REINVENTING PENTECOSTAL PROPHETIC MINISTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES (original) (raw)
Related papers
Joseph L. Suico - Pentecostalism and Social Change (pp. 195-213)
Asian and Journal of Pentecostal Studies and APTS Press, 2005
Religion is an important part of any culture, and in Philippine culture, religion encompasses the whole society. Thus, the Pentecostal phenomenon in the Philippines cannot properly be understood without considering its socio-religious context. It must be noted that the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines made a strong impact on not only the religious, but also the social, economic and political aspects of native Filipino culture. Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier (1991:19) wrote, “The Spanish missionaries who first came to Christianize the Filipinos also assumed other roles outside of their church roles. They played active parts as linguists, ethnologists, educators, estate administrators and public officials.” Thus, the interrelationships between culture and religion in the Philippine society have had great impact in almost every facet of community life.
2015
A specter is haunting the Philippines—the specter of Pentecostalism. While David Barrett’s World Christian Encyclopedia published in 1982 listed only a few “Catholic Pentecostals (or, Catholic Charismatics),”1 its second edition published in 2001 lists Pentecostal/charismatics (hereafter PC) as a “trans-megablock” with an estimated adherence of 20,050,000, equivalent to 26.4 percent of the total Philippine population.2 According to a nationwide survey conducted by the PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life in 2006, the PC movement in the Philippines is even said to comprise up to 44 percent of the Philippine population.3 Data from field research conducted between 2009 and 2014 by Giovanni Maltese in Negros, Cebu, Manila and Mindanao,4 however, seems to present a different reality. On the ground, leaders and members of the churches both typically and explicitly subsumed under the nomenclature PC in the mentioned surveys reject this name—they refuse to form a “trans-mega bloc.” Whereas...
Abstract by the editors: We should note that at least two more pieces (Maltese/Eßel and Chan) depart from the norm by providing creative and penetrating theological analyses that on the one hand illuminate some of the historiographic issues pertinent to the contemporary state of Pentecostal studies and on the other hand challenge Pentecostal scholars to consider how their work might be pertinent to the future of Pentecostalisms in Asian and beyond looking forward. Abstract by the authors: A specter is haunting the Philippines—the specter of Pentecostalism. While David Barrett’s World Christian Encyclopedia published in 1982 listed only a few “Catholic Pentecostals (or, Catholic Charismatics),” its second edition published in 2001 lists Pentecostal/charismatics (hereafter PC) as a “trans-megablock” with an estimated adherence of 20,050,000, equivalent to 26.4 percent of the total Philippine population. According to a nationwide survey conducted by the PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life in 2006, the PC movement in the Philippines is even said to comprise up to 44 percent of the Philippine population. Data from field research conducted between 2009 and 2014 by Giovanni Maltese in Negros, Cebu, Manila and Mindanao,4 however, seems to present a different reality. On the ground, leaders and members of the churches […] reject this name—they refuse to form a “trans-mega bloc.” Whereas most Catholic groups would identify as “charismatic”, Protestant and evangelical churches again distance themselves from the term that to them is reserved for the aforementioned Catholic groups. The name Pentecostal, in turn, is vehemently repudiated by nearly all respondents, regardless of their spirituality, beliefs, affiliation, or organizational background. Even pastors and members of denominations such as the Church of the Foursquare Gospel or the Assemblies of God, usually referred to as classical Pentecostals by researchers, refused to be called by this name. […] Given that studies on the PC movement in the Philippines usually describe the movement as one that empowers its participants (in some way or the other), at first glance it appears bizarre that hardly anybody wants to be part of it, begging the question how to understand this gap between scholarly representation and self-description. We propose to read this gap as a political gesture.
Pentecostal Spirituality and Traditional Religious Practices in the Philippines
Asia Journal of Theology, 2023
This article explores the connection between Filipino traditional religious practices and the Pentecostal-Charismatic (PC) in all of its varieties, especially as it relates to gaining, properly using, and maintaining supernatural power. Tracing religious practices down through history, the article demonstrates that, at least to some degree, the modern PC movement is deeply rooted in Philippine soil. As far as possible, I have used for this essay sources that have been written either by the Filipinos themselves or by expatriate missionaries with long experience in the Philippines and demonstrated competence in the issues discussed as well as the results of field research by scholars both in and out of the PC movement.
