHARAN HORIZON OF THE PNEUMATOLOGICAL IMAGINATION. By Anna M.Droll. Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies, 45. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2024. Pp. xiv + 225. Paperback, €57.00.
Droll is the Division Chair for Ministry at South Florida Theological Seminary, specializing in the study of African Pentecostalism and the theological significance of spiritual experiences. This book is an ethnographic study arguing that dreams and visions (D/Vs) are central to a distinct African Pentecostal epistemology. The book consists of eight chapters. Chapter One introduces the research question and methodology. Chapter Two establishes the historical context by surveying the role of D/Vs in the major religions of the Near East, covering Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Chapter Three explores the cultural context by examining the significance of D/Vs in various African settings, including Traditional African Religions, African Initiated Churches, Zambian Baptists, and the perspectives of Ghanaian Pentecostal leader Opoku Onyinah. Chapter Four constructs the epistemological framework by engaging with African scholars on topics of indigenous knowledge, ontology, and the Holy Spirit. Chapter Five focuses on the “big dreams” of visioners, examining the continuity and discontinuity with traditional beliefs, such as ancestor dreams, through a Spirit-led hermeneutic. Chapter Six analyzes the “Pentecostal warrior,” exploring the link between D/V experiences and prayer, the shaping of new identities, and the emergence of missional agency, with a particular focus on the experiences of women. Chapter Seven discusses the study’s implications for both African Pentecostal theology and Western Pentecostal epistemologies. Chapter Eight concludes with a reflection on the missiological Spirit. The book challenges Euro-Western epistemological models by arguing that for Sub-Saharan Pentecostals, D/Vs are a vital source of embodied, affective knowledge that fuels their theology and missional agency. This book is recommended for scholars and students of Pentecostal and Charismatic studies, African Christianity, practical theology, missiology, and the anthropology of religion.
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