A presente tese toma as práticas assistenciais evangélicas como objeto privilegiado para a análise das relações entre religião e esfera pública, aqui compreendida como uma arena de mediação de sentidos. Amparada pela abordagem desenhada por Habermas, formula-se a hipótese de que a assistência seria uma espécie de baliza que permite atribuir verossimilhança a determinados posicionamentos públicos, dado que faculta conexões muito singulares entre diferentes campos discursivos (como religião, direito, política e economia) e que, quanto mais complexas forem estas conexões, maior abrangência terá a argumentação e, por consequência, tanto maior será a probabilidade de ela ser levada em consideração na esfera pública. Elementos oriundos da teoria da prática formulada por Bourdieu também são utilizados para analisar estas relações. Disto resulta propor que os diferentes arranjos que permitem ampliar os sentidos atribuídos à assistência estejam intrinsecamente relacionados a disposições que, embora sejam compartilhadas, podem ser diferentemente acionadas em cada contexto de ação. Para refletir sobre em que termos estas relações são produzidas e como são agenciados diferentes códigos compartilhados, toma-se como recorte empírico a Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus e a Rede Evangélica Nacional de Ação Social, investindo-se na produção de uma etnografia de seus agentes e de suas práticas / This dissertation takes evangelical practices of assistance as a privileged object to analyze the relations between religion and the public sphere, which are understood as an arena for the mediation of meanings. Based on the approach designed by Habermas, the hypothesis is that assistance is something that would guide us in attributing verisimilitude to certain public positions, for it allows for very particular connections between different discursive fields (such as religion, law, politics, economy), and the more complex these connections are, the more encompassing argumentation will be; as a consequence, the greater is the probability that it will be taken into consideration in the public sphere. Elements from the theory of practice formulated by Bourdieu are also used to analyze these relations. The result is that the different arrangements that make it possible to broaden the meanings attributed to assistance are closely related to dispositions which, although they are shared, may be resorted to differently in each context of action. In order to think of how these relations are produced and how different codes shared are arranged, an ethnography of the agents and practices of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and the Brazilian National Evangelical Network of Social Action was carried out

A presente tese toma as práticas assistenciais evangélicas como objeto privilegiado para a análise das relações entre religião e esfera pública, aqui compreendida como uma arena de mediação de sentidos. Amparada pela abordagem desenhada por Habermas, formula-se a hipótese de que a assistência seria uma espécie de baliza que permite atribuir verossimilhança a determinados posicionamentos públicos, dado que faculta conexões muito singulares entre diferentes campos discursivos (como religião, direito, política e economia) e que, quanto mais complexas forem estas conexões, maior abrangência terá a argumentação e, por consequência, tanto maior será a probabilidade de ela ser levada em consideração na esfera pública. Elementos oriundos da teoria da prática formulada por Bourdieu também são utilizados para analisar estas relações. Disto resulta propor que os diferentes arranjos que permitem ampliar os sentidos atribuídos à assistência estejam intrinsecamente relacionados a disposições que, embora sejam compartilhadas, podem ser diferentemente acionadas em cada contexto de ação. Para refletir sobre em que termos estas relações são produzidas e como são agenciados diferentes códigos compartilhados, toma-se como recorte empírico a Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus e a Rede Evangélica Nacional de Ação Social, investindo-se na produção de uma etnografia de seus agentes e de suas práticas / This dissertation takes evangelical practices of assistance as a privileged object to analyze the relations between religion and the public sphere, which are understood as an arena for the mediation of meanings. Based on the approach designed by Habermas, the hypothesis is that assistance is something that would guide us in attributing verisimilitude to certain public positions, for it allows for very particular connections between different discursive fields (such as religion, law, politics, economy), and the more complex these connections are, the more encompassing argumentation will be; as a consequence, the greater is the probability that it will be taken into consideration in the public sphere. Elements from the theory of practice formulated by Bourdieu are also used to analyze these relations. The result is that the different arrangements that make it possible to broaden the meanings attributed to assistance are closely related to dispositions which, although they are shared, may be resorted to differently in each context of action. In order to think of how these relations are produced and how different codes shared are arranged, an ethnography of the agents and practices of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and the Brazilian National Evangelical Network of Social Action was carried out

This thesis examines the missiological writings of Orlando E. Costas (1943-1987), particularly The Church and Its Mission: A Shattering Critique from the Third World (1974); Theology of the Crossroads in Contemporary Latin America (1976); Christ Outside the Gate (1982); and Liberating News: A Theology of Contextual Evangelization (1989). From the early 1970s until his death in 1987 he wrote over 130 articles and 12 books in both Spanish and English that addressed key missiological concerns. A careful reading of a selection of Costas's texts oriented around a hymn, a gospel song, a psalm, and a poem provides the shape of this thesis. This thesis argues that Costas formulated a Third World evangelical missiology. Chapter one investigates what Costas's autobiographical material expressed about his positions on conversion, Protestant evangelicalism, missiology, and those living on the ‘periphery' of life. Chapter two recognises his commitment to the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean in particular and the Third World in general. Chapter three explores Costas's analysis of the Latin American Protestant Church in a revolutionary situation in the continent and chapter four examines his survey and critical appraisal of Latin American liberation theology. Chapter five recognizes the pastoral shape of Costas's missiology. Chapter six explores his critical interaction with two more conservative evangelical missiological positions, the Church Growth Movement and Peter Beyerhaus and the Frankfurt Declaration, and chapter seven surveys the discussion within the international evangelical community regarding the relationship between evangelism and social responsibility. Chapter eight examines Costas's Liberating News as an expression of Third World evangelical missiology. Chapter nine considers the theological issue of penal substitutionary atonement and his missiology. The thesis concludes with an appraisal of the issues and contributions of Costas's Third World evangelical missiology to current missiological discussion.