Ephesians 1:15–2:10as a deterrent to rural Serer Christians in Evangelical Baptist Churches of Senegal reverting to the Pangool (ancestral spirits) in times of life stress.

Abstract

The main research question of this exegetical thesis is “How might rural Serer pastors in the Association of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Senegal (AEEBS) employ Ephesians 1:15–2:10 as a deterrent to the practice of rural Serer Baptist Christians reverting to the Pangool (the ancestral spirits) during times of life stress”? Chapter 2 looks at the religious background of Ephesus, suggesting in part that the Ephesians relied on their goddess Artemis to protect them from invisible spiritual threats. Chapter 5 shows how the rural Serer rely on their Pangool (ancestral spirits) for protection against invisible spiritual threats. Thus, the first hypothesis of the thesis is that if the Ephesian and Serer worldviews concerning the threatening nature of the invisible world are similar, then would not the application of Paul’s teaching be similar also? The second hypothesis is that Paul in this passage use his knowledge of the Ephesians’ cultural and religious background, especially their quest for spiritual protection, to convince them to totally commit themselves to Christ for their spiritual protection. The exegesis in the third chapter looks for evidence of this hypothesis. The exegesis focuses on the power of God that is available to the Ephesians, and the contrast/comparison between God’s power that raised Christ physically from the dead to the heavenly realms, and God’s power that raised the Ephesians spiritually from the dead to the heavenly realms. The exegesis attempts to answer two important questions: How is this power available to the Ephesians? What are the implications of being seated in the heavenlies with Christ? Chapter 4 takes a closer look at the different perceived types of spiritual threats to the Ephesians, confirming their overwhelming dependence on Artemis. Chapter 5 explains the domination of the Pangool (ancestral spirits) in all of the rural Serer life-transition ceremonies, and chapter 6 suggests that Serer Baptist pastors could use the exegeted passage to create a confession of faith to be used during all those ceremonies, so that believers would not revert to the Pangool in times of life stress. Chapter 7 conclusion highlights the validity of the hypotheses.