Religion has become one of the central themes in the Ghanaian/Nigerian video film industry. The portrayal of religious elements which mirrors the religious dynamics of the audience has been attributed partly to the success and popularity of the films. The video films have also excited religious passions as well as criticisms. The heart of the debate, as the existing studies indicate, is how the various religious traditions (often, Christianity and Indigenous religions) are represented in the video films. Whereas some scholars opine that Christianity, especially Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches are frequently privileged, others contend that the religious delineation in the video films reflect experiential issues; the churches are portrayed in line with the niche, positive or otherwise, that they have created for themselves which is well known to producers and the consumers. This study examines the religious constructs in the Ghanaian/Nigerian video films phenomenon. The main focus is an investigation into audience reception of the video films, particularly among the members of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity in Ghana and the UK. It also explores the appropriation of the religious elements in general and Pentecostal-Charismatic narratives in selected video films. An ethnographic research method, comprising mainly of textual analysis of selected video films; participant observation and qualitative interviews, was used to draw comparative insights from a cross section of members of Action Chapel International and Word Miracle International churches in Accra and London. This thesis contributes to the on-going discourse on the Ghanaian/Nigerian video films and Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity partly popularized by Birgit Meyer and Afe Adogame. Hall’s Encoding/Decoding theoretical framework is used to explore the reception while the Uses and Gratifications theory is also adopted to examine the appropriation of the religious constructs in the Ghanaian/Nigerian video films. Notwithstanding the fluid representations of various religious traditions in Ghanaian/Nigerian video films, the findings show that the reception and uses of the religious narratives in the films by the audience comprise of a synthesis of full embrace on one hand and scepticism on the other. It was found that beyond entertainment, majority of the audience who were members of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity focus on the religious significance of the video films. Yet, most pastors and leaders in these churches were not comfortable recommending the video films as a good partner in the religious lives of their members. As this thesis focused on only Pentecostal-Charismatic audience, further research on members of other Christian denominations or religions regarding their self-representation in the video films is recommended. This will help to establish if the reception pattern of other religious groups is complex or linked directly with the portrayal trend of one’s religion.

This report analyzes the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (Universal Church of the Kingdom of God)—a Brazilian neo-Pentecostal church—by its capacity to enchant everyday life in modern, disenchanted worlds. It provides a history of the church, a cultural biography of its founder, and a description of the church’s demonology and ritual life. It argues that through ritual performance, members come to embody the church’s discourse of biblical sacrifice. This process enchants their lives and sanctifies their participation in modern, disenchanted institutions such as late capitalism and medical science. It further argues that previous scholarship has interpreted neo-Pentecostal churches from an implicitly ethical perspective that is rooted in Western modernity. This perspective, in turn, has led to unwarranted dismissiveness toward church members’ self-reports of the empowerment they experience through their religious life. / text

M.A. (Applied Linguistics & Literary Theory) / This study examined the language of religion in the black Pentecostal Charismatic Church, and particularly the predominant use of English as a medium of communication. A mixed methods design was deemed appropriate for this study. The sample comprised of church members and a senior pastor from a church in Pimville, Soweto (to be referred to as Church A). Individual interviews and focus groups were used to collect qualitative data; in addition, participant observation was used to supplement the qualitative data. Surveys were used to collect quantitative data. Information emanating from the data was analysed qualitatively using the process of content analysis, as well as quantitatively using a descriptive statistics package (SPSS). The findings suggest that the congregants are receptive to the use of English in the service and see it as an all-inclusive language. However, a majority of these indicated that an interpreting service from English to an indigenous language should be provided by the church. On the basis of these findings, strategies for accommodating the diverse language concerns of the congregation were espoused.

