Pentecostals and charismatics reshaping Christianity globally

Posted: 11/03/06

Pentecostals and charismatics
reshaping Christianity globally

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

LOS ANGELES (ABP)—Groundbreaking international research on Pentecostal and charismatic Christians shows growth in their numbers—and socio-political influence—around the globe.

The 10-nation study, sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, also found one of the hallmarks of Pentecostalism—speaking in tongues—less prevalent than some might suppose.

Several Christian demographics experts have estimated 25 percent of the world’s 2 billion Christians are renewalist—a general term used to describe Pentecostals and charismatics—in theological and ecclesiological outlook. The Pew survey looked specifically at renewalist groups in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, India, the Philippines and South Korea.

In every nation surveyed except India, at least 10 percent of the total population is renewalist. Five percent in the selected areas of India surveyed is renewalist. In Brazil, Guatemala and Kenya, close to 50 percent of the population is renewalist.

In Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Kenya and the Philippines, more than two-thirds of Protestants either are Pentecostal or charismatic.

Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum, said he initially questioned some of the survey results, but came to realize the numbers were valid. Now, he said, he doesn’t think it’s too far-fetched to imagine Christianity may be on its way to “being Pentecosta-lized.”

“I do think that it’s not an overstatement to suggest that renewalist movements are reshaping Christianity throughout the world,” he said.

“These folks are very supernaturally oriented, but that does not lead them to otherworldliness. That in no way diminished their commitment for social justice for the poor. They keep throwing curves at us (researchers)—things that are unpredictable.”

Pentecostals are defined in the report as people who belong to historic Pentecostal denominations, like the Assemblies of God or the Church of God in Christ.

More loosely grouped, charismatic Christians are defined in the study as having had an “in-filling” of the Holy Spirit but who are not members of classic Pentecostal denominations. Instead, they stay within non-renewalist denominations or go to nondenominational churches.

Growing numbers of Roman Catholics and Protestants in non-Pentecostal denominations define their faith in renewalist terms, the survey noted.

While the Pentecostal and charismatic traditions historically shunned political involvement, that may be changing. For example, 52 percent of American Pentecostals surveyed said the government should take special steps to make the United States a “Christian” country. Only 25 percent of all Christians agreed with that sentiment.

In nine of the 10 countries, at least half of Pentecostals and charismatics surveyed said religious groups should express their views on social and political questions. In the United States, 79 percent of renewalists agreed with that statement, while only 61 percent of the public as a whole agreed.

On the other hand, in seven of the 10 countries surveyed, “majorities or pluralities of Pentecostals say there should be a separation between church and state.” In three countries, including the United States, Pentecostals who favor separation of church and state are outnumbered slightly by Pentecos-tals who say the government should take steps to make their government more Christian.

According to Lugo, the findings also show renewalists tend not to compartmentalize their faith. Pentecostals and charismatics see God playing a direct role in politics and expect him to act in all aspects of life.

“These folks are as engaged as they come,” Lugo said. “These folks not only talk the talk, they walk the walk, if these results are to be believed. There are more recent converts among Pentecos-tal churches than among other churches.”

That attitude may contribute to renewalists’ strong focus on evangelism, as noted by the study.

In eight of the 10 countries surveyed, majorities of Pentecostals tell others about their faith at least weekly. Charismatics tend to be somewhat less likely than Pentecostals to share their faith on a weekly basis.

The report noted in seven of the 10 countries surveyed at least 50 percent of Pentecostals said their church services included people speaking in tongues, prophesying or praying for miraculous healing. In charismatic groups, those services were less common, but still fairly prevalent, the report said.

And in all of the countries surveyed, large majorities of Pentecostals—from 56 percent in South Korea to 87 percent in Kenya—said they have experienced or witnessed a miraculous healing. In all of the countries but India and South Korea, majorities of Pentecostals said they had received a direct revelation from God.

Speaking in tongues, however, “was not as common as many (renewalist) theologians would expect or hope them to be,” said John Green, a Pew Forum researcher. “Even among classical Pentecostals, the level of speaking in tongues is considerably less than you might expect.”

In fact, in six of the 10 countries surveyed, at least 40 percent of Pentecostals said they never speak or pray in tongues.

Lugo said because of those statistics, attempts to define Pentecostal and charismatic Christians solely in terms of tongues can be misleading.

“If that’s the case, then half the Pentecostals around the world are not Pentecostal, because they say they never speak in tongues,” he said. The poll was funded in part by the John Templeton Founda-tion.