Magister Artium - MA / This thesis explores the production of music with musicians, singers and music producers who adhere to and promote Pentecostalist Christianity. The music they produce is a recently emerged genre, which I call 'Pentecospel'. I have coined this term to refer to a contemporary form of religiously inspired popular music, which is performed by young musicians belonging to various Pentecostal churches in Cape Town. I argue that 'Pentecospel' music is an emergent social form of self-representation, which is framed around Pentecostalism and the sound of Cape Town, as identified by Martin (2013). Young musicians and singers in Cape Town are absorbing and appropriating global styles of music, concepts and beliefs and music making techniques within their own musical compositions and transform their music performances in a way that enhances their local popularity. Thus, I elaborate on the processes of production through technical and social interpretations. This thesis will explore how performance, engaging audiences, the social interaction between people and technology, and the creation of their own unique sound on their musical instruments are linked to visual approaches located in the anthropology. This thesis is based on ethnographic fieldwork which took place mostly between December 2014 and February 2015. During this period, I worked with music producers and young people who have recorded at the 'Sounds of the Nations Africa: Cape Town' recording studio in Bellville, Cape Town, sharing their experiences of everyday life in and outside the studio. My three month long fieldwork included in-depth interviews, conversations and discussions, photographic and video material, and activity field notes. I made use of these methods in order to record my observations in the recording studio, during rehearsals and in public performances focusing on the social and musical interaction with the performing artists I got to know, through participant observation. I include my own participation as a musician and audience member with the use of these methods, in recording music in the 'Sounds of the Nations' recording studio for their upcoming album "Sound of Africa" and in public performances.

Until the Stones Cry Out: Materialities of Faith and Technologies of the Holy Ghost in Southern Appalachia is an ethnography of the often unrecognized infrastructures that have sustained Charismatic practices of healing and performances of faith since the mid-twentieth century. My research demonstrates that the broadcasting of healing prayer over the radio, the circulation of curative faith cloths through the postal system, and the architecture of massive canvas revival tents are not merely passive instrumentalities for the transmission of a discretely self-contained religious content, but affect, most fundamentally, the way ritual practices such as intercessory prayer and faith healing are experienced and understood by Charismatic communities within the United States. Moving comparatively between ethnographic and archival evidence, this work explores the objects and technologies that provide the material underpinnings for Pentecostal performances of faith, prayer and the miraculous. On the rhetorical side of these charismatic phenomena, this ethnology examines inspired preaching styles and performances of religious testimony in order to track the appearance and circulation of so-called Holy Ghost power within spaces of ecstatic and enthusiastic worship.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:48:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jackson Gomes de Castro.pdf: 515134 bytes, checksum: f0bdf87547e62e8bbdfb35fe57070f3f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-11 / It is understood here, syncretism as "coexistence of conflicting objects" (Bastide, 1973, p. 143), or religious practices that are historically divergent. Christianity has opposed the spiritual practice from its origin; However, some religious groups generally called spiritualists, proposes an integration of spiritualism to Christianity, there are those religious groups that even without address us in favor of a syncretic ideology, has in its very praxis of syncretism . Pentecostalism generally resembles syncretic movements. My goal is to understand how is the transition from a religious movement to another and check how is the coexistence of divergent thinking before. The method of qualitative observation observing their rituals and customs current and comparing them with the rituals antigos. Além empirical observation was used to collect data was printed through research, dissemination Film provided by the leader of the study subject who visit the Church of the Nazarene Cabral ( INC ) . This work investigates, through observation, the training of religious leadership and supporters of such movements ; Upon observation it was found that there was migration of other religion for that particular syncretic movement, both by its members and leadership . It was also found that people who attend this church has no idea that some of their practices has similarities with some spiritualistic practice. Their meetings are based more on the music and emotionalism than any dogma. People arriving coming from another religious thread does not receive much education about the local church. Are received and inserted in the current context with the only requirement to recognize Jesus Christ as their only Savior . Given all that follows, this church researched the reasons that led its members to practice syncretism are associated with Brazilian culture that in their formation is influenced by the mix of Amerindian, African and European religions . In