Elijah Jong Fil Kim - Filipino Pentecostalism in a Global Context (pp. 235-254)
Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies and APTS Press, 2005
The Pentecostal/Charismatic (P/C) movements have drawn worldwide attention in the twentieth century as global phenomena. Few other religious movements can be compared to the way the P/C movements have impacted the global village, with their vast differences and similarities, from continent to continent and nation to nation. Because the Philippines is located in Southeast Asia on the Pacific Rim, there are both Asiatic similarities and differences in Pentecostal and Charismatic phenomena. There are 313 million adherents of the Christian religion, of which there are 199 million professing Christians and 135 million Pentecostal/Charismatics, out of a total population of 3,697 million, 1 indicating that classic Pentecostals in Asia are the smallest group out of the three P/C groupings. It is inevitable that there are Asiatic geographical, historical and cultural connections and commonalities between Filipino P/C movements and those of neighboring countries. As far as similarities are concerned in terms of the socio-religious and historical context, the Philippines shares many more similarities with Latin America than with other Asian countries, although the writer admits that there are great differences between the two regions when subjected to microscopic investigation.
Pentecostalism and Pulitika : A Case Study in Tanauan, Batangas Province, Philippines
ASIAN STUDIES: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, 2015
This is a study about Pentecostals in a lowland village of Tanauan City, Batangas province, Philippines. It examines how Pentecostalism—from narratives of conversion and the structure of the church’s organization to worship songs—addresses what devotees’ call pulitika (political factionalism, corruption, and traditional politics that only serves the elite). It was found that Pentecostalism allows devotees to participate in a nonelitist, participatory, and nonhierarchical organization; to cope with the hardships of life; and present unity as an alternative political vision for Philippine society. This paper begins with a brief outlook on the rise of Pentecostalism in the Philippines. The second part deals with scholarly works and studies in the field of religion and politics both in and out of the Philippines, identifies research gaps therein, and sets out the framework of analysis used in the study. The third part explores—through interviews with devotees, analysis of church songs, and observations from the field—how the practices and rituals of Pentecostal worship are responses to the perceived difficulties— from poverty and disunity of Philippine society—that arise from pulitika.
CONSTRUCTING A Filipino Pentecostal Liberation Theology/ies
Glopent Conference 2018 The Future of Pentecostalism Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 2018
Religion plays a highly significant role in shaping Filipinos’ lives and worldviews. It is clear that the need for a socially relevant Filipino theology/ies becomes more urgent as we Filipinos search for a truly Filipino faith-based understanding of Philippine political, psychological, and cultural/religious problems. Apparently, Filipino liberation theologians, however, have been preoccupied with social and political changes, while Pentecostal/Charismatic movements have been focused on ethnographic concerns (personal healing, personal debt, and deliverance from evil spirit), numerical growth, and church planting in Southeast Asian region. This sharp distinction will evaluate and critique in the light of relevant articles from Filipino theologians (Joseph Suico, David Lim, Karl Gaspar, Daniel Franklin Pilario), Wonsuk Ma, and the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) writings. In doing so, the researcher, eventually, will attempt to construct a Filipino Pentecostal Liberation theology/ies beyond Filipino liberation and Pentecostal theologies.
Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies and APTS Press, 2013
As a way of introduction to the case of selected Assemblies of God business people in the Philippines, let me start by sharing the story of Florentino “Jun” Somera, a faithful Pentecostal believer, who is currently serving as an elder of an Assemblies of God church and is the current Director of Agriculture in the municipality of Mallig, Isabela, Philippines. During his childhood, Somera dreamed of being a successful engineer. But Jun’s family was poor and when his father died while he was still young; accomplishing his dream became much more difficult. He was eighth of ten children and his widowed mother had no resources to support her children in school. Accepting these hardships as his driving force to reach his goal in life, he utilized his talents and skills to get out of poverty. In doing so, he acquired the virtues of learning, hard work and discipline.