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Latin America
Up one levelLatin American Pentecostalism has a history of more or less a century. It started in Chile and Argentina in 1909, Brazil following a year later. Nowadays there are an estimated 140 million Pentecostals and Charismatics in the continent, more than in Africa or Asia. Pentecostalism put an end to the Roman Catholic dominance in the continent and the question has been raised whether Latin America is turning Protestant.
Though Catholics are still the majority this might change in the near future. In developing its own Charismatic Renewal movement, the Catholic Church has found a way of presenting its own Pentecostal expression. Especially in Brazil this movement has attracted many Catholics who otherwise might have converted to one of the Pentecostal churches.
Latin American Pentecostalism shows a wide avriety of forms, from living room groups around a lay pastor with a calling to internationally operating mega-churches, run as a business that puts a product in the market. The variety in forms corresponds in part with the three ‘waves’ of expansion: at the beginning of the 20th century, in the fifties and sixties, and from the seventies onwards.
From the last period one of the most successful and idiosyncratic churches is the ‘Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus’ (IURD, Universal Church of the Kingdom of God), founded in Brazil 1977, now claiming to be present in nearly all countries of the world.
The study of Latin American Pentecostalism started in the sixties of the last century with the studies by Christian Lalive d’Épinay and Emílio Willems (see Bibliography below). Since then much research has been done, of late primarily by Latin American scholars, among them Pentecostals.
- "Líbranos del mal." Estructuras simbólicas y funciones políticas del protestantismo en Centroamérica. by Heinrich Schäfer — last modified 2006-10-25 15:28
- The article positions pentecostalism in the context of Central American societies. (1992)
- "Oh senhor de los cielos, dános poder en la tierra!" by Heinrich Schäfer — last modified 2006-07-26 20:50
- Latin American Protestantism is frequently identified as fundamentalist whereas, however, the definition of what is fundamentalist often lacks clarity. This article proposes a definition of the concept and examines Central American Protestantism on fundamentalist tendencies. Fundamentalism absolutizes one's own religious (and social) position against other's in order to (re-) conquest "fields of affirmative action" in situations of crisis and to execute power. According to the social position of the actors, this strategy results to be a technique of social survival or, on the other hand, of domination. The article considers based on two years field study and abundant empirical data different currents of Central American Protestantism and portraits nuances of what could be called fundamentalism in that specific social context. Facing the new situation of the religious field, the article finally draws some concusions for the theological task on the continent.
- Crisis social y protestantismo en Centroamerica. by Heinrich Schäfer — last modified 2006-10-25 15:27
- The article describes in macro-sociological terms the conditions of protestant (and pentecostal) growth in Central America during the twentieth century.
- El Espíritu de la creación, la igleisa y la persona. Algunas reflexiones acerca de Romanos 8. by Heinrich Schäfer — last modified 2006-07-26 20:47
- A theological reflection on pneumatology according to Romans 8.
- El pentecostalismo y el neopentecostalismo en el marco de la globalización y nuestra fe en el Espíritu Santo. by Heinrich Schäfer — last modified 2006-07-26 20:51
- Some reflections on the diferent role of classical and neo-pentecostalism under the circumstances of globalized life in Latina America. Contribution to the international encounter of the Conferencia Evangélica Pentecostal Latinoamericana, Havanna, September 1998 (exactly when the winds of Hurricane "George" where around...).
- El reino de la libertad: los milenarismos. by Heinrich Schäfer — last modified 2006-07-26 20:49
- Some brief distinctions on different millennialist practices in conflict environment.
- Espíritu, poder, testimonio. by Heinrich Schäfer — last modified 2006-07-26 20:50
- Some reflections on mission in the Spirit in honour of two old friends, Gloria and Ross Kinsler: Mission is "ministry by the people".
- Fundamentalism: power and the absolute. by Heinrich Schäfer — last modified 2006-07-26 20:48
- An article about fundamentalism that examines some pentecostal practices from this angle.
- Fundamentalismo entre los pentecostales? by Heinrich Schäfer — last modified 2006-10-25 15:27
- Is there some fundamentalist practice among pentecostals?
- Guerra espiritual de baja intensidad: el abuso del protestantismo por la contrainsurgencia. by Heinrich Schäfer — last modified 2006-10-25 15:27
- An article about political abuse of churches -- pentecostals and others -- in the Central American conflict.
- Luis Orellana: El fuego y la nieve. Historia del movimiento pentecostal en Chile: 1909-1925. by Heinrich Schäfer — last modified 2006-07-26 20:59
- A master thesis in theology of a student of mine at the Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana that I am proud to present in this forum. The E-Mail of the author is: "Luis Orellana <ceep@ceep.cl>".
- Pentecostalism in Latin America and the Carribean by Jörg Haustein — last modified 2006-06-28 10:57
- An extensive bibliography on Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements in Latin America and the Carribean, compiled by André Droogers
