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Juan Sepúlveda is a pastor and deacon of the Pentecostal Church Mission and a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Mission at Selly Oak College. He teaches on Pentecostalism at the Theological Community of Chile and does research on "popular subjectivity and religiosity among the poor--Pentecostalism" for SEPEDE-AMERINDA. He coordinated the Latin American Pentecostal Encounter (CEPLA) 1990-1992. Rev. Sepúlveda is also a lecturer and advisor on the organization of conferences. This chapter first appeared in In the Power of the Spirit, Edited by Benjamin F. Gutierrez & Dennis A. Smith, published in 1996 by PC(USA)WMD AIPRAL/CELEP, pp. 49-61.

Introduction

The purpose of this article is to reflect briefly upon the theological characteristics of Chilean Pentecostalism. Und erstanding the diversity within Pentecostalism as a world movement provides a firmer base for dialogue between Pentecostal believers as well as between Pentecostals and other churches.

Although Pentecostal experiences can be found throughout the history of Christianity, the modern Pentecostal movement was born with the present century. It was the last stage of a process of spiritual renewal begun by John Wesley in 18th-century England and developed in the United States throughout the 19th century by the Holiness Movement.

Although it began in the United States and expanded from there to Europe and the Third World, the United States was only one of several early centers of the Pentecostal movement. Another was in Chile. When the Azusa Street Mission (generally considered the cradle of modern Pentecostalism) [1] was born in Los Angeles, a Methodist congregation in Valparaiso had already taken its first steps toward Pentecostalism by holding prayer groups and studying the book of Acts. Under the leadership of the Rev. Willis Hoover, Valparaiso Methodists experienced a Pentecostal revival in 1909 and a schism in 1910.[2] Hoover had visited revival meetings in the United States and was aware of a pamphlet from India calling for a "clear and definitive baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire" [3] as a necessary supplement to justification and sanctification.

Since the break with the Methodist church meant the loss of external funding, the nascent Chilean Pentecostal movement had to design a strategy for financial self sufficiency; and having lost access to theological education, it was forced to create its own of pastoral ministry. Thus, Chilean Pentecostalism became the first example of an autonomous Protestantism. It had strong roots in popular culture and took on a number of characteristics that distinguish it from the global Pentecostal movement

One illustration of this difference is the fact that, in current Chilean evangelical parlance, "Pentecostalism" refers exclusively to the "indigenous" Pentecostal churches, while the Pentecostal churches of missionary origin (implanted after 1937) are always identified by their denominational name (Assemblies of God, Autonomous Assemblies of God, Church of God, etc.).

Distinguishing features of Pentecostal theology

To understand the specificity of Chilean Pentecostalism, one must first identify the theological features of Pentecostalism the world over. This is not an easy task since Pentecostalism has roots in various confessional traditions.

It seems that the single aspect that is absolutely unique to Pentecostalism is the "baptism of the Holy Spirit." A Norwegian pastor, cited by Beatriz Muñiz de Souza, wrote:

With respect to salvation through justification by the faith we are Lutherans. In our form of baptism by water we are Baptists. With respect to sanctification, we are Methodists. In our aggressive evangelism we're like the Salvation Army. But in relation to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, we are Pentecostals.[4]

The well-known specialist in Pentecostal origins, Donald Dayton, thinks that the common and distinctive traits of Pentecostalism can be summed up in the four theological affirmations of the Foursquare Gospel Church: salvation, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, healing, and the second coming of Christ. In the first two elements, Dayton differentiates between two groups:

Those who teach a doctrine of sanctification in the Wesleyan, Holiness tradition, the "three works of grace." These Pentecostals assert that the Christian experience normally finds expression in a pattern of 1) conversion, followed by 2) "entire sanctification," followed by 3) "baptism in the Holy Spirit," which enables the believer to testify and serve, and is evidenced by speaking in tongues.

Those who reduce this model to "two works of grace," by uniting the first two in one "finished work" which then is complemented by a gradual process of sanctification (meaning a strong focus on conversion followed by a subsequent "baptism in the Holy Spirit").[5]

The first of these two groups adds a fifth affirmation, conversion, to the foursquare model described above.

Pastor Gabriel Vaccaro proposed the following elements as constitutive of the Pentecostal theological identity: 1) evangelization oriented to conversion (understood as a change in life); 2) baptism of the Holy Spirit (speaking in tongues); 3) the church as a charismatic and healing community; 4) and belief in a spiritual world.[6] Vaccaro's view complements rather than contradicts Dayton's. Both describe speaking in tongues, or glossolalia, as the key manifestation of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Distinguishing features of Chilean Pentecostalism

Three aspects of the origin of Chilean Pentecostalism help us understand its later theological and organizational development:

1. Chilean Pentecostalism came directly out of Methodism without the mediation of the Holiness Movement, as occurred in North America. The importance of this distinction is clearer if we take into account that the Holiness Movement was not a brief transition between Methodism and Pentecostalism, but a movement that developed throughout the entire 19th century, mainly in the Methodist and Presbyterian churches. Since it came directly from the Episcopal Methodist Church, Chilean Pentecostalism was deeply influenced by its mother church. This is evidenced by the fact that the initial Pentecostal movement wholly assumed the articles of faith of the Methodist Church and perceived itself, at least in Hoover's view, as being a return to the sources of Wesleyan thought.

2 The Chilean Pentecostal revival was almost exclusively experiential in nature, and did not produce a meaningful theological renewal which would have distinguished it radically from the mother church. In spite of the fact that the Methodist Conference of 1910 found the teachings of pastor Hoover to be "anti-Methodist, contrary to the Scriptures, and irrational,"[7] the emerging Pentecostal movement could be considered orthodox from a doctrinal point of view. As indicated by the last word of the condemnatory resolution, the crux of the conflict was more cultural than doctrinal. What was condemned were the lived experiences and practices of revival, which to the rationalist, modernist, and liberal mentality of the Methodist church of that time, seemed primitive, excessively subjective, and beyond the control of reason. Thus, the condemnation of Pentecostalism differs little from the condemnation of the practices of popular Catholicism. In sum, in Chilean Pentecostalism, the centrality of experience over doctrine will be more marked than in North American Pentecostalism.

3. It is precisely the centrality of religious experience over doctrine that will prepare the terrain for the introduction of the Pentecostal experience into Chilean popular culture. Insofar as it offers an intense encounter with God, communicated more by body language and feelings than by the language of reason, Pentecostalism opens a new space where common people could express their own faith experience. This produces a fecund relationship of reciprocal influence between Pentecostalism and popular culture. It is one of the principal factors which will contribute to the wide acceptance of Pentecostalism in the popular sectors[8] and to the uniqueness of Chilean Pentecostalism.

Is there a "theology" of Chilean Pentecostalism?

Considering all the above, it is not surprising that academic theologians and observers from the historic churches would deny that Chilean Pentecostalism has a "theology." Christian Lalive d'Epinay, author of The Refuge of the Masses, says (p. 229; p. 191 in the English edition.):

If one takes "theology" to mean that the beliefs of a religious group and the ways in which its faith is expressed are classified as concepts and considered as a system, then the study of Chilean Pentecostal theology proves to be very disappointing.

As this statement demonstrates, the starting point of d'Epinay's objection is an understanding of theology as the conceptual formulation and systemization of a doctrine. This supposes a high degree of institutionalization, adequately prepared theologians, and academic centers that encourage the development of theology.

From this perspective, the supposed theological poverty of Chilean Pentecostalism is explained by its youth (less than 100 years of existence), its scant institutionalization, and the way it thrives in social sectors with no access to higher education. But d'Epinay seems to point to something deeper: Pentecostalism is founded more on the subjective experience of God than on God's objective revelation. Pentecostalism presents itself as a movement originating in the experience of God, not a church structure concerned with the objective revelation of Christian dogma. For a Protestantism influenced by dialectical theology (Barth), with its emphasis on the radical discontinuity between divine revelation and human experience, it is difficult to see an acceptable theology issuing from Chilean Pentecostalism.

This point of view has been challenged by, among others, Jürgen Moltmann, in his recent book, The Spirit of Life: A Universal Affirmation, Moltmann claims that "personal and shared experience of the Spirit" is a legitimate point of departure for theology. "To begin with experience," says Moltmann, "may sound subjective, arbitrary and fortuitous, but I hope to show that it is none of these things."[9] If Barthian theology starts from the supposition that human beings cannot aspire to God through experience because God cannot be the object of experience, Moltmann reminds us that "God's revelation is always the revelation of God to others, and is therefore a making-itself-experienceable through others." (Moltmann, p. 6)

Naturally, a theology which begins with experience will have a language and methodology distinct from those of classical, conceptual theology. "The theology of revelation," Moltmann continues, "is church theology, a theology for pastors and priests. The theology of experience is preeminently lay theology." (Moltmann, p.17) Since experience cannot be reduced to concepts, a theology that takes experience as its starting point must be a narrative theology, as is biblical theology, to a large degree.

From this point of view, the theology of Chilean Pentecostalism is founded upon testimonies. It is in the narration of the experience in the Spirit, not in books or systematic elaborations, where we find the theology of Chilean Pentecostalism. What follows is a provisional attempt to "read" some of the aspects of Chilean Pentecostal testimony.

Change of life as fundamental experience

The Pentecostal movement is built upon the possibility of a direct, intense encounter with God, which profoundly changes a person's life. Such a change in life, called conversion or personal salvation, clearly marks a before and after in the life of the convert.