search of a religion to fill the existential void that occur in these individuals they found in the INC, a quick and uncomplicated answer to their religious practice. The leading turn is not concerned with a primary education . His method is to first receive guidance later. And so this syncretic church emerges. / Entende-se aqui, sincretismos como coexistência de objetos discordantes (Bastide, 1973, p. 143), ou seja, práticas religiosas que, historicamente, são divergentes. O Cristianismo tem se oposto a prática espírita desde a sua origem; Porém, alguns grupos religiosos geralmente os chamados espíritas, propõe uma integração do espiritismo com o cristianismo; Há ainda aqueles grupos religiosos que, mesmo sem discursarem a favor de uma ideologia sincrética, tem na sua práxis muito do sincretismo. Geralmente o pentecostalismo se assemelha a movimentos sincréticos. Meu objetivo é compreender como se dá o processo de transição de um movimento religioso para o outro e verificar como se dá a coexistência de pensamentos antes divergentes. Foi utilizado o método de observação qualitativa observando seus rituais e costumes atuais e comparando-os com os rituais antigos.Além da observação empírica, a coleta de dados se deu através de pesquisa impressa, divulgação em filme disponibilizada pelo líder do objeto de estudo aqueles que visitam a Igreja do Nazareno do Cabral (INC). Este trabalho indaga, por meio da observação, a formação religiosa dos adeptos e liderança de tais movimentos; Após a observação verificou-se que houve migração de outra religião para esse determinado movimento sincrético, tanto por parte de seus membros quanto da liderança. Verificou-se também que as pessoas que frequentam esta igreja não tem nenhuma ideia de que algumas de suas práticas tem semelhanças com alguma prática espírita. As suas reuniões são pautadas mais nas músicas e no emocionalismo do que em algum dogma. As pessoas que chegam vindas de outro segmento religioso não recebem muita instrução sobre a igreja local. São recebidas e inseridas no contexto atual com a única exigência de reconhecer Jesus Cristo como seu único Salvador. Diante de tudo isso se conclui, nesta igreja pesquisada, que os motivos que levaram seus membros a praticarem o sincretismo estão associados à cultura brasileira que, em sua formação é influenciada pela mistura das religiões ameríndias, africanas e europeias. Na busca de uma religião que preencha o vazio existencial que ocorrem nestes indivíduos eles encontraram na INC, uma resposta rápida e sem complicações para sua prática religiosa. A liderança por sua vez não está preocupada com uma educação primaria. Seu método é receber primeiro orientar depois. E assim surge esta igreja sincrética.

The current study seeks to insert African American Pentecostal theologies as a generative subject of examination for scholars of American and African Atlantic religious history and theology. By providing close and critical readings of newly-found sources of African American Pentecostal theology by four significant African American Pentecostal theologians, this study situates African American Pentecostal thought as a distinctive theological trajectory within both African Atlantic Christianity and North American religious thought. The writings of theologians Ozro Thurston Jones, Jr., Ithiel Conrad Clemmons, James Alexander Forbes, Jr., and William Clair Turner, Jr., will be explored to expose the contours of a distinctive African American Pentecostal theology. An examination of the writings of this cohort demonstrates that African American Pentecostal thought is contextual (marked by an openness to and engagement with various Christian and philosophical traditions) and liberationist (deeply committed to a revitalization of Christian witness in the pursuit of social justice). In this comparative analysis of their respective theological programs, with a focus on recurring theological ideas, values, and themes, this study provides a phenomenology of African American Pentecostal theology. Within the field of modern black theology, there has been a call by scholars for more attention to be paid to pneumatology, which has been generally neglected; while within the field of North American Pentecostalism, a glossocentric pneumatology has been the dominant theological framework. The four theologians examined in this study resist both limitations, and in the diversity of their methods and theological perspectives, these scholars participate in a broader, more generous theological enterprise. This project seeks to both unsettle and complexify anew various reductionist readings of African American Pentecostal theologies and to create space for a deepened exchange between the broader traditions of African Atlantic Christian theologies and African American religious thought. The methodologies employed in this study include biographical criticism, phenomenological analysis, and religious ethnography. Biographical criticism underscores the critical importance of social contexts in the formation of black religious consciousness. Phenomenological analysis allows for an examination of African American Pentecostalism as its own distinctive religious phenomenon. And critical religious ethnography is employed to assess the reception and impact of each theologian’s overall theological production. Given the growth and theological maturation of Pentecostalism, and the social, cultural and ecumenical impact it has exerted worldwide, this dissertation examines what the theology of the African American Pentecostal movement has contributed to contemporary Christian thought amidst the shifting theological contours of World Christianity and North American religious thought.

