The Freedom of the Spirit examines the history and ecclesiology of two African Independent Churches in Kenya, namely, the African Orthodox Church (AOC) and the Arathi (Agikuyu Spirit Churches). Do these churches understand themselves as Christian or as ethnocentric movements?

In deciding whether these bodies are to be called "Christian churches," the author argues that the "true church" is not confined to the traditions inherent in this or that denomination, or in this or that country, but in the redeeming and liberating power of Jesus Christ. Thus the church is a liberated community whose identity is provided by its relationship to God; at once Christian, African, and new.