Through the Holy Spirit, God becomes directly accessible to the seeker, making any priestly mediation unnecessary. The encounter with the Holy Spirit is intense: God practically invades the believer, occupies him, filling his life with new meaning. The intensity and force of the encounter make a change in life possible, that is, a change in his subjectivity, the way he sees himself and the way he sees life.

The "works of grace" in Chilean Pentecostalism

How is this fundamental experience, this change of life, lived out in relation to the "works of grace"? Pentecostal testimony shows that justification, sanctification, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are grounded in this unique experience. In the teaching and preaching of the Chilean Pentecostal churches--except for those more influenced by missionary Pentecostalism --the three (or two) works of grace are not usually described as separate and distinguishable stages. The "Pentecostal experience" is at the same time an unconditional acceptance by the forgiving God (justification), the beginning of a new and transformed life (sanctification), the receiving of the strength to sustain new life in an adverse social and cultural medium, and the sharing of testimony with others (baptism of the Holy Spirit).

Unlike Pentecostalism the world over, Chilean Pentecostalism makes no temporal distinction about the works of grace, perhaps because the Holiness Movement tried to define the experience conceptually. Pentecostalism moved from the distinction of concepts (justification, sanctification, baptism of the Holy Spirit) to the distinction of experiences or stages. In this context, two further quotations from Moltmann are illuminating:

If we call this event justification, we are describing it as the operation of Christ. If we call it regeneration, we are describing the operation of the Spirit. We need both viewpoints if we are to understand the event completely. (Moltmann, p. 153)

Of course these are not stages in the experience of the Spirit. They are different aspects of the one single gift of the Holy Spirit, although in terms of time we can certainly discover these aspects successively. (Moltmann, p. 82)

To the degree that the baptism of the Holy Spirit frequently merges with the experience of conversion, Chilean Pentecostalism sees the change of life itself--not temporary and extraordinary manifestations--as evidence of authenticity of the experience of God. (When the believer has participated in church prior to receiving the baptism of the Spirit, it is understood as a phase of seeking.) As in Pentecostalism the world over, the experience of God is usually accompanied by extraordinary feelings and perceptions, such as speaking in tongues, sobbing, dancing, visions, auditory hallucinations, laughter, or exuberant joy. These manifestations are ways of sharing an experience otherwise impossible to communicate, and this is another criterion for the authenticity of the experience. Here Chilean Pentecostalism most clearly separates itself from mainstream Pentecostalism: speaking in tongues, although it can happen, is not seen as the only guarantee that one has been baptized in the Spirit. It is one among several possible manifestations of this intense experience of one's encounter with God. It is a specific gift which certain people receive to benefit the building of community.

In Chilean Pentecostalism the emphasis on the "gifts of the Spirit" (1 Cor. 12) is superseded by an emphasis on the "fruits of the Spirit" (Gal. 5). In this, Chilean Pentecostalism is heir to the Wesleyan understanding of sanctification: the "new life" is seen in the fruits. Extraordinary or charismatic experiences that are not translated into new fruits may well be the work of other spirits or even pure posturing. The "new life" must show itself not only in faithful participation in the work of the church, but also in daily life, that is, in fulfilling the roles one assumes in the family, at work, and in society in general.[10]

This means, furthermore, that Chilean Pentecostals generally do not retreat from the world. When a Pentecostal convert testifies that he "left the world," he isn't saying that he left society. Rather, he is saying that he has abandoned the world that made up his previous life. But this "new life" must be lived in this world, because this is where he must now bear testimony to having been made new.[11]

In sum, the work of the Holy Spirit is understood fundamentally as the eruption of the power of the living God. This power is manifest in personal life as the possibility to overcome powerlessness when facing evil (dependence on vices, incapacity to plan one's life, family failures, etc.) and to become a new person. In the community, this power is manifest in the church's capacity to evangelize and its ability to offer the newly converted a "living church."

The fact that they have not reduced the manifestations of the Spirit to a single expression (such as glossolalia, in mainstream Pentecostalism) has allowed Chilean Pentecostalism to develop a clear vision of the freedom of the Spirit. Not having a fixed definition makes it easier to conserve spontaneity in the liturgy and more difficult to reduce the liturgy into a mechanism for attaining a glossolalic trance. Unfortunately, this idea of the freedom of the Spirit is frequently used to justify the divisions in the Chilean Pentecostal fold.

Healing and salvation

As in mainstream Pentecostalism, faith in God's healing power plays an important role in the life of the Chilean Pentecostal communities. Considering how little access poor Chileans had to the benefits of modern medicine during the first decades of this century, experiences of divine healing occupy a privileged place in the conversion testimonies of the first generations of Chilean Pentecostals.

Donald Dayton observes that, in the development of North American Pentecostalism, the doctrine of "healing as part of expiation" (Dayton, p. 6) played an important role. This doctrine holds that healing functions as evidence of expiation; therefore, whoever has not been cured also has not been pardoned for his sins. Although this doctrine was later reconsidered by Pentecostal theologians--as it was by some important figures in the Holiness Movement--it continues to exert an influence, especially among the branches of Pentecostalism that stress healing as the first article of faith. The mass campaigns that focus on healing over evangelization usually express this point of view.

In Chilean Pentecostalism, many testimonies blend healing and conversion into a single experience; yet we must not confuse the two. Conversion ("giving oneself up to God" or accepting Jesus Christ as personal savior) is understood as a joyful response to God's love, which can be expressed in healing.[12] However, people can be healed and not converted, and people who have been converted have not necessarily experienced physical healing.

While the mass healing campaigns (including the more recent televised versions) emphasize the marvel of individual healing, Chilean Pentecostalism emphasizes the everyday life of the faith communities. The healing power of God is manifested in the warm welcome given to newcomers, in caring for the sick, in community prayer, and in perseverance in care and visitation. It is the community that heals. If, for reasons known only to God, there is no physical cure, there is always God's power manifest in the community, which gives the afflicted strength to confront adversity with hope, and even with joy.

Present and future salvation

Chilean Pentecostalism, like Pentecostalism around the world, believes in and awaits the second coming of Jesus Christ; still, it may not be clear at first glance what place this hope has in Pentecostal preaching and testimony. Many outside observers share the prejudice that Pentecostals are more concerned with the afterlife than with their present responsibilities. The inevitability of suffering is accepted, while all hope for happiness centers on the next world. Certain expressions in Pentecostal discourse tend to confirm this impression: "we suffer here, we will reign there"; "this world offers nothing but perdition." It is therefore surprising to find that in Chilean Pentecostal testimony, and particularly in street corner preaching, the emphasis is on the possibility of salvation here and now, a possibility that appears to be supported by the preacher's personal experience.

The street corner preacher doesn't claim that by accepting Christ "I will be saved and happy in the beyond," but rather "I am saved and happy here and now, because Christ made me into a new creation." Pentecostal testimony doesn't compare the present with the future, but the present with the past, a present of salvation versus a past of perdition. The preacher announces that this same experience is within reach of anyone listening if she sincerely wants it because, not long ago, the preacher himself was in the place of the listener. Although Chilean Pentecostalism is certainly not disinterested in the hereafter, the novelty of the Pentecostal gospel is that the hereafter can actually be lived in the here and now.

For the Chilean Pentecostal, waiting for the second coming of Christ is not a passive activity; it is by definition active. While waiting expectantly, one carries out the work of the Lord, bearing testimony to God's work in all dimensions of everyday life. God's promises (fulfilled eschatology) are usually understood to apply only to the lives of the converted, not to society in general. Still, there are signs that Chilean Pentecostalism is gaining awareness of itself as a major actor in popular strategies to confront social problems, such as alcoholism and family violence.

Pentecostalism's impact on society results from the conversion of individuals. For this reason, the Pentecostal version of utopia can be expressed in the ideal of "Chile for Christ," that is, when all Chileans are won to Christ, Chile will be better off. After eighty years of uninterrupted growth, however, it is beginning to dawn on the Chilean Pentecostal movement that such growth has not resolved the country's many social problems. For this reason it cannot continue to hope that "Chile for Christ" is the solution. On the other hand, the movement is aware that growth is not unlimited. While Pentecostalism grows, other religious movements are also growing, and the Catholic church does not seem to lose its majority. The movement has thus begun to awaken to such new dimensions of mission as, for example, special ministries to the socially marginalized, or church support for education. Due to its popular nature and the social exclusion of its membership, Pentecostal churches have yet to produce political leaders, but political participation is now beginning to be seen as a desirable option. More congregations are becoming involved in the search for solutions to problems that affect the quality of life in poor neighborhoods.

Final words

Chilean Pentecostalism should not be measured against the yardstick of worldwide Pentecostalism. Claims that Chilean Pentecostalism is theologically poor because it does not clearly distinguish the "works of grace" or because it doesn't recognize the centrality of glossolalia miss the point. In this article I have described Chile's unique contribution to the global Pentecostal community.

I wish, nevertheless, to discourage any triumphalistic interpretations of these remarks. The extreme atomization of the Chilean Pentecostal movement has blurred its identity and has frequently led to confusion. Furthermore, I gladly recognize that Pentecostal churches of missionary origin throughout the world have gone through important processes of renewal, autonomy, and return to popular culture. The Holy Spirit works where and how it will in order to lead all churches, Pentecostal or not, to a greater faithfulness to God.

ENDNOTES:



[1] See Walter Hollenweger, 1976, first chapters.



[2] See Willis C. Hoover, Historia delavivamiento pentecostal en Chile, (Valparaíso: Imprenta Excelsior, 1948).



[3] Ibid. p. 14. The pamphlet was sent to Hoover's wife by its author, Minnie Abrams, from Maleri, India.



