IS LATIN AMERICA TURNING PROTESTANT?

By Timothy J. Halls

1032 Stimel Dr.; Concord, CA 94523 Fuller Theological Seminary ST884 Critical Approaches to Latin American and Latino Theology Prof. Juan Francisco Martnez Spring 2009

IS LATIN AMERICA TURNING PROTESTANT?

Background Statistical church growth studies in the 1960s began to show that church growth outside of Catholicism was beginning to make a significant impact on the spiritual and ecclesiastical make up of Latin America (Read and Ineson 1973; Read, Monterroso, and Johnson 1969; Lalive d'Epinay 1970 (1969)). The influence of growing Protestantism was so decisive that by 1990, David Stoll was able to ask the question credibly Is Latin America Turning Protestant? and use it as the title of a book (1990). David Martins Tongues of Fire (1990), was released the same year and was subtitled: the explosion of Protestantism in Latin America. David Martin claimed that next to conservative Islam, there was only one other truly global movement in the international religious scene conservative (sic) Protestantism and that The growth of Evangelical Protestantism in Latin America, a continent still widely regarded as solidly Roman Catholic, is the most dramatic case (1990:vii). The nearly simultaneous publication by Stoll and by Martin of books highlighting the unprecedented growth of Evangelical Protestant churches brought about an awareness of religious change in Latin America. Since then, attention to evanglicos has led to much activity in the academic and publishing world. Documentation of their continued growth is often interested in the political or sociological impact of this movement on Latin America itself (Cook 1994; Deiros and Mraida 1994; Berg and Pretiz 1996; Nez C 1996; Cleary and Stewart-Gambino 1997; Garrard-Burnett 1998, 2000, 2007; Freston 2008). Further attention might also be given to the impact of Latin American evanglicos on the outlook and theology of Christians outside Latin America, and to their active missionary efforts to spread Christianity to all peoples and cultures of the world.

2 Is Protestantism turning Latin American? In this paper, I will problematize the question itself. When the question is framed in such a way as to try to fit the Latin American experience within a meaning of Protestant, the religious changes taking place in Latin America today are being squeezed into the framework of the European or American experience in a different time. The label Protestant, in a Latin American context, brings up unhelpful connotations from a European and American past that render the label of limited practical value as an analytical category. By attempting to locate Latin Americas present in

Europes past, the use of Protestant to characterize a branch of Latin American Christianity can be a tool to assert (or reassert, when used by Catholics) ecclesiastical and political influence and privilege. During three centuries of Roman Catholic hegemony (and neglect), Latin Americans were barred from the possibility of exercising religious choice except for such choices as involved underground African or Native American religion, European syncretism or witchcraft. Today, assertions of Protestant majority, even when referring simply to church attendance can also have hegemonic undertones, this time asserting Protestant hegemony. It might be more productive to ask: Is Protestantism turning Latin American? when Latin American membership in Assemblies of God, the Church of God Cleveland, the Foursquare Gospel and many other denominations is larger than the American membership in the same denominations in US, denominations that still assert control over their Latin American counterparts. And how to account for Latin American Presbyterians now having more missionaries deployed than the PCUSA? I assert that the end of Roman Catholic hegemony, along with emerging new approaches to the proclamation of the gospel by Latin Americans, has opened the door for uniquely Latin American versions of Christian faith and discipleship that will lead to the production of new theologies. That production is already underway and is

contributing to new forms of Christian practice in Latin America and elsewhere.

3 Was Latin America ever Catholic? Our question can be problematized in another way. The assertion that Latin America had been Catholic can be questioned. A common trope is that missionaries from the US went to Latin America and converted Catholics and took them out of the Catholic Church. In this way, their converts were alienated from their context, and joined to a foreign invader (Mguez Bonino 1995:13). In reality many who have chosen to follow Jesus outside of the Catholic church, did so without every really having been Catholics in the first place. Even though Latin Americans were traditionally counted as Catholic

sheep, there are many Roman Catholic historians, priests and other scholars who do not feel that Latin America consists of a truly Catholic society, but only a thin veneer has been applied over the surface (Emery 1970:1/6). To call Latin Americans Catholic was a way to keep the Protestants from influencing the masses, even when Latin American liberalism was the source of the first invitations to American Protestants to send missionaries (Mguez Bonino 1995:14, 26, 27). In 1991, Shirley Christian reported in the New York Times that Protestant leaders say that most of their new members are not direct converts from Catholicism, but mostly people who, while they may have been baptized as Catholics, were not practicing the faith (1991). By way of example, when the Nazarene mission entered Alta Verapaz, Guatemala1 in 1905 (Alvarado Muoz 2006:1), there had been no Catholic priests in the region for more than 30 years. The beginnings of the Nazarene mission in the region actually preceded the Salesian mission and the naming of a Roman Catholic bishop for Alta Verapaz by 34 years (Len V 1985:67). The first Catholic missionaries in the region in more than 100 years found themselves in territory that was already being worked by North American Protestant missionaries (Len V 1985:147-150, 175-176)! Both Nazarenes and Catholics faced the same challenge: to contribute to Christian discipleship in a context where people were