This study examines that which forms the 'centre' of Pentecostal Missiology and makes it particularly relevant to the South African context. In order to arrive at my conclusions I have concentrated on the history and present situation in postapartheid South Africa of the three oldest classical Pentecostal movements, the Apostolic Faith Mission, the Full Gospel Church of God and the Assemblies of God. Chapter one describes the rise of the Pentecostal movement and its arrival in South Africa shortly after the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). That Pentecostalism took root among the poor in this country is a matter of historical record. The dimensions of poverty in South Africa are probed in order to evaluate Pentecostalism' s success with that class of people. Chapter two examines the Pentecostal model of mission and its essentially holistic nature in order to understand why it so effectively helped the poor to escape the enslaving cycle of poverty. However, Pentecostalism around the world and in South Africa appears to be in crisis. Chapter three discusses the reasons for the crisis and outlines the nature and evidence of it - the 'centre' of Pentecostalism seems to be fragmenting, and with it the relevance of the Pentecostal Church to the South African situation. The book of Exodus provides a metaphor that naturally holds together dimensions of the model of mission essential to Pentecostalism. Chapter four describes the metaphor, how it applies to Pentecostal missiology and why the struggle for the 'centre' is a struggle vital to the mission of the Pentecostal Church. The thesis concludes with a reminder that Pentecostals have a history of 'success' among the poor and that perhaps it is within this stratum of society that Pentecostals should focus their efforts. With a renewed model of mission the Pentecostal Church can still be relevant to the situation of poverty in post-apartheid South Africa. However, Pentecostals need to clarify the distinctives that lie at the 'centre' of their existence and mission and be prepared to struggle for them / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)

This thesis studies how young adults in today's Swedish Pentecostal congregations describe their beliefs and their congregational life. The thesis applies a theoretic frame of Rational Choice Theory and compares the results with previous research/adjacent studies close to the field. The relevance of this thesis lies in that research on young adults in the Swedish Pentecostal movement is a comparatively unexplored area. The reason to write about young adults in the Swedish Pentecostal movement is rooted in the prospect that this thesis could be a starting point for further studies on young adults in the Swedish Pentecostal movement. The thesis was a qualitative and quantitative multi-method study. The thesis is based on interviews and a questionnaire survey in order to present how young adults in today's Swedish Pentecostal churches describe their beliefs and their congregational life. The thesis identifies some issues that can be raised and investigated in further research on thistopic. Summary of the results The young adults describe that their faith becomes stronger by being part of a Pentecostal congregation. The community of the congregation, both in the smaller and the broader context, confirms the faith which makes their belief stronger. They perceive God as a protector and caretaker, and that God listens to their prayers and cares about them. The subjective part of the faith (the personal relationship with God) they experience as necessary, but they feel that the subjective relationship with God both can be experienced in the church community and solitude. Most of the young adults say they would consider switching the congregation (leave the congregation) if they would not thrive in the congregation or if it would not meet their expectations and needs. The interviews show that the respondents indicate certain preferences that they want to get satisfied and they want to belong to a congregation that can fulfil this. Getting their preferences and needs met is the key to the congregations if they want young adults to stay. The young adults are investing and giving time and commitment to their congregations and want this to generate something back. Most of them thrive in their congregations, but there is room for improvement. Their faith is strong. They are willing to invest in God and then consequently also in their congregations. / <p>Godkännandedatum 2019-06-05</p>

Objetivou-se com o presente trabalho investigar as relações existentes entre dois espaços de \"cura\": o serviço local de saúde e a instituição religiosa, representada pelas várias Igrejas Pentecostais. A investigação, de corte qualitativo, baseou-se em depoimentos colhidos de sujeitos que frequentavam simultaneamente estes dois espaços de \"cura\". Concluiu-se que os dois espaços são usados conjuntamente e percebidos como nitidamente distintos. Através da análise dos depoimentos foi possível estabelecer uma série de categorias distintivas que permitem especificar as particularidades e diferenças entre o espaço racional científico e o espaço religioso, quando se trata de \"cura\". Concluiu-se também que os sistemas oficiais tem muito a aprender dos \"sistemas religiosos\" notadamente no que diz respeito ao caráter \"acolhedor\" destes últimos. / The objective of this work is to investigate the relationships between two \"cure\" spaces: the local health service and the religious institution represented here by several Pentecostal Churches. The qualitative section investigation was bas.ed on statements taken from people who attended the two \"cure\" spaces simultarieously. We concluded that the two spaces are used concurrently and understood as clearly distinct. Through the analysis of the statements it was possible to establish a series of different categories permitting to specify peculiarities and dissimilarities bet\\veen the -rational - scientific and the religious spaces when we refer to cure\". We have also concluded that the official systems have much to leam from \"religious systems\" especially when considering the \"welcoming\" character o f the latter ones.