[4] B. Muñiz, A Experiencia de Salvação: Pentecostais em São Paulo, (São Paulo: Dos Ciudades, 1969), p. 54.



[5] Donald W. Dayton, Raices teológicas del pentecostalismo, (Buenos Aires: Nueva Creación, 1991), p.6.



[6] See Gabriel Vaccaro, Identidad pentecostal, (Quito: CLAI, 1990), pp 11-33.



[7] Christian Lalive d'Epinay, El refugia de las masas, (Santiago: Editorial del Pacífico, 1968), p. 42. (p. 11 in the English edition).



[8] Between 1930 and 1960, Chilean Pentecostalism doubled its membership approximately every ten years. In the following decades growth has continued but at a slower rate. In the last national census, done in 1992, it was revealed that 13.2% of the population over 14 years of age is Protestant, of which the large majority is Pentecostal. Concerning the reasons for growth, see J. Sepúlveda in lvarez, 1992, pp. 77-88.



[9] Jürgen Moltmann, The Spirit of Life: A Universal Affirmation, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), p. 17. My comment about the importance of this book for Pentecostalism has been published in the Journal of Pentecostal Theology 4,1994, pp 41-49: (A Global Pentecostal Dialogue with Jürgen Moltmann's The Spirit of Life: A Universal Affirmation "The Perspective of Chilean Pentecostalism.")



[10] Concerning the impact of Pentecostal conversion on daily life, see the recent study by Manuel Ossa, 1991.



[11] See Canales, Palma y Villela, En tierra extraña II. Para una sociolagía de Ia religiosidad popular protestante, (Santiago: Amerinda-SEPADE, 1991).



[12] Many testimonies have a language and structure similar to the miracle-seekers of popular Catholicism in which "giving oneself to the Lord" is the expression of gratitude for favors granted. Of course, instead of a sacrificial pilgrimage to the sanctuary, this form of gratitude among Pentecostals involves a person's whole life.

Note: Bernardo L. Campos is a pastor and director of the Pentecostal Theological Seminary (affiliated with the Association of Autonomous Pentecostal Churches). He is also director of the Peruvian Institute of Religious Studies (IPER). He received his bachelor's degree in theology from the Superior Institute of Theological Studies. He is a writer and lecturer on Pentecostalism and a specialist on several religious groups indigenous to Latin America. This chapter first appeared in In the Power of the Spirit, edited by Benjamin F. Gutierrez & Dennis A. Smith, published in 1996 by PC(USA)WMD AIPRAL/CELEP, pp. 41-50.

Introduction

No one today doubts that the Pentecostal movement is one of the most significant religious experiences of the century. This fact has been recognized by Catholics, Protestants and innumerable social scientists. It is both a social-religious phenomenon and an alternative movement in the life and mission of the Christian church.

We begin with the premise that Pentecostalism is above all a religious movement and not a "denomination" or a "religious organization." Although there are religious communities within both Protestantism and Catholicism that call themselves "Pentecostal" or "charismatic," it is its character as movement that produces Pentecostalism's visible fruits.

The present political situation in Latin America has generated so much heated debate about the Church, the "sects," and religious freedom that it has become necessary to take a closer look at the existing religious scene, including Pentecostalism, if we are to build a coherent theological overview of the region capable of generating serious ecumenical dialogue.

I realize that the title of this article may raise a few eyebrows. Its diverse and complex origins, social make-up, religious practices and beliefs, not to mention ethical idiosyncrasies, will lead some to doubt whether Pentecostalism acts "in the power of the Spirit." Nevertheless, I will present four arguments for why the Pentecostal movement can be understood as a sign of the power of God's Spirit moving in the church.

I. A spiritual movement

Methodologically, any sociological consideration of religious movements or identities must begin by taking into account the considered views of its own practitioners, filtered, of course, through the lens provided by academic discipline and through the perspective of a particular investigator.

According to Pentecostal believers themselves, Pentecostalism is neither a simple socio-religious phenomenon, nor a mere product of the political-religious expansionism of North American capital.[1] For believers, Pentecostalism is the result of God's action through the Holy Spirit which erupted on Pentecost in the first century of Christian history (Acts 2-4; Luke 24:49; Joel 2:27-32) and extended from East to West.[2]

As a movement, Pentecostalism transcends denominational categories and presents itself as God acting in particular ways within Christianity. From a theological point of view, Pentecostalism is a personal experience of the divine. As a religious experience, it represents a ritualized prolongation of the original Pentecostal event (Acts 2, 10, 19) that expresses the essence of Christianity with an intense spirituality that recalls the life of the early Christians. It serves as a foundational myth.

As a spiritual movement, Pentecostalism is a builder of identities. To be "Pentecostal," just as to be "Catholic" or "Protestant," is a way of being in society.[3] Pentecostalism assumes different forms, according to the social, cultural and religious background or the class identity of the practitioners. As a spiritual movement, Pentecostalism has neither class, ideological, territorial, nor confessional boundaries. It can penetrate antagonistic social classes as well as conflicting historical processes. In Europe, for example, the Pentecostal movement has resisted secularization, the historical process by which societies liberated themselves from the control of the church and from closed metaphysical systems.[4] European Pentecostalism is known for its unbounded religious experiences and the creation of alternatives to traditional religious practices. In Latin America, where religious belief continues to be so deeply rooted and where secularization has been relegated to the realm of social protest,[5] the Pentecostal movement has had great social impact and now threatens the religious hegemony of Roman Catholicism. In Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, for example, some local Pentecostals have been used by U.S. neo-conservative and fundamentalist groups to escalate and/or control the political tensions of the region. Often ideological battles are carried out under the guise of religious conflict. What is really at stake is the defense of social identities, political power, and the attempted consolidation of old and new hegemonies.

All spiritualities are ways of living out one's faith in history. They depend on at least five different factors: 1) the believer's religious tradition; 2) one's utopia or model for the future; 3) one's level of sensitivity to or consciousness of social reality; 4) one's ability to discern between good and evil; and 5) the symbolic substratum which influences one's choices on the road to building an identity.

Pentecostal spirituality is the everyday faith experience of real communities whose very identity is wrapped up in the Pentecost. In Latin America, these communities' daily experience is born of crisis, the product of a long process of economic, political and cultural domination; however, this same crisis is perceived as the starting point of a process of hopeful transformation.

The fundamental difference between this and other spiritualities engendered by the crisis is the way it uses Jesus' spiritual journey to the Father as the model for building a synthesis between Christian principles and everyday existence. This synthesis incorporates the ways in which a community lives out its faith, as well as the spiritual principles that regulate its conduct and impose a particular style on its religious identity. The core of Pentecostalism is Pentecost. The Pentecostal community gives itself legitimacy by identifying its religious practice as a prolongation of the experiences described in Acts 2 and other passages.

The failure to consider Pentecostal spirituality and its theological perspectives would deform any hermeneutic of Pentecostalism. For this reason, most sociological attempts to interpret Pentecostalism fail to comprehend Pentecostalism's ability to give meaning to life, bestow social identity on the hopeless, give power to the weak, and even provide ideological legitimation to the upper classes. Sociological interpretations usually fail to appreciate the meaning of a community's religious experience to the community itself For example, it is impossible to understand Pentecostal growth without exploring the doctrine of sanctification,[6] which is the motor of its aggressive evangelism.

II.

A protest movement

The Wesleyan inheritance

A number of studies deem that the "Wesleyan revival," which led to the founding of Methodist and other sanctificationist denominations in England in the 17th century, is the immediate forebear of modern Pentecostalism.[7] This thesis contends that Pentecostalism emerged in the "holiness circles" in the United States that derived from English pietism.

As soon as the Wesleyan emphasis on sanctification (the doctrine that explains the process of Christian perfection) was relaxed, a renewed Holiness Movement emerged that would take the name "Pentecostal." In the decade between 1895 and 1905 a number of new denominations consecrated themselves to the principles of Holiness.[8] What set these apart from the traditional holiness communities was their emphasis on the doctrine of the sanctified life resulting from a special "Baptism of the Spirit."

Radical religious behavior

American Methodists differed from 17th Century English Methodists by substituting individualism for social ethics and philanthropy for millennarianism.[9] According to Richard Niebuhr, the Wesley brothers, founders of the Wesleyan movement, replaced the concept of the Reign of God with the symbol of heaven and saw sin as laxity and individual vice, not as oppression or social breakdown.[10]

With the building of North American society and the gradual transformation of certain "sects" into "denominations," the individualistic, philanthropic, and sentimental ethic common to Methodists came to dominate the middle-class Protestant churches of the United States. In contrast, Pentecostalism grew out of a deepening religious and spiritual experience that abandoned philanthropy and came to wholly identify this world with sin. However, Pentecostals did not abandon the individualism they had inherited from missionary societies.

Though the theories of contemporary sociologists of religion draw upon Max Weber's thesis about the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, they reject social and economic determinism. They usually describe Pentecostalism as a response to social anomie[11] and a religious response to the processes of immigration, industrialization, and urbanization in Latin America (see E. Willems, Christian Lalive d'Epinay, P.F. Camargo, M. Marzal, and Bryan Wilson, among others).

For others, Pentecostalism is the religious expression of a certain social and economic ethic. Sociologists of religion such as the Brazilian Francisco Cartaxo Rolim and the Swiss Jean-Pierre Bastian describe Pentecostalism as the religion of the disadvantaged resulting from the social relations and ideology imposed by capitalism.[12]

In most cases, Pentecostalism provides a way for people to give meaning to reality and to organize their daily conduct.