Contemporary Pentecostal and Charismatic (PC) Christianity has attracted scholars and practitioners of religions globally. This is because Pentecostalism in all its variations has been reckoned as the fastest growing brand of Christianity. In the particular case of sub- Saharan Africa, Pentecostalism has become one of the key religious features of Christianity since the late 1990s. As such, it clearly has a strong appeal to millions of Africans. Notwithstanding, the PC movement has also had its share of criticism based on its distinctive beliefs and practices, particularly in relation to the prosperity gospel and the abuse of power. In this thesis, using the Church of Pentecost (COP) and International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) as case studies, I examine the individual (personal) and group (collective) empowerment/disempowerment components in Pentecostalism in Ghana. Theories encompassing empowerment, social, cultural and religious/spiritual capital are reviewed within Pentecostalism in Ghana. The thesis central focus is on how the churches (COP and ICGC) constitute social, cultural and religious capital in their efforts to empower individuals and society. The study explores internal structures of power, polity and leadership in the churches, as well as their role in social policy, human development programmes, civic and public life issues. These were the main themes that emanated from the research. The findings show that the churches have made positive impact in transforming religious and social landscapes. They have also shown prospects in human development and brought awareness in the spheres of politics and civic responsibility. However, some beliefs and practices (i.e. gender inequality in church leadership, structures of power and authority, etc.) have affected aspects of individuals’ and groups’ empowerment. These insights come from the research analysis of the processes and outcomes of the churches’ practical work, for instance, theology/preaching, practical ministries, church projects in areas such as education, gender roles and practices, moral conduct and church discipline, trust and voluntarism. A case study research method involving textual examination of primary documents, qualitative interviews and participant observation was used to show the different perspectives from a representative sample of pastors and members of the COP and ICGC. While most scholarly works give a lot of insight to the developments of Pentecostalism in Ghana, their efforts have mainly focused on the founders and leaders of the movement as representative of their organisations. This has been useful to a point; however, this study has shown that such an approach muted the voices of the members of the churches whose viewpoints in the development of the PC churches remain significant. Thus, this study built-in views from both the clergy and laity of COP and ICGC. The thesis shows the present developments (life, thoughts and practices) of the PC churches in Ghana with COP and ICGC in context. It expands discussions on works previously written by Paul Gifford and Emmanuel Kingsley Larbi. Gifford and Larbi give an account of the developments of the churches with tremendous insight into their religious and social backgrounds. J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu further builds up the discussion on Pentecostalism in Ghana and draws attention to its contemporary forms and religious significance in Ghana’s religious life and society. The fluid nature of Pentecostalism requires constant updating and this thesis fills in some of the previously unexplained recent developments and on-going reforms within Pentecostalism in Ghana.

Lee Siu Fan. / "May 2012." / Thesis (M.Div.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references. / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.5-7 / Chapter 2. --- Classical Pentecostal: Its Historical Roots --- p.8-13 / Chapter 2.1 --- The Holiness Movement Root --- p.8-10 / Chapter 2.2 --- The Black Oral Root --- p.10-11 / Chapter 2.3 --- The Catholic Root --- p.11-12 / Chapter 2.4 --- The Ecumenical Root --- p.12-13 / Chapter 2.5 --- Summary --- p.13 / Chapter 3. --- William Joseph Seymour --- p.14-24 / Chapter 3.1 --- Biography of William J. Seymour (1870-1922) --- p.15-17 / Chapter 3.2 --- Seymour's Writing in The Apostolic Faith --- p.17-18 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Baptism in the Holy Spirit --- p.18-19 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Speaking Tongues --- p.19 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Sanctification --- p.20 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Jesus Is Coming Soon --- p.20 / Chapter 3.2.5 --- Divine Healing --- p.21 / Chapter 3.3 --- Seymour's The Doctrines and Discipline of the Azusa Street Apostolic Faith Mission of Los Angeles --- p.21-23 / Chapter 3.4 --- Summary --- p.23-24 / Chapter 4. --- The Third Wave --- p.25-38 / Chapter 4.1 --- Third Wave --- p.25-27 / Chapter 4.2 --- Signs and Wonder --- p.28-33 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Power Evangelism --- p.28-31 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Power Healing --- p.31-33 / Chapter 4.3 --- Third Wave Theology Compared With Classical Pentecostal Theology --- p.33-37 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Similarities and Differences between Third Wave and Classical Pentecostal --- p.33-37 / Chapter 4.4 --- Summary --- p.37-38 / Chapter 5. --- Conclusion --- p.39 / Appendix I --- p.39-44 / A brief summary of the nineteenth sermons by Seymour in ''The Azusa Street Sermons by William J. Seymour´ح / Bibliography --- p.45-48

