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2 - Who Are the ‘True’ Sons of God? Ubwenge and Pentecostal Ethics

from Part I - Urban Youth and Pentecostal Worlds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2024

Andrea Mariko Grant
Andrea Mariko Grant
Affiliation:
University of Victoria, British Columbia
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Summary

Chapter 2 explores Pentecostal ethics, and how urban Pentecostal churches in Rwanda attempted to Pentecostalise ubwenge, a traditional concept often translated as ‘intelligence’, ‘wisdom’, or even ‘cunning’. It traces discursive attempts on the part of Pentecostal pastors to show that the ‘spirit of intelligence’ (umwuka w’ubwenge) had divine origins. Moving from discourse to practice, the chapter also considers how young Pentecostals employed ubwenge in their own lives, using it to navigate relationships both within the church and with the state.

Keywords

RwandaPentecostalismChristianityethicsanxietyubwengesocial navigation
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Chapter
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Youth, Pentecostalism, and Popular Music in Rwanda , pp. 66 - 92
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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