Pentecostalism is a "symbolic system," as are the various Catholicisms, historical Protestantisms, socialisms and populisms. For the oppressed, Pentecostalism provides a satisfying religious alternative to the trauma induced by conquest and colonization, historical processes that manipulated existing manifestations of the sacred to rend the social fabric.[13]

As a form of a "social protest" and utopia, the Pentecostal movement recalls movements such as the Taki Onqoy of 16th century Peru (Huamanga 1560-1570).[14] Both are apocalyptic movements, based on the idea of the world ending in great upheaval, although the followers of Taki Onqoy went beyond the religious sphere to promote a Messianic campaign of revenge against the European invaders. Pentecostals also hold that they are God's chosen people led by charismatic leaders with divine authority. To this they add a clear rejection of this world. This apocalyptic vision, combined with an ideology of sanctification, mobilizes believers and has led Pentecostalism to adopt an ethic of separation from the world, often calling the faithful to spurn social change.

Nevertheless, the dire poverty in Latin America and the prevailing international system (globalization, neo-liberalism, etc.) have forced Pentecostal communities to face reality. In Peru and other countries on the continent, Pentecostals are beginning to participate actively in civil society, embracing forms of political participation and social action they had formerly rejected.

This rejection of the world, which takes the form of rigid personal ethics (no drinking, no smoking, no dancing, keeping oneself pure, etc.), and the creation of "substitute societies" are Pentecostal responses to having been marginalized by the dominant religious institutions and by the economic and political elites. Today's Pentecostals have achieved a new level of maturity. Increasingly, they desire to become the subjects of their own history and are casting their lot with the new forces that are emerging in our societies.

While Pentecostalism can be seen as a religious expression of the popular unrest produced by our current social crisis-- as Matos Mar has pointed out in the case of Peru[15] --this is not the whole story. The rapid expansion of informal economies and grassroot, sometimes radical, political and religious organizations, are common to all societies undergoing transition and crisis. Whenever social chaos reigns, there is room for religious explosions of the Pentecostal ilk.

III. A popular movement

There are few statistics that can capture the dizzying demographic growth of Pentecostals. According to David Stoll, "a third of the population in Latin America will be Protestant in the next century, as compared to 10% or 12% now."[16] Pentecostals make up 70% of all Brazilian Protestants; in Chile they are 17% of the population; in the Bahamas, 10%; in Peru, Pentecostals make up 70% of the Protestants who in turn make up 7% of the population of 22 million. Considering the historic dominance of Catholicism in Latin America, these are significant percentages[17] Academics calculate that 25% of the population of three Central American countries (El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala) will be Pentecostal by the year 2000. Pentecostalism has established such deep roots so quickly in Latin American society that many are beginning to ask whether official Protestantism and Catholicism will survive the region. [18]

Just as base ecclesial communities (known by the Spanish acronym, "CEBs") are authentic popular churches, so are Pentecostal churches authentic. Both find their support among the popular classes, and in both people become agents of social change through their religious activity.

Several characteristics of Pentecostalism could have a profound impact on the social transformation of South America. These are: 1) an autonomous financial structure that is independent of America, Europe, and Asia; 2) a liturgy in which expressions of Latin American popular religiosity take precedence over Christian traditions rooted in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin culture; 3) a community experience that incorporates the faithful into a community, affirms their individual worth, and permits them to play a role in society; and, 4) an organic solidarity with the less favored sectors of society.

Pentecostalism is the only branch of Protestantism rooted in Latin American "popular religiosity."[19] Witness, for example, the new movement that I call "iso-Pentecostalism" in that it takes its image from Pentecostalism but has a different form of organization. Antonio Gouvea Mendonça in Brazil calls it the "movement of the divine cure." "Iso-Pentecostalism" does away with ecclesiastical organization, teaching of the Bible, the participation of the faithful in worship, even hymnals, in order to focus exclusively on healing, and the sale of "healing objects," quite common in popular Afro-Brazilian religiosity, whence it comes. (See discussion of "third Pentecostal wave" and the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Silveira Campos, pp. 77-81.)***

Accordingly, the introduction, presence and expansion of Pentecostalism in Latin America should be understood in the context of popular culture and the history of the region's social and cultural movements.

IV. A movement of social change

The rapid multiplication of new religious groups with charismatic tendencies cannot be explained merely by a favorable social environment. These groups also generate social change, albeit indirectly, exerting their influence from within the social structure and the ideological superstructure.[20]

In the present religious configuration in Latin America, Pentecostalism has a two-sided relationship with civil society. On the one hand, it opposes "official" religions such as Roman Catholicism and historical Protestantism, while at the same time interacting with corporativist states, many of which are undergoing fundamental change, such as Nicaragua and Chile in the 1970s.[21]

Struggles continue on two fronts. Some groups strive to achieve new hegemonies, others strive to consolidate the old ones. On either front what is at stake are the existing and emerging political institutions that use religion to promote quite contradictory programs and aspirations. Ideological conflict is frequently expressed through religious battles, but the stakes are usually political.

At the symbolic level, Pentecostalism is clearly similar to both political and religious Messianic movements. These are the symbolic sources of a new society which can resist the "collapse of hope" despite crushing defeats such as in Nicaragua, where Christians and Sandinistas tried to create a new society. Such groups can resist the aimlessness produced by the end of utopias suffered after the "collapse" of socialism.

For common folks, at stake are not just ideologies and political utopias--which they have little time for anyway--but their own subsistence in extreme situations where even their basic necessities are unmet.

The true roots of modern Pentecostalism go back to 15th- and 16th- century Europe. There, Pentecostal communities that were excluded from Luther's, Calvin's, and Zwingli's Reformation constituted a popular front known today as the "Radical Reformation." Differing from the Lutherans due to their religious practice and rural origins, they fought and died for a series of demands denied them by the nobles. The apocalyptic vision of history and the Messianic charisma of Thomas Müzer, a leader of this revolutionary movement, clearly marked the later Pentecostal movement.[22]

In Latin American Pentecostalism, one discovers the reflection of indigenous movements and waves of immigrants in search of new identities. It is surprising to note the case of Chile, for example, where the growth of Pentecostalism and socialism paralleled one another chronologically,[23] even employing similar tactics, though without forming any explicit alliance. On the contrary, Pentecostalism became a client of the State, legitimizing the State before civil society.

Some interpreters of the Peruvian religious scene have hypothesized a probable relation of mutual influence between the emerging religious groups and a new kind of capitalism that recalls Weber's thesis on the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. Weber emphasized the general attitudes inherent in the character of each religion (in this case, the ethics of Calvinism) which influence economic activities and motivations. Though religious principles may not have a direct effect on economic behavior, they can lend religious and ideological legitimacy to new motivations, activities, and institutions.

Thus Weber postulated that the Puritan ethic of austerity and the denial of worldly pleasures had generated the beginnings of the capitalist spirit. He made it clear that ideas exercise an autonomous influence on the process of social evolution. For Weber, the key elements of the Calvinist ethic were "asceticism" and a "vocation" for work as a rational activity.

While Weber's thesis may apply to certain branches of European and North American Protestantism, it doesn't work for Latin American Protestantism. It works even less for Pentecostalism, given its mainly proletariat composition, its "eschatological urgency,"[24] and the volatile character of contemporary international capitalism.

Thus, Pentecostalism has not been a major player in the development of a new grassroots capitalism, except in the sense that Pentecostal believers are consumers and an available labor force. In my opinion, the reasons for this are: 1) mysticism rather than asceticism predominates among the Pentecostals; 2) splurging rather than saving is the cultural model, given that subsistence-level salaries make saving impossible and because the goods purchased with one's salary come to represent one's personal worth ("fetishization"); 3) work is not considered a divine vocation. Thus, Weber's thesis hardly applies. In these circumstances it would be more likely to posit a relationship between Pentecostal ethics and the spirit of socialism, or any system other than capitalism.

The transforming power of Pentecostalism resides not in the coherence of its doctrine, but in its flexibility and its capacity to give expression to new social practices in the defining moments of a society in transition. Christian Lalive d'Epinay has observed that in the time of Allende's Chile, Pentecostalism suffered the mutilation of its practices and doctrine.[25] The same was observed ten years later by Jean-Pierre Bastian in Nicaragua[26] and can be seen today in 1990s Peru.

Final words

Pentecostalism was born in the heat of a historical struggle, both real and symbolic, against Catholicism, official Protestantism, and political dogmatism. It has proven its capacity to generate symbols powerful enough to sustain hope for the working classes and a sense of national identity. Those who fight against Pentecostalism, whether they are politicians or clergy, do so because they fear competition for influence in civil society or because they realize that Pentecostalism represents an alternative to the present political order.

As for the question of whether Pentecostals will choose to become active players in civil society or politics, the obvious answer is both. Nevertheless, it is within civil society that Pentecostalism will make a key contribution to deciding the future of the region's social system. Past participation in the political sphere, minimal as it may have been, makes it clear that now is not the time to swell the ranks of the political class without first having participated in grassroots community organizations. Active participation in the newly emerging civil society is a historic opportunity that must not be wasted. This is possible today precisely because the Spirit continues to make all things new.

In sum, Pentecostalism is a spiritual movement resulting from the loss of holiness in our world; it is a movement of symbolic protest in a society that denies fulfillment and participation to the dispossessed; it is a grassroots movement born of traditional cultures struggling to cope with massive change; and it is a movement capable of being a channel for social change and of offering hope for a better world.

Pentecostalism is not only a historic embodiment of Christianity, it is an expression of universal spirituality rooted in the resurrected Christ of Pentecost. Today's challenge is not to Pentecostalize the church so that it might grow, but rather to renew the church spiritually in the light of the universal experience of Pentecost, seeking the unity of the church and of all humanity, for whom Christ died and was resurrected.