Surgem, no contexto da sociedade brasileira atual, várias denominações religiosas que disputam a adesão do indivíduo, adequando sua mensagem aos diversos grupos sociais. Considera-se que o escopo da argumentação é reforçar crenças e valores presentes em um indivíduo ou em um grupo específico para agir sobre o outro, provocando uma mudança de atitude. Nesta pesquisa, o corpus de análise será composto por textos de vários gêneros extraídos de sites institucionais da Igreja Apostólica Renascer em Cristo, no período de 2011 a 2014, a fim de mostrar como, por meio da palavra profética, tanto o líder religioso quanto seus seguidores adquirem autoridade para plasmar realidades. Assim como esse discurso religioso adapta-se a diferentes gêneros, verifica-se que o ethos institucional da Igreja adapta-se a diferentes contextos. Além desse corpus específico, serão selecionados alguns textos relacionados a outras instituições religiosas neopentecostais, inserindo o estudo em um cenário mais amplo. Para tanto, a pesquisa será fundamentada nas teorias da Retórica e da Nova Retórica, com contribuições das teorias discursivas e pragmáticas. Com este trabalho, espera-se compreender melhor o processo argumentativo do discurso religioso neopentecostal e apontar caminhos para o avanço do caráter interdisciplinar dos estudos discursivos e retóricos. / In the context of the current Brazilian society, many religious denominations that compete for individuals\' adherence arise, adjusting their message to diverse social groups. It is considered that the scope of argumentation is to reinforce beliefs and values existing in an individual or in a specific group to act upon the other, causing a change in attitude. In this research, the corpus for analysis will be composed of texts from varied genres taken from institutional websites by \"Reborn in Christ\" Apostolic Church, from 2011 to 2014, in order to show how, through the Prophetic Word, the religious leader and his followers acquire authority to shape realities. As this religious discourse adjusts to different genres, it is verified that the institutional ethos of the Church adjusts to different contexts. Alongside this specific corpus, a few texts related to other Neo-Pentecostal religious institutions will be selected, inserting this study in a broader scenario. In order to do so, this research will be founded on Rhetoric and New Rhetoric theories, with contributions from discursive and pragmatic theories. With this work, a better understanding of the neo-Pentecostal religious discourse argumentative process and the possibility of suggesting ways for the advance of the interdisciplinary character of the discursive and rhetoric studies are expected.

Because of the drastic changes (political, socio-cultural, and ecclesial) in Latin America since the genesis of Latin American Theology in the 1960s and 70s and the persistent and pernicious presence of poverty and injustice, it is imperative for theology to confront the present socio-cultural and ecclesial context. Through the development of a sociological and historical survey of Argentina during the past half-century, this thesis argues that the present holds little hope for a revitalization of the triumphalist, macro-social historical project of Latin American Liberation Theology, but instead demands an informed theological reflection on the micro-social. It also engages various Latin American theological perspectives (Liberationist, Progressive Evangelical, and Pentecostal/neo-Pentecostal) and argues that community is at the centre of their conceptions of transformation and that, accordingly, the local church is a potential transformative historical project. It examines this transformative potential through ethnographic and theological case studies of two local Baptist churches (Progressive Evangelical and neo-Pentecostal) in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, demonstrating that the present ecclesial context is diverse and contentious, but nevertheless a potential location of transformation. It contends that the local church is a fitting historical project for Latin American Theology as it functions as a bridge between the exilic present and the utopia of the Kingdom of God, between individual and social transformation, and between the hermeneutically-focused historical sciences and the emancipatory-focused critical social sciences. It concludes that the local church is a transformative historical project as a gathering community that seeks to be faithful and effective through non-violent confrontation, reconciling unity, and discernment.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:39:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andreia.pdf: 455317 bytes, checksum: 33a6bdb2c3dcf36ecd926f7758cba808 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-29 / This study s objective is to discuss the meanings and therapeutic setting configuration for pentecostal evangelical clients whose choice for a psychologist is the condition of being from the same religion they are. To better understand this phenomenon, a qualitative research was made with a case study and analysed through the phenomenological perspective. The person whose case was used was a clinical patient, treated by the cognitive therapy, and the main condition to participate in this study was to be an active pentecostal evangelical. A direct interview was made about the reasons for this choice, and complemented by her therapeutic history. The analyses of the interview and patients history led us to reflect about the consequences of this choice in the therapeutic setting. This study demonstrated that the search for a psychologist from the patient s same religion is the patient s search to try to guarantee the same interpretation universe, and at the same time avoid questions about his or hers presumptions and beliefs, and also noted exaggerated fantasies related to the power given to the psychological professional. We were also able to see the unpreparedness of some psychologists to work this matter. This work conclusion´s points to the possible relation between Religion and Psychology in the clinical practice, always considering the necessary care and precautions / A partir da observação de que clientes evangélicos pentecostais tendem a procurar psicólogos da mesma religião, este estudo visa compreender os sentidos desta escolha e seus efeitos na configuração do setting terapêutico. Para chegar a uma possível compreensão deste fenômeno, realizou-se uma pesquisa qualitativa de cunho fenomenológico, valendo-se de conceitos e propostas da abordagem Cognitiva Comportamental. O caso escolhido para o estudo foi o de uma pessoa atendida em Terapia Cognitiva Comportamental e que teve como condição para escolha do psicólogo o fato dele pertencer e praticar a religião evangélica pentecostal. Foi realizada uma entrevista sobre as razões dessa escolha, complementada por um relato de seu processo terapêutico. A análise da entrevista, e o relato permitiram desenvolver uma reflexão sobre os efeitos dessa escolha na definição do setting terapêutico. O trabalho permitiu evidenciar que a busca por um psicólogo da mesma religião busca garantir um mesmo universo de interpretação, observando-se fantasias exacerbadas em relação ao poder atribuído ao trabalho do profissional. Aponta, também, para o despreparo dos psicólogos em lidar com estas questões. O trabalho demonstra que é possível o diálogo entre os campos de Psicologia e Religião na clínica, guardados os devidos cuidados e precauções

