NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT AND CULTURAL REVIVALS: A PRODUCT OF RELIGIOUS REVIVALS AND ENLIGHTENMENT

Abstract

This paper appraised the salient issues involved in the “newness” in African Initiated Churches (AICs) in relation to new religious movements and cultural revivals, not limited to the issues included Africans’ quest for spiritual power, cultural identity, ethnic identity, health, and for economic emancipation system for their own personal and practical purposes of healing or security. The purpose of the study is to examine what is “new” in the new religious movements. The methods of approach include historical and phenomenological methods. The findings showed that the religion is a religion of the oppressed in cultural, social, religious and political spheres.