END NOTES:

[1]The Pentecostals reject this conspiracy theory and consider it a crassly politicized interpretation of their theology.

[2]Pentecost is the founding event of the Pentecostal experience. The movement's name, organizational inspiration, and missionary vocation all derive from the word Pentecost.

[3]Carlos Rodríguez Brandão, "Ser Católico: Dimensões Brasileiras. Um Estudo sobre a atribução da identidade através da religião," América Indígena Vol. XLV, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec., 1985): pp. 691-722.

[4] Harvey Cox, The Secular City, New York, NY: MacMillan, 1965.

[5] José Miguel Bonino, "La Piedad Popular en América Latina," Cristianismo y Sociedad, XIV, No. 47, 1976: pp. 39-48.



[6] Bryan Wilson has correctly noted that the doctrine of sanctification provides the basis for sectarianism and for the enthusiastic propagation of this religious group that throws itself into spiritual conquest and tries to liberate sinful hearts from the clutch of Satan and guide the sinful to the path of holiness. Cf. Bryan Wilson, Sociología de las sectas religiosas, (Madrid: Guadarrama, 1970), 57ss.

[7] Walter Hollenweger, El Pentecostalismo: Historia y Doctrinas, (Buenos Aires: La Aurora, 1976) p. 7; Donald W. Dayton, Theological Roots of Pentecostalism. (Grand Rapids, MI: Francis Asbury, 1987), pp. 115-141.

[8] A history of the Holiness Movement and its relation to Pentecostalism can be found in Donald W. Dayton, op. cit.

[9] The belief in a period of one thousand years of peace on earth (literal or symbolic) in which Christ and his church will govern the world.

[10] Richard Niebuhr, The Social Sources of Denominationalism, (Magnolia, Mass: Peter Smith Publisher, 1920), p. 65.

[11]The loss of traditional morals, leading to a crisis of values and norms in a determined social formation. Frequently associated with rapid social change.

[12] F. Cartaxo Rolim, Pentecostais no Brasil. Uma Interpretação do Protestantismo Brasileiro. (Rio de Janeiro: Vozes); Jean-Pierre Bastian, Breve historia del Protestantismo en Améica Latina, (México: CUPSA, 1986); Gamaliel Lugo, "Etica social pentecostal: santidad comprometida," C. Alvarez, ed., op. cit: pp. 101-122.

[13] Bernardo L. Campos, Religión y Liberación del Pueblo. (Lima: CEPS, 1989).

[14] See Steve Stern, "El Taki Onqoy y Ia Sociedad Andina" (Huamanga, Siglo XVI), Allpanchis, Vol VXI, No 19 (1982) pp. 49-77; Marco Curatola, "Mito y Milenarismo en los Andes: Del Taki Onqoy a Inkarri," Allpanchis, Vol X, (1977) pp. 65-92.

[15] José Matos Mar, Desborde popular y crisis del Estado. El Nuevo rostro del Perú en la década de 1980, (Lima: CONCYTEC, n.d).

[16] According to a cable from EFE (Washington, April 17, 1990) published in El Comercio on 4/17/90. Due to the organization and internal structure of Peruvian Pentecostalism, and the vitality of both traditional and popular Catholicism, the growth of Peruvian Pentecostalism has lagged behind that of Brazil and Chile.

[17] See Ivan Vallier, Catolicismo, Control Social y Modernsización en América Latina, (Buenos Aires: Amorrortu Editores, 1970), p. 17 and footnote.

[18] Remember the polemic that was set off by the treatment J.C. Mariátegui gave to religion in his Ensayos de la realidad Peruana. (Lima: Amauta, 1975) (fifth essay) and also the discipline imposed on Leonardo Boff in Brazil for his statements regarding ecclesiogenesis, the church which is born of the people, and the theology of liberation.

[19] Orlando Costas, "La Misión y el Crecimiento Numérico de la Iglesia: Hacia una misiología de las masas y minorías," CELEP, Ensayos Ocasionales, 1976, p. 13.

[20] Otto Maduro, Religión y Conflicto Social, (Mexico: Centro de Estudios Ecuménicos - Centro de Reflexión Teológica, 1980) pp. 165-206; 1. Vallier, loc. cit.

[21] Some Pentecostal churches in Europe receive financial support from the State. Although this is not the case in Latin America, the support that General Pinochet gave to the Evangelical Church of Chile is well-documented.

[22] See Rosemary Radford Reuther, El Reino de los extremistas. La experiencia occidental del la esperanza mesiánica, (Buenos Aires: La Aurora, 1971); Norman Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millennium. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1961); George H. Williams, The Radical Reformation. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1962).

[23] An observation made by Christian Lalive d'Epinay, El Refugio de las Masas. Estudio Sociológico de Protestantismo Chileno, (Santiago: El Pacfíco, 1968), p. 276.

[24] Growing out of the belief in the imminent arrival of the Reign of God.

[25] Christian Lalive d'Epinay, "Regimes Politiques et Millénarismo dans une Societé dépendante. Reflection á propos du Pentecostisme au Chili," Actes de la 15ème Conférence Internationale de Sociologie Religieuse, Verise, 1979.

[26] Jean-Pierre Bastian, Cristianismo y Sociedad, 1986, pp. 52-53.

Benjamin Gutiérez, a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), was a mission worker in Ecuador and Mexico. For the last 22 years he has been responsible for Presbyterian Church (USA) relationships with Latin America and the Caribbean, and since 1988, he has been area coordinator for South America. This introductory chapter appeared in In the Power of the Spirit, edited by Benjamin F. Gutierrez & Dennis A. Smith, published in 1996 by PC(USA)WMD AIPRAL/CELEP, pp. 9-25.





When a delegation from the United Presbyterian Church of the United States visited Brazil in 1977, we had the opportunity to have a long interview with the missionary Manoel de Mello, now deceased, who was the founder and president of the Brazil for Christ Church, one of the largest Pentecostal denominations in the country.

At that time, the military junta which ruled the country did not permit citizens to express themselves freely. Referring to this situation, de Mello said there were three places where the people could unburden themselves freely, without fear of reprisals: at the soccer stadiums, in carnival, and in the Pentecostal churches. His remarks helped us to understand the context of Pentecostalism in Brazil, and explained how and why the Pentecostal movement had spread so far, and in such an extraordinary way, not only in Brazil but in all Latin American countries.

Though de Mello's prediction about the phenomenal growth of Latin American Pentecostalism seemed interesting and convincing, I had the impression it was also a little exaggerated. At that time, I had just finished a study of Ecclesial Base Communities (CEBs), and I understood their importance and that of the theology of liberation in the Catholic Church. Few scholars at that time were studying, analyzing, and evaluating the importance of the Pentecostal movement.

Why publish this book?

During a period of study as the Area Coordinator for South America of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I decided to write about Latin American Pentecostalism for readers in the United States. When I visited churches in several cities in the United States I found that there was a general interest in the issue. Later, some colleagues in Presbyterian and Reformed churches in Latin America urged me to include interested readers in Latin America.

The support and interest to carry out the project--from AIPRAL (the Association of Reformed and Presbyterian Churches) and from staff of CELEP (Latin American Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies)--was determinant in my decision to continue with plans for the publication of this book. The task was directed by AIPRAL's Committee on Theology, headed by Dr. Abel Clemente, who is also president of AIPRAL. CELEP's expertise on pastoral matters has given the project another dimension. Since then, I have contacted a team of writers, advisors, and translators who have worked hard on this enterprise.

From the beginning I realized that the proposal was not only large and complex, but that there were a considerable number of people studying the theme who were disposed to collaborate in the publication of the book. A group of 17 historians, theologians, and sociologists of religion were invited to write articles on specific topics. It was decided to publish the book first in Spanish and Portuguese and later in English. The following countries are represented in this study, either by nationality or residence of the writer, or in the theme studied: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, the United States, and Venezuela.

We have several purposes for publishing this book, starting with the need to learn about elements of the history, sociology, and theology of the different kinds of Pentecostalism in Latin America. By learning about the Pentecostals, we can challenge the historic churches to improve their pastoral work. It is important to note that Pentecostalism was one of the issues that attracted most interest in the discussions of the conferences sponsored by AIPRAL and CANAAC (Caribbean and North American Area Council) held in Puerto Rico in April 1994.

The fact that charismatic and Pentecostal movements exist in historic churches was another important reason why AIPRAL supported this project. For example, the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil recently did a study about the charismatic groups in its churches, and it was thought that this study could help us to discuss the issue openly in other churches.

In addition, the Seventh Assembly of the World Council of Churches held in Canberra in February 1991 reflected on the charismatic and Pentecostal movements within the historic churches. The official report from Canberra included the following observations:

In this century the world has witnessed the rise and growth of movements which emphasize the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. While these movements and churches are by no means uniform, they are commonly known as charismatic or Pentecostal.

Insofar as they emphasize the charisms of the Spirit described in the New Testament and represent a rediscovery of the ministry of healing, they are valid expressions of Christian living. 1

In publishing this book we recognize the importance of learning from Pentecostals, but at the same time we take into the account the contributions the historic churches can make to Pentecostal churches. Thus, not only do we emphasize the positive and attractive aspects of the Pentecostal churches, but we also note questionable areas and those where there are differences of opinion.