The embeddedness of Pentecostal/Charismatic tenets within contemporary global frameworks of transnational power reveals the ability of religion to shape the sociocultural and spiritual experiences of people on the move from one place to another. For this reason, sociologists of religion and scholars of World Christianity have noted the rapid missionary expansion of African Pentecostal/Charismatic movements to the northern hemisphere. Some have even referred to the missionary work of non-western forms of Christianity in the western world as the ‘Southernisation of European Christianity’. But if the aggressive strategies adopted by African Pentecostal/Charismatic churches in the western diaspora are intended to reawaken Christianity in Europe, what then is the motivation for intra-African Pentecostal/Charismatic movements in traversing national boundaries, with their distinctive version of the Christian faith, making Africa a theatre in which Christian missionaries are both sent and received? This thesis examines the intra-African missionary praxis of a highly influential Nigerian Pentecostal/Charismatic church, the Winners’ Chapel, and its accompanying power dynamics in Cameroon from 1996 to 2016. Using a qualitative research approach, the study examines the character of transnational Pentecostal/Charismatic movements in Africa, using Winners’ Chapel in Cameroon as a case study. After an investigation of the emergence of the church, the study examines the various strategies used to achieve and maintain control of the mother church in Nigeria over its daughter church in Cameroon, such as the deployment of Nigerian missionaries, the use of Nigerian-defined Winners’ Chapel tenets in Cameroon, the place of sermons and testimonies, and the role of the media. The thesis studies the conflicts of loyalty and contestations that emerge between Nigerian Winners’ Chapel missionaries to Cameroon and their Cameroonian colleagues in Cameroon. It concludes with an assessment of how far Winners’ Chapel can be said to contribute to the provision of social capital and empowerment in Cameroon. The findings in this study provide a significant and original contribution to the understanding of how power dynamics can operate within complex relationships between transnational Pentecostal/Charismatic actors (missionaries), and their receiving countries colleagues in the continent of Africa. It also contributes to the literature on African Pentecostalism but offers fresh insights into the encounters, contestations, and resistance that emerge between ‘founder-owners’ and recruited workers of intra-African Pentecostal/Charismatic Movements. By appropriating international relations concepts such as Joseph Nye’s ideas of ‘soft power’ and concepts in the sociology of religion such as Peggy Levitt’s ‘remittances’, popularised by Afe Adogame, the study potentially unveils the nexus between international relations, the sociology of religion and development within Pentecostalist transnational discourses in Africa.