The Declaration of Zimbabwe as a Christian Nation

An Examination of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe Proposal to the Constitutional Commission of Zimbabwe October 1999

Abstract

Abstract This author examined the reasons and sources of motivations behind the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe’s (EFZ) call for the Declaration of Zimbabwe as a Christian state in the proposed new constitution of Zimbabwe of 1999. To establish circumstances that led the EFZ to issue its proposal to the Constitutional Commission, the author gives a brief historical background of the EZF and the context of its call for the declaration of Zimbabwe as a Christian Nation. The author investigated the EFZ regional and international partners to determine the extent to which they might have as a Christian nation. Arguments, from other religious bodies, individuals and academics, against the proposal by the EFZ are presented. The major argument is that the EFZ’s proposal to the Constitutional Commission was motivated by both internal and external factors. The massive growth of the Christian population in the country particularly of the Pentecostal and Evangelical type, the resurgence of Islam in Southern Africa, the desire for visibility by the EFZ on the Zimbabwean religious landscape and the declaration of Zambia as a Christian are the factors that motivated the EFZ to issue its clarion call for the Declaration of Zimbabwe as a Christian nation. The author concludes by arguing that the separation of the Church and the state is progressive.