Another of the purposes of this book is to challenge ourselves to learn from one another mutually as Christians, and our interpretation of it will depend on how we understand the work of evangelization and mission. If we only see competition and rivalry between us, where one group's gain is the other's loss, then lessening the distance between churches is not worth the trouble. If, on the other hand, as Manuel Ossa says, "the main prerequisite is permeability of the borders," then it is important to exchange ideas and keep up dialogue. Explaining his thought at greater length, Ossa says, "there is no place for a religion that tries to impose, only for a religion (or several) which tries to serve; no place for a religion that possesses the truth, only for one which looks for meaning with all those who look for meaning; no place for one which tries to ingratiate itself with political power, only for one which works with others in solidarity."2

A "threat" to the Roman Catholic Church?

During the 1970s and 80s, many thought that the theology of liberation would strengthen the Catholic Church through the grassroot movement of the CEBs, and that the CEBs, in turn, would raise the consciousness of the popular classes, bringing about serious social change. These expectations were not fulfilled due not only to repression of the ideas and actions of progessive Catholic sectors by the ecclesiastical hierarchy, but also to disinterest on the part of many Catholics.

The present Latin American panorama shows that radical changes have occurred. In Brazil, where the theology of liberation and the CEBs were strongest, a recent study concluded that "the rapid expansion of Pentecostalism is probably the most important phenomenon on the religious scene in Brazil, and perhaps in all of Latin America.3

In this same study, the researchers of the Institute for Religious Studies (ISER) in Rio de janeiro found that in metropolitan Rio, 710 new churches were founded between 1990 and 1992, the equivalent of five churches every week. The majority were Pentecostal churches; although Presbyterian and Baptist churches keep growing, most growth is in the Pentecostal churches.

The dazzling growth of the Pentecostal movement has caused concern in the historic churches. Some 42% of all Roman Catholics live in Latin America, considered the world's "most Catholic" region. And yet, according to Franz Damen, a Catholic missionary from Belgium who works in Bolivia, "every hour an average of 400 Catholics become members of Pentecostal sects." 4

Edward L. Cleary, a Catholic priest, says that "for every Catholic actively practicing his or her religion, in many countries an equal or larger number of Latin Americans participate in some other form of religion,"5 and Brazilian archbishop Lucas Moreira Neves, Secretary of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops in 1985, taking into account all these events, has roundly affirmed that "The springtime of the sects could also be the winter of the Catholic Church."6 For the first time, it is evident that a religious movement is openly and powerfully challenging the hegemony of the Latin American Catholic Church.

One of the phenomena most difficult for the Catholic Church to understand, as Gilfeather O'Brien points out, is how the Guatemalan cofradias (religious fratemities based on the syncretism of Roman Catholic and ancient Mayan teachings) have been unable to compete with Pentecostal groups that offer "personal transformation of the kind the Catholic Church has desired but never achieved over the centuries." 7

The Pentecostal theologian Juan Sepulveda writes, "Many are particularly surprised by the rapid growth of Pentecostalism in Latin America, a continent that until 1910--the year of the Edinburgh conference--was considered, especially by European Protestants, to be an area already evangelized by the Catholic Church." 8

When we had the interview with Manoel de Mello, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God still did not exist. In that year, Edir Macedo de Bezerra began to preach to a few people. Now, 20 years later, his denomination (though it has no official membership) has approximately a million and a half members and the same quantity of sympathizers, who meet in 2,000 temples and who can easily fill Maracará, the huge soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro, for special services. This same church has bought a television network for 45 million dollars, has 22 radio stations, and publishes a magazine with a weekly run of 800,000 copies. The church has established temples in several countries in Europe, Africa and North America, including the United States.

A challenge for the historic Protestant churches.

Pentecostalism is not only a challenge to the Roman Catholic Church. Quentin I. Schultze suggests that the title of the famous book by David Stoll, Is Latin America Turning Protestant? could have been Is Latin America Turning Pentecostal? 9

Though it is impossible to know how many Pentecostals are in Latin America, there is a consensus among scholars that they make up between 70% and 80% of the evangelicals, which number in the tens of millions. Scholars also characterize Pentecostalism as the fourth wave of Protestantism to arrive in Latin America.

The first wave was made up of the immigrant churches. Some Latin American politicians, seeing Northern Europeans and North Americans as being agents of modernization in the area, welcomed Protestant immigration and investment. (In current usage in Latin America, the terms evangelical and Protestant are practically synonymous, although evangelical is most commonly used to refer to all non-Catholic Christians while Protestant is usually used to refer to the historic Reformed churches.) These leaders proposed liberal economies based on free markets and private investment, as opposed to the tightly regulated semi-feudal models of the day. Liberal politicians also advocated a secular and autonomous educational system, not controlled by the Catholic hierarchy.

Christian Lalive d'Epinay underscores the following characteristics of the immigrant churches:

1) An "ethnic church" is directed toward a religious-ethnic group of immigrants.

2) Ethnic churches tend to have a series of common traits: they emphasize order in cultural life, have an open interpretation of biblical inspiration, require the pastorate to have a high level of education, and are organized on formal, representative, democratic models. 10

Taking into account the previous description, the fundamental aspect of the immigrant churches is the identity of the immigrants. These churches strive to maintain the values of the immigrant culture, deriving their function and identity from the ethnic groups which make them up. An example of this is the greeting that the Presbyterian Church of Scotland sent in 1929 to the Saint Andrew's Scottish Presbyterian Church in Buenos Aires, on the occasion of its centennial celebration:

We are well aware of your story: how for all these years you have held high in the Argentine, alike in doctrine, in worship, and in life, "the faith that was once for all delivered unto the saints", and also the best traditions of the Church of Scotland: and how St. Andrew's has been the spiritual home of tens of thousands of Scottish folk who in the characteristic spirit of enterprise found their several ways there. We know St. Andrew's has kept alive the fires of Scottish Patriotism and Religion in your distant land, and in particular how much our Scottish youth owe to the Christian friendship and hospitality of your people. And we have noted with the utmost satisfaction how instant and constant St. Andrew's has been to extend the blessings of Word and Worship to Scottish folk who were scattered abroad through the vast province.. ." [emphasis added]

While the first wave of Protestants consisted mostly of Europeans, the second was made up mainly of missionaries from the United States. The first wave of immigrant churches was generally accepted and welcomed, achieving varying degrees of integration into Latin American society. In the second wave, however, Liberal Latin American governments took more initiative, inviting some missionaries to participate directly in education, encouraging them to propagate the Protestant ideals of hard work and a disciplined life.

A typical case was that of Domingo F. Sarmiento in Argentina, who in 1869-70 invited for the first time a group of Protestant teachers from the United States for the purpose of introducing new educational systems throughout the country.

Another illustrative case was the visit of Guatemalan President Justo Rufino Barrios to the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church in New York in 1882. He returned to Guatemala accompanied by the first Protestant missionary, the Rev. John Clark Hill. Barrios awarded the Presbyterians a site on Guatemala City's main plaza to build Central Presbyterian Church. One of Hill's first projects was to create the American School.

While the principal function of the immigrant churches was to preserve the ethnic and cultural identity of the immigrants, the main purpose of the mission churches, resulting from agreements negotiated by and with churches in the United States, was not to serve communities of U.S. citizens in the region, but to plant churches among the local inhabitants.

The third wave was of the so-called "faith missions." Some Christians who disagreed with the evangelistic strategies of the historic Protestant churches found a way to do missionary work through interdenominational societies, such as the Central American Mission, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and the Evangelical Union of South America. The wave had its greatest impact after World War II.

The fourth wave is identified with the dazzling growth and influence of the Pentecostals. This wave includes both missionary and indigenous Pentecostal churches. Missionary Pentecostalism includes the efforts of U.S. denominations like the Assemblies of God, as well as missions from Sweden and other European countries. The indigenous Pentecostal churches were the fruit of work by Latin American pastors and lay people, for example, the Methodist Pentecostal Church in Chile and the Brazil for Christ Church, as well as other autonomous groups characterized by their emphases on divine healing and prosperity. It is this fourth wave that is the central focus of this book.

Why is Pentecostalism so attractive to the Latin American people?

The extraordinary growth of the Pentecostal churches has posed a question for many scholars of the sociology of religion. Although there are many ways to explain it, three basic theories have been proposed.

The sociological perspective

The sociological perspective suggests that the success of the Pentecostal movement is a response to the structural changes in contemporary Latin American society. Emilio Willems, a sociologist from the United States, sees the growth of Pentecostalism as a reaction to the pressures for survival and social ascent that have accompanied modernization. Progress and modernization of society imply a new division and organization of labor as well as greater complexity of social institutions. Edward L. Cleary explains, "Instead of the tribal chief acting as family, political and religious ruler, those three functions have been separated and taken over by individuals and groups within family systems, political parties, and religious organizations"12

Christian Lalive d'Epinay proposed a similar sociological argument explaining the growth of Pentecostalism as a function of the social, political, and economic crisis in Latin America produced by the rapid urbanization of traditional rural peoples. In a situation of such radical change, Pentecostal churches help to restore the community values of the lost rural world. Thus, they help enable people to respond to the challenges and demands of the modern world.

These two non-religious theories characterize the Pentecostal community as the "refuge of the masses." This phrase, attributed to Lalive d'Epinay, describes the non-participatory attitude (called a "social strike") which has characterized the Pentecostal movement. This focus implicitly stigmatizes Pentecostals for their alienation from society.

In general, scholars who approach this phenomenon from a sociological perspective claim that Latin American Pentecostals have been intensely attracted to a religion which was created and shaped as a concrete response to the crises and transformations in all arenas of life which have uprooted and bewildered people living in a context of economic and social instability.

