Review of Katherine Attanasi and Amos Yong, Pentecostalism and Prosperity: The Socio-Economics of the Global Charismatic Movement (original) (raw)
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This article traces the global impact of Pentecostalism with reference to its definition, varieties, and statistics. It also discusses the subject of development from a theological perspective, considering how development applies to Pentecostalism. The first part considers the ambivalence involved in Pentecostal sociopolitical engagement, and then in the second part, discusses how Pentecostalism and development relate to each other. It gives examples throughout the article of how Pentecostals are involved in development projects and sociopolitical activities worldwide. Pentecostalism’s(Global(Impact( It now a well-known fact that Pentecostalism has spread across the world to such an extent that it is found in almost every country and has affected every denomination worldwide. This has happened in a remarkably short space of time, beginning in the early twentieth century but with most of it occurring in the past fifty years. There are many different movements accepted by scholars as ...
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In this multiple book review I discuss four recent publications on the subject of Pentecostal Christianity, all of which address the public significance of contemporary Pentecostalism in different global contexts. I place a particular focus on the ways that these texts address the question of the capacity of Pentecostal discourses and practices to transform social and economic realities.
PENTECOSTAL PROFITS: THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH
This study explores the link between the development of the so-called prosperity gospel and the explosive growth of Pentecostalism in the Global South. It examines the evolution of the prosperity gospel as a strand of Pentecostalism in its country of origin, the United States. It then investigates the dramatic acceptance of the theology in selected pockets of the Pacific Rim, Latin America and Africa. Specific exemplars of the theology ─ famous pastors or burgeoning new denominations ─ are scrutinized and their methodologies for missionizing are probed. The study also touches on the theology's impact on the rest of Christianity and on some other religions in the Global South. The reasons for the success of the theology in the Global South are considered. They point to the surprising conclusion that the prosperity gospel is not new, but old, and that it resonates with religious impulses that precede all of the world religions. iv
The Prosperity Gospel, the decolonisation of Theology, and the abduction of missionary imagination
Missionalia, 2017
This research focussed on one of the most important social movements and contex-tual challenges in the African context – the explosive growth of the 'prosperity gospel' in Africa. It investigated this phenomenon from a missiological and African perspective , but in close relation to the discourses on decoloniality and decolonialisation, and asked if the prosperity gospel is a new form of colonialization. The research attended to the historical roots and theology of the prosperity gospel. It identified the core issue as one of contextualisation and investigated the prosperity gospel from a 'glocal' perspective. This brought the relationship between the prosperity gospel and globalisation (global) as well as local economic realities into the equation. Conclusions were made regarding the complex question whether the prosperity gospel can be regarded as a form of colonialization. The research found that the underlying epistemology is more oriented towards buttressing the worldview of global capitalism than deconstructing the political, social, and cultural domination established by Europeans and their Euro-North American descendants. It also concluded that the prosperity gospel is a spiritualisation of materiality and celebration of classic symbols of surplus/excess and consumerism. However, when attention was paid to local narratives and theologies, it became apparent that some prosperity churches have a strong focus on local communities and marginalised people and that leaders assisted in liberating empowering of members. The research concluded that this phenomenon might just lead to a particular form of African Pentecostalism that will, by itself, deconstruct coloniality and add exciting dimensions to the debate.
MA Research Essay, 2017
The role of African Neo-Pentecostalism in effecting modernity through its widespread “prosperity gospel” remains inconclusive. Scholars have persistently invoked Weber’s Protestant Ethic; yet findings reveal the prosperity gospel in Africa challenges dominant conceptualizations of modernity. On one hand, the phenomenon inspires entrepreneurship and individual autonomy. On the other hand, so-called “enchanted” forms of prosperity refute Weber’s central claim of modern societies. Does the prosperity gospel demonstrate distinctively modern and anti-modern (or anti-western) themes? Drawing insights from the Akan cultural concepts of well-being, dualistic view of life, and the role of religious functionaries, this essay develops a sustained critique of the classical Eurocentric and unilinear view of modernity used in assessing the prosperity gospel. Showing that modernity is mediated by historical and cultural backgrounds of the society it encounters; the essay argues for the potency of the “multiple modernities” paradigm as a better analytical framework for the prosperity gospel in Africa.
SAIS Review, 2010
In Latin America's religious economy, the most remarkable trend over the past several decades has been the rise in popularity of two Christian denominations-Pentecostalism and, more recently, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Both groups offer their adherents pneumacentric worship, which involves direct communion with the Holy Spirit and intervention to heal suffering. Their success points to the decline of the traditional Catholic Church from its hegemony in the Latin American religious marketplace, and in increasing demand among the region's religious consumers for a conservative brand of Christian worship. L atin America in recent decades has experienced a trend towards open markets in the economic realm and greater pluralism in the political and cultural realms. These fundamental social changes have a corollary in religion. The development of commercial market economies and rise of cultural and political pluralism have taken place concurrently with the transformation of the Latin American religious landscape. As with economic liberalization and political plurality, the rise of a free economy of faith has increased the choices available to Latin American religious consumers, who had historically been monopolized by the traditional Catholic Church. In this context, Latin Americans are increasingly choosing the religious products offered by Charismatic Christianity-a fundamentally conservative brand of the Christian religion.