This 2000 book analyses the revival of charismatic Protestant Christianity as an example of globalization. Simon Coleman shows that, along with many social movements, these religious conservatives are negotiating their own interpretations of global and postmodern processes. They are constructing an evangelical arena of action and meaning within the liminal, chaotic space of the global. The book examines globalization not only as a social process, but also as an embodied practice involving forms of language and ritualized movement. Charismatic Christianity is presented through its material culture - art, architecture and consumer products - as well as its rhetoric and theology. The book provides an account of the incorporation of electronic media such as television, videos and the Internet into Christian worship. Issues relating to the conduct of fieldwork in contexts of globalization are raised in an account which is also a major ethnography of a Faith ministry.

This 2000 book analyses the revival of charismatic Protestant Christianity as an example of globalization. Simon Coleman shows that, along with many social movements, these religious conservatives are negotiating their own interpretations of global and postmodern processes. They are constructing an evangelical arena of action and meaning within the liminal, chaotic space of the global. The book examines globalization not only as a social process, but also as an embodied practice involving forms of language and ritualized movement. Charismatic Christianity is presented through its material culture - art, architecture and consumer products - as well as its rhetoric and theology. The book provides an account of the incorporation of electronic media such as television, videos and the Internet into Christian worship. Issues relating to the conduct of fieldwork in contexts of globalization are raised in an account which is also a major ethnography of a Faith ministry.

The rapid global expansion of Pentecostal Christianity is one of the most striking religious phenomena in our contemporary world. Today, Pentecostalism is by no means some marginal or peculiar denomination within world Christianity. It is not simply a niche product in the global religious market, but the most dynamic and fastest growing religious movement within the contemporary Christian world. From Singapore over Brazil to Ghana, Pentecostal Christians are historically and presently rooted in many cultural contexts throughout the world. As such, Pentecostalism is a religious movement that is both shaped by globalization processes, but also a major contributor to the globalization of religion. Until recently, social-scientific approaches to Christianity have often been informed by a rather selective understanding of Christianity, stressing its ascetic components premised on a body-spirit dualism and seeing its importance mainly as a harbinger of secular modernity. Hence, where Christianity was studied outside the ‘West’ it has usually been peripheral and viewed as an alien intrusion, undermining local cosmologies. However, rather than a religious rejection of the world, Pentecostalism accommodates to the world and modernity. It transcends locality by promulgating a universal ‘imaginary of the world’, while at the same time incorporating itself successfully into the socio-cultural contexts of any new cultures it encounters. The fundamental ‘fluidity’ of the transnational Pentecostal network is conducive for its flexibility to react on the enormous upheavals and changes in a globalized world and to accommodate to them in constructive ways. Thus, Pentecostalism can be regarded as a paradigmatic case of a ‘glocalized’ religion: it has the ability to adapt itself to local conditions while maintaining and preserving its distinct religious features at the same time. This study focuses on the different theoretical attempts made to explain the massive global expansion of Pentecostalism, and its relation to broader processes of globalization. It discusses to what extent and in what complex ways the Pentecostal movement is interrelated to processes of cultural globalization. By looking at the internal religious characteristics of Pentecostal discourse and discursive practices, and their articulations within the external circumstances of globalization, it tries to untangle some of the complexities that emerge when theorizing the globalization of Pentecostalism.

This is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license The history of Charismatic Christianity in the Nordic countries reaches as far back as Pentecostalism itself. The bounds of these categories remain a topic of discussion, but Nordic countries have played a vital role in developing this rapidly spreading form of world-wide Christianity. Until now, research on global Charismatic Christianity has largely overlooked the region. This book addresses and analyzes its historical and contemporary trajectories in Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Through a selection of cases written by Nordic scholars from various disciplines, it demonstrates historical and contemporary diversity as well as interconnections between local, national, and global currents. Highlighting change and continuity, the anthology reveals new aspects of Charismatic Christianity.

"This book, comprising a sweeping range of well-documented articles on Pentecostal theology, hermeneutics, missiology, and the social sciences, provides for the student of Pentecostals a window on contemporary Pentecostal scholarship that discloses vigorous engagement with critical issues. The editors have provided a resource that promises to stimulate further research and reflection." William Menzies, Chancellor, Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, Baguio City, Philippines. Excerpts from Respondents Jose Miguez Bonino on Changing Paradigms: "An updating of Pentecostal thinking on a whole spectrum of theological disciplines: systematics, missiology, biblical studies, history, and praxis . . . a wealth of information and reflection." Vinay Samuel on Global Culture: "Global Pentecostalism can bring a new impetus to the movement for Christian unity . . . it has much to contribute to the shaping of a new 21st century definition for Christian unity." Harvey Cox on A Postmodern World: "There was a time when Pentecostals warned themselves and anyone else who would listen not to become entangled with and dependent on the 'things of the world.' Pentecostals were suspicious of the passing fads of stylish clothing, the latest hairdo, and glitzy new consumer products. They were also, as it turns out rightly, suspicious that the powerful new mass media could be a seductive lure, tricking people into the empty values of the consumer market culture. Perhaps it is time for a rebirth of that ethic of simplicity, that suspicion for 'the things for the world' for which the early Pentecostals were so famous."

The charismatic movement has a high profile in contemporary Christianity. The book's contributors include insiders and outsiders, charismatics and sociologists; with Britain as their focus, they trace the movement's international connections, historical development and variety. The book provides a wealth of information and analysis which will interest both those within the movement and students of religion wanting to know more about it.

Is the growth of Pentecostalism a resistance to post-modern capitalism? Does it represent a recourse to the religiosity of pre-modernity? This title attempts to answer these questions, using sociological and anthropological methods, about the connections between the forces that drive Globalisation and the phenomenal growth of Pentecostalism.

Pentecostalism has become the fastest growing Christian movement, particularly outside Europe, and Allan Heaton Anderson is one of the foremost scholars of this phenomenon. His innovative interpretation of Pentecostalism focuses on the serious contribution made by both western and Majority World participants in its development. In this second edition of his leading introductory course book, Anderson presents an updated global history of the movement, which addresses significant events and changes in recent years, and surveys important theoretical issues such as gender and society, as well as politics and economics. The book also offers a comprehensive explanation of the significance of Charismatic Christianity throughout the world, plus its effect upon the globalisation of religion and its transformation in the present century. This new edition will be an important resource for those studying Pentecostalism, Charismatic Christianity, theology and sociology of religion.

Divine healing is an essential marker of the global phenomenon of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity. But although we know that healing is central in these movements, we know surprisingly little about how divine healing beliefs and practices reflect the interplay of local and global patterns of cultural development. The essays in this collection seek to discover what is the same and what is different about such beliefs and practices in diverse contexts, trace formal and informal lines of cultural influence across geographic and national boundaries, and ask how healing both reflects and contributes to larger processes of globalization. The collection not only fleshes out a picture of how and why spiritual healing is practiced in diverse cultural contexts and how healing practices reflect and shape the transnational spread of Christianity; it also provide insight into the nature of globalization. The authors attend to a wide range of issues, including the theological rationales for divine healing; the symbolic objects and ritual enactments employed; the cultural controversies surrounding these practices; the relationship between Christian healing and local or indigenous healing traditions; whether an emphasis on financial prosperity is always present; and the extent to which Pentecostal and Charismatic churches are networked and the role of healing in such networks. With nearly all new essays, this informative volume, edited by Candy Gunther Brown, contains a forward by Harvey Cox and contributions from an international team of sixteen professors, academics, and scholars.