The psychological perspective

In response to the notable growth of Pentecostalism and its strong roots in the Latin American people, researchers such as the Brazilian F.C. Rolim began to approach the phenomenon from a psychological perspective: What is a Pentecostal community? That is, what distinguishes it from the communties provided by the Catholic Church and the historic or Reformed churches?

Pursuing this line of questionning, some researchers have found that Pentecostal communities tend to be personally engaging and highly participatory. They eliminate the traditional barriers that have grown up between clergy and laity. Through their participation in the diverse ministries of the church, people stop being "objects" and become active subjects of religious experience and discourse.

The pastoral perspective

Some Roman Catholic researchers propose the "thirst for God" explanation to understand the growth of Pentecostalism. This focus tends to become a criticism of the Roman Catholic Church for not having been able to respond to the needs of the people. It holds that while the Catholic Church and the historic Protestant churches are empty, the Pentecostal churches grow because they satisfy the needs of the people.

Scholars have helped us to understand the attraction that Pentecostalism holds for diverse social sectors. Theologian Juan Sepúlveda considers the results of these studies and provides an interesting theological analysis in his article, "The Growth of the Pentecostal Movement in Latin America." ( lvarez, 1992, pp. 77-87***). Sepúlveda asserts that Pentecostalism is not a new doctrine, but a new, unmediated experience of God. Theologically, the only mediation is by the Holy Spirit, which permits individuals to experience directly the presence of God. Culturally, the symbolic universe produced by this experience of the Holy Spirit is personal and direct, and is not subject to priestly mediation (Alvarez, 1992, p. 87).***

Another distinctive aspect of Pentecostalism is the intensity of this encounter with the divine. God not only invades the life of the believer through the Holy Spirit, but takes possession of that life, filling it with new meaning. Through their testimonies, believers explain their change of life subjectively. The transformation is manifest in the new way they see themselves, their families, and their reality. So radical is the change in their lives that they must express it through ecstatic manifestations, such as speaking in tongues, dancing in the Spirit, or uncontrollable laughter or crying.

Further, the Pentecostal experience is lived in community, not in isolation. The dispossessed and disinherited find acceptance and an openness in Pentecostal communities that they had not felt before. On being accepted into the community of believers, they immediately testify to their new lives. Each believer becomes a missionary, according to his or her particular gifts.

Another distinctive and attractive aspect of Pentecostalism is that it appropriates the language of the people. Those who have had this new experience can share it in the vernacular, communicating the message with clarity and simplicity. Sometimes when Pentecostals are asked if their churches have taken a preferential option for the poor, they answer, "We haven't opted for the poor. We are the poor."

An overview of Latin American Pentecostals

The first section of this book looks at Latin American Pentecostalism from a historical and theological perspective. In the first essay, Carmelo lvarez gives us a panoramic vision of the Pentecostal movement, including a description of the beginnings of Pentecostalism in the United States and its rapid development thoughout the world, starting with the first decade of this century. lvarez provides a typology which includes four types of Pentecostalism in Latin America. In addition to the classic missionary and indigenous Pentecostalisms, he identifies some heretical Pentecostal movements and the so-called Pentecostalisms of divine healing and prosperity.

lvarez thinks that to better understand the history and development of the different kinds of Pentecostalism, it is important to emphasize three central aspects common to all Pentecostal churches, given the notion that spirituality should incorporate all aspects of a believer's life: liturgy, testimony, and evangelization. After analyzing each aspect, lvarez stresses that the widespread presence of different Pentecostalisms in today's Latin American and Caribbean religious scene is a pressing missiological and ecumenical challenge which requires more understanding and more openness on the part of all Christian confessions.

In the second article, Bernardo Campos defines important concepts related to Pentecostalism. Campos argues that Pentecostalism is a religious movement and not a "denomination." Although self-defined Pentecostal or charismatic religious communities exist within Protestantism and Catholicism, it is its "character as movement that produces Pentecostalism's visible fruits."

From a sociological perspective, Campos asserts that Latin American Pentecostalism offers symbolic mediation for what he calls the "the affirmation of popular hope," because it is both a spiritual movement which transforms the individual and a movement of symbolic protest in a society which denies the dispossessed the chance to achieve or to participate in social organization. It is also a popular movement that has emerged as traditional societies have undergone rapid transition, thus becoming a medium for profound social change. Yet, according to Campos, although different expressions of Pentecostalism are embodied in different historical expressions of Christianity, in its essence, Pentecostalism is universally a spiritual experience of the resurrected Christ of Pentecost.

In the third essay, Juan Sepúlveda offers an analytical reflection on the unique theological characteristics of Chilean Pentecostalism, illustrating the diversity that exists in the Pentecostal movement.

Chilean Pentecostalism shares the basic characteristics of the Pentecostal identity: an emphasis on evangelization oriented to conversion, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the church as a charismatic and healing community, the belief in a spiritual world, and the anticipation of the Second Coming of Christ. Still, having derived directly from Methodism without the mediation of the Holiness Movements, as in the case of North American Pentecostalism, Chilean Pentecostalism emphasizes the primacy of experience over doctrine. The intense experience of the personal encounter with God is expressed in free and open emotional language that satisfies the quest for spirituality and enriches religious expression and popular culture. Sepúlveda argues that the contribution of Pentecostal theology lies not in its systematic treatment or elaboration, but in the believers' testimonies as narrations of their personal and communal experience of the Spirit. This fundamental emphasis affirms the absolute liberty of the Holy Spirit to express herself as she will without shackling her with doctrinal restrictions. Pentecostals also affirm that their hope in the Second Coming of Christ implies that Christians currently find themselves in an active waiting period, in which believers collaborate in the church and participate in social life.

Comparison between historic Protestantisms and Pentecostalisms

The second section includes two comparative studies. In the first, Leonildo Silveira Campos presents a careful and measured analysis of the Pentecostal movement in Brazil. His essay includes a description of the historical and social conditions in which the Pentecostal movement emerged and developed. Silveira analyzes Pentecostalism's intense dynamism, its contradictions, its multiple manifestations, its capacity to respond to the psychological and social needs of individuals, and its symbolic power enriched by expressions of popular religiosity. His analysis helps us to understand the increasingly significant role these movements play in Brazilian religious life.

Silveira Campos describes with special clarity and discernment the theological, ecclesiological, and pastoral challenges that Pentecostalism represents for the historic Protestant churches. He frankly discusses the dangers and demands that Pentecostalism presently faces, and examines possible future scenarios in the Brazilian religious scene, calling for dialogue and relations between the historic Protestant and Pentecostal churches.

The second comparative study examines the causes of the extraordinary growth of the Christian churches in Cuba in the last five years, doubtless one of the most important features of the Cuban religious scene. The causes for this are many, according to the authors (Rafael Cepeda, Elizabeth Carrillo, Rhode González, and Carlos Ham), including the recent recognition by the state of the need for new spaces for religious practice and expressions, and of the profound ideological and economic crisis facing socialist models in general and Cuban society in particular.

In a context of uncertainty and instability, pastors and lay people have joined forces to form new churches in all social groups and in all regions of the country. Many churches have even been established in private homes. Pentecostals evangelize with special intensity, emphasizing individual spirituality and celebrating a liturgy that incorporates elements of popular culture. These liturgies encourage people to freely and spontaneously share their emotions and personal experiences as part of worship. This approach contrasts markedly with the bureaucratic or hierarchical restrictions imposed by state institutions and traditional churches.

The historic Protestant churches have continued to evangelize and provide social services to Cuban society. This ongoing testimony has permitted historic Protestants to avoid political confrontations, overcome economic limitations, and preserve denominational coherence, while maintaining fraternal relations with churches and ecclesiastical institutions around the world. The authors discuss Pentecostal influence on the historic Cuban churches, especially in liturgy and pastoral ministry, and they forecast good possibilities of learning from each other through interdenominational dialogue.

Case studies

The focus of the third section is on the analysis of specific situations where Pentecostal participation and influence has been particularly relevant.

In the first study, Francisco Limón and Abel Clemente present a history of the participation of Protestant and Pentecostal churches in Mexican social and political life. Mexico's social, political and economic crisis presents evangelicals with an opportunity for renewal, church growth, social and economic mobility, and an increased role in political and economic decision-making.

The constitutional reforms of 1992 offered a chance to put freedom of religion and speech on the agenda again. Demanding respect for these freedoms and blocking the possibility of abuses by the Catholic Church and other powerful institutions are the motivations behind recently increased political participation by Mexican evangelicals. Pentecostals have participated actively at all levels, including providing leadership for some associations of evangelical churches. Indeed, Pentecostals have become important interlocutors with the Mexican state.

The case of Chiapas illustrates the deep changes being experienced in a country marked by complex cultural diversity, where rigid social stratification has marginalized whole populations. The marginalized, lacking life's most basic necessities, have looked to armed rebellion as their only defense. Add to this picture a national political system in the midst of violent internal crisis and the unyielding pressures exercised by global neo-capitalism. Evangelicals and Pentecostals, indigenous and mestizos, have joined together to improve their social and economic situation, and to provide legal defense for people evicted from their ancestral lands because of their faith. The authors believe that these efforts, together with the efforts of Catholics who work in solidarity with the marginalized population, will play a determining role in the struggle for justice and democracy in the next few years.

The second case studied is situated in Brazil. Cecilia Loreto Mariz questions the sharp criticisms lodged by many observers against the growth and influence of the Pentecostal movement among the Brazilian poor. Mariz avers that some elements of Pentecostalism have had positive effects in the lives of poor communities.