Aim.C. Peter Wagner is a well-known missiologist. In the late twentieth century Wagner became interested in the means by which the devil, as the enemy of God, obstructs the spread of the Gospel. Based on his reading of Daniel 10:13 [20-21], a passage referring to the prince of Persia, he concluded that the earth is ruled by Satan’s angels, whom he terms “territorial spirits.” The same chapter mentions other supernatural beings, Michael, one of the chief princes and the prince of Greece. In Wagner’s understanding Scripture reveals the existence of good and evil spirits having authority or control over specific geographical regions. Further, Wagner believed he had discovered why evangelism is ineffective in some locations - territorial spirits blind the minds of the populace and need to be bound spiritually to remove hindrances to the gospel’s reception. Wagner devised a prayer methodology called Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare (SLSW), to accelerate world evangelisation by strategically targeting designated cities or locations with aggressive prayer to disarm the spiritual powers of wickedness. SLSW depends for effectiveness on the associated practice of spiritual mapping,” entailing foundational research into an area’s historical and spiritual background preceding the prayer programme. Wagner believes SLSW to be both divinely revealed and empirically verifiable. The SLSW methodology spread with startling rapidity to many sectors of Christianity. SLSW became associated with Pentecostalism, and is now mistakenly assumed to be a Pentecostal teaching. This thesis aims to show this is inaccurate. Scope. C. Peter Wagner, an Evangelical, is associated with Third Wave groups who deliberately distance themselves from the Pentecostal label. Classical Pentecostalism is differentiated historically from the later Charismatic Renewal Movement. Third Wave groups are a separate more recent spiritual movement, sometimes known as neo-charismatics. Neither Wagner’s theological nor ecclesial location is Pentecostal, but this fact has not helped negate the mistaken assumption that his teaching originated within Pentecostalism. In order to demonstrate the difference between Wagner’s demonology and that of Pentecostalism, their respective interpretive methods need to be compared. This task was approached firstly by showing what comprises a Classical Pentecostal hermeneutic. Three distinctive principles were identified for a conventional Pentecostal reading of Scripture, namely: (1) the Protestant Reformation principle of Sola Scriptura, (2) a pneumatic approach to interpreting Scripture and (3) biblical revelation, not self-revelation, in the community of faith. In the past, Pentecostals depended on academic writings stemming from within Evangelicalism. This was a dependence of convenience, since historically Pentecostalism had no systematic theology, nor until comparatively recently a critically active academia. The disadvantage of this borrowing has been that Pentecostals have been obliged to filter out anti-Pentecostal bias evident in much Evangelical literature. The text Daniel 10:13 was then exegeted using these principles. This narrow focus is based on Wagner’s use of this text as the foundation of his demonology. Using a combined theological and literary approach, stances on reading the book of Daniel in general and Daniel 10:13 in particular were discussed. The relaxation of tensions between the factions which divided biblical scholarship for much of the twentieth century has allowed some cross-fertilization of ideas and methods, without reducing the ideological chasm separating the camps. The history of the text was recognised but meaning was sought more particularly from the form of the extant text. The results were tested against the principles of Pentecostal hermeneutics. Finally, Wagner’s writings on SLSW were appraised. His hermeneutical method was compared with the Pentecostal hermeneutical principles, the Pentecostal reading prepared from the exegesis, and the demonology of two Classical Pentecostal writers. Discussion of SLSW was confined to Wagner as the initiator of the concept. Wagner’s specific contribution has been in relating a hypothetical demonic hierarchy according to their perceived function (not simply the degree of power they may possess). He is well aware that his theory stands or falls on the issue of whether demonic spirits can legitimately be seen as occupying territories. Conclusions. Whilst some aspects of Wagner’s demonology and hermeneutic are held in common with that of Pentecostalism, the mistaken identification of SLSW as Pentecostal has led to confusion. Notwithstanding Wagner’s high view of Scripture and enthusiasm for evangelism, the hermeneutic employed in his interpretation of Dan 10:13 is not consistent with that of Classical Pentecostalism. The conclusion reached was that C. Peter Wagner’s teaching on SLSW should not be labelled Pentecostal.

According to Census Canada, after eight decades of consistent growth Canadian Pentecostal affiliation reached an all-time high of 436,435 individuals in 1991. A decade later, the results of the 2001 Canadian census revealed that Pentecostalism underwent a precipitous 15.3 percent, or 66,969 affiliate, decline—the first in Canadian Pentecostal history. Scholars of religion assumed that this decline in affiliation represented an actual decrease in the number of Canadian Pentecostal adherents. Drawing on 42 personal interviews, 158 survey responses, content analysis of material culture, and one year of participant observation within three Canadian Pentecostal congregations located in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, I provide an alternative interpretation of the decrease in Canadian Pentecostal affiliation that pays closer attention to both the data contained in the census as well as important changes in religious culture that have occurred at the congregational level. I demonstrate how the decrease in Canadian Pentecostal affiliation recorded by Census Canada does not alone provide adequate evidence to claim that Pentecostal adherents abandoned their congregations at a rate of more than 15 percent in the decade between 1991 and 2001. Instead, I argue that this decrease in affiliation can be explained by the fact that Canadian Pentecostals have experienced a transformation of religious identity, belief, and practice from traditionally Pentecostal to generically evangelical categories significant enough to be detected by the census. When asked, for instance, to describe their religious affiliation, 86 percent of interview participants in this study chose a generically evangelical or Christian moniker rather than the term “Pentecostal.” This means that just 14 percent of interview participants would have been recorded as Pentecostal if they answered in a similar way on the census instrument. The significant proportion of the participants in this study that did not identify, believe, or behave the way that Canadian Pentecostals did just a few decades earlier, I believe, helps explain the dramatic, if misleading, 2001 census results.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Religion)--Vanderbilt University, May 2001. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Trinity International University, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 402-420).