ABSTRACT
This chapter shows some results of research done using a large-scale comparative model of the history of religion in sub-Saharan Africa, based on a sample of 211 of the 742 tribes to the south of the 15th parallel north. Independent church movements, usually formed by secession from a parent mission body or historical church, have been reported from at least 250 distinct tribes in 33 sub-Saharan nations. A computer program of statistical testing revealed that certain traditional and colonial-missionary variables were significantly correlated with such variables as the growth of the Protestant or Catholic churches, or with the presence of independency. The chapter argues that there are numerous common background factors at work which can be revealed by the broader cross-cultural method. This method assumes that there is something organic beneath the phenomena, which the analysis can uncover. The chapter deals with a tentative theory derived from the analysis.