Though Mariz recognizes a great diversity among Pentecostal denominations, and admits that some of the criticisms are valid, she thinks that even neo-Pentecostals and autonomous Pentecostal groups often provide the poor with experiences and values that help them confront their daily problems and survive in a hostile neo-capitalist environment.

In previous research, Mariz noted that poor people find in Pentecostal churches an increased sense of dignity, a sense of belonging, the "experience of power," and space for the creation of a new identity. The encounter with the sacred and the valuation of spiritual gifts over material riches revives their sense of security and personal value. This is reinforced by a network of mutual support among the community of believers. Faith based on trust in Divine Providence promotes a feeling in the faithful that, beyond all the suffering and the problems, a superior wisdom will prevail. She concludes that the basic elements of Pentecostalism allow us to understand why Pentecostal churches are not only attractive to the poor, but also help them to face and overcome their poverty.

The third case studies the place of women in the religious discourse and practice of Pentecostal communities. Ana Ligia Sánchez and Osmundo Ponce present the results of their study of women in Pentecostal churches in several Latin American countries. Special attention is given to how women participate in liturgy and social work.

Sánchez and Ponce conclude that Pentecostal communities tend to reproduce society's existing patriarchal stereotypes and values. This discourse claims that God has assigned different, absolute and unchanging roles and responsibilities to men and women. Despite the prevalence of patriarchal discourse, the authors note that many churches have begun to confront machismo and affirm the value of women. They also note that some Pentecostal churches now affirm women's leadership roles, including the pastoral ministry.

Challenge to the historic churches

The fourth and last section of this book focuses on the challenges and possibilities that the Latin American Pentecostal movement offers to the historic churches (Catholic and Protestant) and to ecumenism worldwide.

Edgar Moros looks at Pentecostalism's challenge to the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America. The success of Pentecostal evangelistic efforts and the resultant astonishing growth of Pentecostal churches all over Latin America has deeply challenged the cultural and ideological hegemony (real and supposed) exercised by the Catholic Church. Pentecostalism has deep roots in popular culture, thus calling into question the notion that Catholicism is an intrinsic and therefore indispensable element of the socio-cultural identity of the Latin American peoples.

Moros analyzes Catholic attitudes and responses (official and non-official) to the challenge. Some sectors, both conservative and progressive, have responded critically and defensively by characterizing Pentecostals as a dangerous foreign threat. Others, including some progressive theologians, clergy, and lay people who have contact with the grassroots, see the Pentecostal challenge as beneficial in that it has forced historic churches to evaluate their ministries and discover new ways to combine effectively faith, doctrine, and service. This group seeks dialogue with Pentecostals as a mechanism for increased understanding among Christian churches.

The author concludes that Catholics must now choose between two alternatives: superficial change as a mechanism for preserving or recovering social, political, and religious hegemony; or profound change in faithfulness to the Gospel, which could assure the loss of hegemony, but would offer the opportunity to work with other Christians in building a freer and more just Latin American cultural, secular, and religious reality.

By sharing her personal experience, Ofelia Ortega describes how Pentecostals have gradually approached the historic Protestant churches through the world ecumenical movement. She reflects on Pentecostalism's valuable theological, pastoral, and liturgical contributions to all Christian churches. She sees as promising and gratifying the openness and participation of Pentecostals in dialogue with other Christian churches on a broad range of issues--from theological and liturgical matters to the question of women's participation in church and society. This dialogue must finally be based on the "ecumenism of the Spirit," the spiritual unity that undergirds all God's creation, nurtured by the Holy Spirit, whose guidance gives meaning and coherence to the evangelizing and prophetic work of the Church.

Pastor Eber F. Silveira Lima recounts the changing relationship between the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPI) and the Pentecostal movement during the last century. In contrast with the significant tensions of the past, characterized by uncompromising confrontations and schisms in both communities, the last few years have seen notable changes, bringing a new era of openness and constructive dialogue between Reformed and Pentecostal believers.

In 1995 IPI's General Assembly demonstrated this new willingness through their decision to be genuinely open to groups that have opted for Pentecostal practices and doctrinal emphases. While conserving basic Reformed principles, the IPI has begun to dialogue with charismatic groups at the institutional and congregational level. This dialogue is based on prayer, joint theological and biblical study, and shared experiences that avoid sectarian discourse, and seek unity in the Gospel.

Lima offers advice on how to continue constructive dialogue between the diverse groups, recognizing the need to balance renewed doctrinal study with confessional unity. He suggests that the "traditional" Reformed groups be more open in attitude and practice to new ideas and more generous to people seeking a sincere spiritual transformation. For the charismatic groups, he counsels an appreciation for the fundamental values of the denomination and a sense of caution and discernment with regard to the sectarian discourse and practices of some charismatic leaders.

In the following article, Paul Freston presents a systematic and up-to-date analysis of Pentecostalism's relations with historic Protestant churches in Brazil. In describing the essential events that have transformed the religious scene in Brazil, and by situating them in a broad historical context, the author offers a constructive and balanced vision of the Pentecostal movement. Pentecostalism, according to Freston, is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that has fundamental repercussions in the social and cultural life of Latin American peoples.

In the final article, Dennis Smith invites all Christians to respond creatively to the devastating social and economic problems confronting Latin America. These problems are presented through a series of anecdotes and testimonies coming from the margins of Latin American society. All the cases Smith cites represent challenges to the Christian churches. The pastoral ministry in all its dimensions requires the recognition and the sensitivity to help people who feel isolated, without a purpose for living, but who still seek peace in the midst of violence; meaning in the midst of overwhelming personal emptiness; honest relationships; the joy of celebration; and life in a community of believers.

Smith urges Christian churches to assume their prophetic role with dignity and humility so that they can affirm their theological principles, put aside sectarianism, and live in the gospel. He makes an urgent call to articulate strategies to enable pastors to preach creatively and prophetically, to value the participation of women in all dimensions of church and social life, and to foster the joyful expression of faith in a contextualized liturgy resulting from a fruitful dialogue between the Pentecostal and historic churches.

We hope that this book will spur the reader's interest to study these issues further, according to his or her particular concerns and religious context.

This book represents only a fraction of the wide range of studies and points of view that have attempted to explain the nature and implications of the "Pentecostal phenomenon." For readers interested in pursuing these issues further, we should particularly note the contributions of Latin American Pentecostal researchers such as Manuel Canales, Samuel Palma, and Hugo Villela, and the evangelical researcher, Manuel Ossa.

Allow me to conclude with a personal note. Studying Pentecostalism has a special meaning for me. Although I made my profession of faith and was baptized in Saint Paul's Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas, when I was 12 years old, and have been a Presbyterian pastor since 1956, I have known Pentecostal churches all my life. My grandfather was one of the first Presbyterians in the North of Mexico, and when he came to the United States he continued to belong to the Presbyterian church. My father became a member of a Pentecostal church when he was very young, eventually became a lay pastor, and served in this capacity for many years until his death.

Since the majority of my family is affiliated with different Pentecostal denominations, I have followed closely the growth of the Pentecostal church in the United States, as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean. Furthermore, since 1973, during my work as liaison between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and partner churches in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the last few years as Area Coordinator for South America, the denomination I represent has had fraternal relationships with some Pentecostal churches in the region.

Having been born into a Pentecostal home, and having followed closely the work of these churches, has helped me to understand the Pentecostal world in a special way. And yet, the changes inside the movement have been so great, and the practices, doctrines, and styles of Pentecostalism are so different, that the contribution of the 17 researchers in this book has been indispensable for my understanding of so complex an issue.

ENDNOTES:



1Michael Kinnamon, ed., Signs of the Spirit: Official Report, WCC Seventh Assembly (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1991). P. 107.



2 Manuel Ossa, Lo ajeno e lo proprio: Identidad pentecostal y trabajo (Santiago: Ediciones Rehue, l99l), p. 170.



3 Rogério Valle and Ingrid Sarti, "0 risco das comparações apressadas," Alberto Antoniazzi, et al., Nem anjos nem demônios: intrerpretaões sociológicas do pentecostalismo (Petrópolis: Editora Vozes, 1994), p. 7.



4 Franz Damen, "Las sectas: avalancha o desafio?" Cuarto Intermedio, No. 3, Cochabamba, May 1987, pp. 44-65.



5 Edward L. Cleary, Crisis and Change: The Church in Latin America Today (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1985), p. 128.



6 Penny Lernoux, People of God: The Struggle for World Catholicism (New York: Viking, 1989), p.154.



7 Gilfeather 0' Brien, El rol del ecumenismo protestante como posible solución al impasse en las relaciones entre la Iglesia Católica y Ia Comunidad Pentecostal (Santiago: Centro Bellarmino-CISOC, 1992), p. 1.



8 Juan Sepúlveda, "El crecimiento del movimiento pentecostal en América Latina," Carmelo lvarez, ed., Pentecostalismo y liberación: Una experiencia latinoamericana (San José: Editorial DEI, l992), p.77.



9 Quentin J. Schultze, "Orality and Power in Latin American Pentecostalism," Daniel R. Miller,ed., Coming of Age: Protestantism in Contemporary Latin America (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1994), p. 66.



10 Waldo L. Villalpando, Christian LaLive d'Epinay, and D.C. Epps, Las iglesias del trasplante: Protestantismo de inmigración en la Argentina (Buenos Aires: Centro de Estudios Cristianos, 1970), p. 175.



11 J.M. Drysdale, "A Hundred years in Buenos Aires, 1829-1929," cited by W.L. Villalpando et al., op. cit., p. 19.



12 Edward L. Cleary and Hannah Stewart-Gambino, eds. Conflict and Competition: The Latin American Church in a Changing Environment (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publisher, 1992), p. 197.