1 Alta and Baja Verapaces are the two departments of Guatemala that make up the region where Bartolom de las Casas was granted permission to attempt the conversion of Amerindians through peaceful means.

4 concerned about the spirit of the mountains and of corn. The Christianity each preached had to address the fundamental concerns the traditional religiosity of the people in light of the life and sacrifice of Jesus (Pacheco 1985). In a similar way, the possibility of some sort of Protestant hegemony emerging in Latin America is also problematic. Patricia Birmans study of the neo-Pentecostal Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (IURD) leaves one wondering if the IURD can be considered Protestant when it has reinterpreted Pentecostal theology by allocating a central role to exorcism that expels "former spiritual entities derived from Afro-Brazilian cults...from the bodies of the individuals involved (2007)?

Is Church Growth enough? Orlando Costas problematized the question of whether Latin America is turning Protestant when he questioned the premises behind the church growth studies (1982:48,49) that led to Stolls question. The last 40 years of historical and sociological studies of Protestant church growth in Latin America turn out to approach the question from many different premises (Padilla and Arroyo 1991; Annis 1987; Siepierski 1987; Samand 1990; Galindo 1994; Lapadjin 1994; Berg and Pretiz 1996; Serrano Elas 1991; Freston 2008). Depending on ones perspective, the trends are either a promising development, as reflected in the publication La hora de Dios para Guatemala by SEPAL (Nez C, Montgomery, and Vsquez 1983) or troubling, as reflected in David Stolls quote of one alarmed Brazilian bishop who feared that Latin America is turning Protestant faster than Central Europe did in the sixteenth century (1990:xiv). Were it not for this rivalry, one might have expected that both Catholics and Protestants would have responded positively, at least from a theological perspective, to billboards and bumper stickers in Guatemala in the late 1980s that proclaimed, Jesucristo es Seor de Guatemala. In light of the violence that so recently had shaken

5 the country to its core, that kind of publicity should have led both to prayer and fasting by both Catholics and Protestants and intense turning to God. But the campaign had an entirely different purpose. It appeared to be voiced as a triumphalistic declaration of an impending majority of evangelicals in the country. Costas sounds a similarly relevant theme when he questions the appropriateness of the first Protestant te Deum in Latin America held in honor of General Pinochet in Santiago on September 14, 1975, delivered by a distinguished Pentecostal leader. Chile was the first country in Latin America to experience explosive Protestant or Pentecostal growth, leading Father Humberto Muoz to declare, as far back as 1956, that there is reason for alarmfor if the Protestants continue to grow at the same rate, 50 years from now the whole country will be Protestant (cited in Costas 1982:49). These kinds of concerns fed Costas questioning of whether Church Growth sociology is a valid measure of the advance of the Kingdom of God in Latin America: I feel obliged almost immediately to dissociate the kind of church growth inherent in a biblical theology of mission from the kind of growth I see reflected in some circles of contemporary Protestantism (Costas 1982:51). Raising the question about whether Latin America is turning Protestant goes beyond the question of the validity of Protestantism or Catholicism as expressions of Christian faith. It is focused on declaring victory for one tradition or the other. Latin America may be post-Catholic in the sense that a monolithic Catholicism can no longer claim Latin America as its own. But Latin American Catholicism is definitely not dead. It is showing renewed spiritual vitality in much of Latin America today.

