Origin and Development of the ‘New Apostolic Reformation’ in South Africa: A Neo-Pentecostal Movement or a Post-Pentecostal Phenomenon?

Within South African Pentecostal/Charismatic spheres, since 2000, a new configuration has surfaced that has been called the ‘New Apostolic Reformation’ (NAR). The adherents of this movement have sounded a call for the Pentecostal/Charismatic church, in particular, to return to what they describe as the ‘Apostolicity’ of the church. The emergence of this New Apostolic Reformation is more than a South African phenomenon. C Peter Wagner, almost a decade and a half ago, in his book, Churchquake (1999: 5-8) contended that there were, at least forty thousand ‘Apostolic‘ churches representing approximately eight to ten million members in the USA. He asserted that this New Apostolic Reformation is also rapidly growing in all of the six continents and is the ‘greatest change in the way of doing church since the Protestant Reformation.’ In South Africa the following New Apostolic Reformation groupings have emerged, namely the New Covenant Ministries International (NCMI), Grace International (GI), Congress World Breakthrough Network (C-WBN), International Strategic Alliance of Apostolic Churches (ISAAC) and Judah Kingdom Alliance (JKA). The paper will also contend with the nature and extent of their deviation from ‘mainstream’ Pentecostal doctrines and practices. A number of theories have attempted to explain the emergence of new religious movements (NRMs), inter alia, deprivation, revitalisation, and brainwashing. This study focuses on one of these theories, namely, revitalisation, but also favours a holistic approach to an understanding of the NAR

Towards a postcolonial Pentecostal historiography : ramblings from the South

Peer reviewedThis article focuses on contestations around the birth of Pentecostalism. Azusa Street Pentecostalism is very well documented therefore the bias was tilted in its favour. While this expression of Pentecostalism opened up new frontiers it also displayed some regrettable retreats around the issue of race relations. In stark contrast, both in South Africa and in Brazil, inter alia, societal concerns, inclusive of racial issues have been taken up by a new breed of Pentecostals. The current state of Pentecostalism reveals that the majority of Pentecostals live outside of the USA and Canada and that the rapidly emerging churches in the southern world are Pentecostal and indigenous, and function autonomously from Western Pentecostalism. Starting from the eighties, large independent Pentecostal churches have emerged in Africa. African Pentecostalism in South Africa is a relevant, flexible and rapidly increasing Christian formation. Unlike the dualistic tendencies of Western Christian approaches, the African Pentecostal worldview does not separate the physical from the spiritual or the individual from the social. Los Angeles cannot be viewed as the “Jerusalem” from which the “full gospel” imperialistically emanated centrifugally to the world. Other equally significant and simultaneous Pentecostal outpourings have been overlooked. Pentecostalism historiography may have to engage in perhaps one of the most important postcolonial ecclesiastical reconstructions yet.Research Institute for Theology and Religio

Allele-Specific HLA Loss and Immune Escape in Lung Cancer Evolution

Immune evasion is a hallmark of cancer. Losing the ability to present neoantigens through human leukocyte antigen (HLA) loss may facilitate immune evasion. However, the polymorphic nature of the locus has precluded accurate HLA copy-number analysis. Here, we present loss of heterozygosity in human leukocyte antigen (LOHHLA), a computational tool to determine HLA allele-specific copy number from sequencing data. Using LOHHLA, we find that HLA LOH occurs in 40% of non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) and is associated with a high subclonal neoantigen burden, APOBEC-mediated mutagenesis, upregulation of cytolytic activity, and PD-L1 positivity. The focal nature of HLA LOH alterations, their subclonal frequencies, enrichment in metastatic sites, and occurrence as parallel events suggests that HLA LOH is an immune escape mechanism that is subject to strong microenvironmental selection pressures later in tumor evolution. Characterizing HLA LOH with LOHHLA refines neoantigen prediction and may have implications for our understanding of resistance mechanisms and immunotherapeutic approaches targeting neoantigens. Video Abstract [Figure presented] Development of the bioinformatics tool LOHHLA allows precise measurement of allele-specific HLA copy number, improves the accuracy in neoantigen prediction, and uncovers insights into how immune escape contributes to tumor evolution in non-small-cell lung cancer

Fc-Optimized Anti-CD25 Depletes Tumor-Infiltrating Regulatory T Cells and Synergizes with PD-1 Blockade to Eradicate Established Tumors

CD25 is expressed at high levels on regulatory T (Treg) cells and was initially proposed as a target for cancer immunotherapy. However, anti-CD25 antibodies have displayed limited activity against established tumors. We demonstrated that CD25 expression is largely restricted to tumor-infiltrating Treg cells in mice and humans. While existing anti-CD25 antibodies were observed to deplete Treg cells in the periphery, upregulation of the inhibitory Fc gamma receptor (FcγR) IIb at the tumor site prevented intra-tumoral Treg cell depletion, which may underlie the lack of anti-tumor activity previously observed in pre-clinical models. Use of an anti-CD25 antibody with enhanced binding to activating FcγRs led to effective depletion of tumor-infiltrating Treg cells, increased effector to Treg cell ratios, and improved control of established tumors. Combination with anti-programmed cell death protein-1 antibodies promoted complete tumor rejection, demonstrating the relevance of CD25 as a therapeutic target and promising substrate for future combination approaches in immune-oncology

Phylogenetic ctDNA analysis depicts early-stage lung cancer evolution.

The early detection of relapse following primary surgery for non-small-cell lung cancer and the characterization of emerging subclones, which seed metastatic sites, might offer new therapeutic approaches for limiting tumour recurrence. The ability to track the evolutionary dynamics of early-stage lung cancer non-invasively in circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) has not yet been demonstrated. Here we use a tumour-specific phylogenetic approach to profile the ctDNA of the first 100 TRACERx (Tracking Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Evolution Through Therapy (Rx)) study participants, including one patient who was also recruited to the PEACE (Posthumous Evaluation of Advanced Cancer Environment) post-mortem study. We identify independent predictors of ctDNA release and analyse the tumour-volume detection limit. Through blinded profiling of postoperative plasma, we observe evidence of adjuvant chemotherapy resistance and identify patients who are very likely to experience recurrence of their lung cancer. Finally, we show that phylogenetic ctDNA profiling tracks the subclonal nature of lung cancer relapse and metastasis, providing a new approach for ctDNA-driven therapeutic studies

Making Sense of New Testament Theology: TNT 501

Making Sense of New Testament Theology: TNT 501, honours degree examination November 2010

Factors Influencing the Choice of Religion Studies as a Subject in the FET Band

Abstract This paper investigates the factors influencing the choice of Religion Studies i

An Introduction to Documents of Christian Scripture: TNT 111

Documents of Christian Scripture; an Introduction: TNT 111, examination August 2010

Exploring Genres of the Hebrew Bible: THB 121

Exploring Genres of the Hebrew Bible: THB 121, supplementary examination January 2010