ABSTRACT
Current developments among religions in Central Africa concern two branches: African independent churches and Pentecostal and evangelical churches. This chapter will analyze how colonial and postcolonial situations influenced African (re)definitions of belief systems, particularly prophetic and charismatic leadership figures. These help grasp the organizing principles informing the religious worldview in established churches in Congolese and Angolan societies, and also their healing practices, charity work, political activism, and deviant tendencies. The chapter studies these churches' positions on these matters.