The emergence of Latin American Christianity A more productive approach, then, might be to ask theological and missiological questions to a post-Catholic Latin America. In what ways is the Latin American experience, as a vital and influential part of the Christian movement, making God and His

6 ways more readily understandable? What challenges to the mission of the church are Latin Americans particularly well placed to help address? The massive shift out of the Catholic church has created a situation in which both Catholics and non-Catholics are revisiting their understanding of the mission of God and His people (Ruiz 2007). A broader recognition of a Latin American post-Catholic theology is still hampered by a reality recognized by Jos Mguez Bonino: Y la teologa de los evanglicos latinoamericanos? El territorio es an ms inexplorado. Hay conferencias, libros, sermones, revistas donde escriben los notables de esta historia. Son una rica cantera, apenas abierta (1995:6). This kind of living theologizing as a community, focused on issues raised in the living of its life in Latin America redefines not only Latin America but Protestantism itself. Latin American Christianity is unlikely to ever end up looking like the kind of Protestantism that was forged in the experience of Europe and North America. What is produced, performed and practiced theologically, by so-called Protestants, in Latin America today would not be recognized by Luther or Calvin (and, arguably, most Latin American Christians would not describe Luther or Calvin as particularly influential over their own faith experience). Furthermore, much of the performed theology of

Protestant groups such as the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus may not even be recognizably Christian even for many Latin American Pentecostals. A post-Catholic contribution to theology from Latin America begins to emerge. Julio de Santa Ana in Protestantismo, cultura y sociedad writes that Protestants in Latin America face an imporant task: "a partir de [un] reencuentro con las fuentes de la revelacin, proyectarse hacia la accin en la historia, llevando a cabo la evangelizacin (que no significa tanto "ganar" personas para la Iglesia, sino crear una situacin humana en la que el hombre pueda responder afirmativamente al llamado de la gracia realizado por Dios en Jesucristo)...que se abre a la esperanza de la renovacin de todas las cosas, que se operar cuando stas sean

7 recapituladas en Jesucristo" (1970:13, 14). And this is precisely what is taking place. Using an example from Argentina, Matthew Marostica credits Carlos Annacondia with creating "a new set of Evangelical teachings that resonated with Argentine popular culture. His teachings were simple: God and the devil exist and are in permanent battle with each other. By accepting Christ, individuals gain access to the divine power they need to overcome Satan. As Annacondia puts it, 'the mission of the Devil is to rob, murder and destroy. Christ's mission is to save and give life. My mission is to confront Satan.' With this message, reiterated in every crusade, Carlos Annacondia gave the Evangelical community a potent new grammar that connected the problems in the lives of poor Argentines to Satan and his demons and offered the power of Christ as a solution" (1999:154). "Annacondia was not immediately accepted by all the pastors in the evangelical community [who]...thought that his confrontation with demons was not Biblical...Annacondia's insight is not limited to the specific point of whether or not spiritual liberation as he was practicing it had sufficient biblical support. The larger point is that Annacondia was limited by certain fundamental principles established by the missionary package of beliefs" (159). So, according to non-Pentecostal pastor Edgardo Surenian who chaired an Annacondia crusade, "Annacondia called into question the inerrancy of the missionary myth and introduced a more resonant ideological frame and a more compelling Evangelical identity" (159). I am compelled to conclude that attempts to label post-Catholic Latin American Christianity as Protestant is to do violence to a new future that is being lived and written in and from Latin America. Latin American Christianity is not a history that is being repeated, but a future that is being constructed and a participant in the construction of humanitys future. Attempts to characterize Latin American Christianity as Protestant or Catholic inhibit the kinds of new theological reflection that can guide the church missiologically into the challenges of todays world, and tomorrows, in much the same

8 way that attempts to characterize the apostle Paul as solely Jewish would have inhibited the kind of theological reflection that guided, and still guides, the church missiologically today.

REFERENCES CITED Alvarado Muoz, Hugo R. . 2006. Pasado, herencia y gesta autctona: una resea histrica de la iglesia del nazareno guatemalteca. In Didache: Faithful Teaching, edited by D. G. Blevins and J. M. Price.

Annis, Sheldon. 1987. God and production in a Guatemalan Town. 1st ed. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Berg, Clayton L., and Paul E. Pretiz. 1996. Spontaneous combustion : grass roots Christianity, Latin American style. Edited by Clayton L. Berg, Jr. and P. Paul. Pasadena Calif: William Carey Library.

Birman, Patricia. 2007. Conversion from Afro-Brazilian Religions to NeoPentecostalism: Opening New Horizons of the Possible. In Conversion of a Continent: Contemporary Religious Change in Latin America, edited by T. J. Steigenga and E. L. Cleary. New Brunswick: Rudgers University Press.

Christian, Shirley. 1991. Quiche Journal; Flocking to New Shepherds in Catholic Guatemala. NY Times, December 23, 1991.

Cleary, Edward L., and Hannah W. Stewart-Gambino. 1997. Power, politics, and Pentecostals in Latin America. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.

Cook, Guillermo. 1994. New face of the Church in Latin America : between tradition and change, American Society of Missiology series ; no. 18. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books.

Costas, Orlando E. 1982. Christ outside the gate : mission beyond Christendom. Edited by E. C. Orlando. Maryknoll N Y: Orbis Books. 9

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Deiros, Pablo Alberto, and Carlos Mraida. 1994. Latinoamrica en llamas: historia y creencias del movimiento ms impresionante de todos los tiempos. Miami FL: Editorial Caribe. Emery, Gennet Maxon. 1970. Protestantism in Guatemala, Sondeos No. 65. Cuernavaca, Mexico: CIDOC Centro Intercultural de Documentacin. Freston, Paul. 2008. Evangelical Christianity and democracy in Latin America. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.

Galindo, Florencio. 1994. El "fenmeno de las sectas" fundamentalistas : la conquista evanglica de Amrica Latina. 2. ed. Navarra Espaa: Editorial Verbo Divino. Garrard-Burnett, Virginia. 1998. Protestantism in Guatemala : living in the New Jerusalem. 1st ed. Austin: University of Texas Press. . 2000. On earth as it is in heaven : religion in modern Latin America, Jaguar books on Latin America no. 18. Wilmington Del: Scholarly Resources. . 2007. Stop Suffering? The Iglesia Universal del Reino de Dios in the United States. In Conversion of a Continent, edited by T. J. steigenga and E. L. Cleary. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Pres.

Lalive d'Epinay, Christian. 1970 (1969). O refgio das massas; estudio sociolgico do protestantismo chileno. Vol. v. 14, Estudos sobre o Brasil e a Amrica Latina,. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra. Lapadjin, Pedro. 1994. Huellas de una iglesia : la Iglesia Evanglica y su desarrollo en Uruguay. Edited by L. Pedro. Montevideo Uruguay: Ediciones Trilce. Len V, Luis Z. de. 1985. Carch : una misin en Guatemala entre los kekches de Alta Verapaz, Historia de las misiones salesianas 1. Guatemala: Centro de Estudios de Historia de las Misiones Salesianas. Marostica, Matthew. 1999. The Defeat of Denominational Culture in the Argentine Evangelical Movement. In Latin American Religion in Motion, edited by C. Smith and J. Prokopy. New York: Routledge.

11 Martin, David. 1990. Tongues of fire : the explosion of Protestantism in Latin America. Oxford, UK ; Cambridge, Mass.: B. Blackwell.

Mguez Bonino, Jos. 1995. Rostros del protestantismo Latinoamericano. Edited by I. S. E. d. E. Teolgicos. Buenos Aires: Nueva Creacion.

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Nez C, Emilio Antonio, Jim Montgomery, and Galo E. Vsquez. 1983. La hora de Dios para Guatemala. 1a ed. Guatemala: Editores SEPAL.

Pacheco, Luis. 1985. Religiosidad maya-kekchi alrededor del maz. San Jos, Costa Rica: Editorial Escuela para Todos.

Padilla, C. Ren, and Victor Arroyo. 1991. De la marginacin al compromiso : los evanglicos y la poltica en Amrica Latina. Edited by c. C. Ren Padilla and A. Victor. Buenos Aires Fraternidad Teolgica Latinoamericana.

Read, William R., and Frank Avery Ineson. 1973. Brazil 1980: the Protestant handbook; the dynamics of church growth in the 1950's and 60's, and the tremendous potential for the 70's. Monrovia Calif: Marc.

Read, William R., Victor M. Monterroso, and Harmon A. Johnson. 1969. Latin American church growth, Church growth series. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

12 Ruiz, David M. 2007. Missiological Issues in Latin America in the second half of the 20th Century Protestantism in Latin America. Guatemala: World Evangelical Fellowship.

Samand, Luis. 1990. Protestantismos y procesos sociales en Centroamrica. 1. ed. Vol. 4, Serie investigaciones / Programa Centroamericano de Investigaciones. San Jos, Costa Rica: Editorial Universitaria Centroamericana.

Santa Ana, Julio de. 1970. Protestantismo, cultura y sociedad : problemas y perspectivas de la fe evanglica en Amrica Latina, Nueva imagen. Buenos Aires: Editorial y Librera la Aurora.

Serrano Elas, Jorge. 1991. La participacin del cristiano en la vida pblica. Edited by E. Jorge Serrano. 2. ed. Miami Fl: Editorial Unilit.

Siepierski, Paulo D. 1987. Evangelizao no Brasil. Edited by D. S. Paulo. So Paulo SP Brasil: Editora Sepal : Aura.

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