198 Barbara Boudewijnse, André steeg, Algo m�s que opio; pentecostalismo latinoamericano Sociologia mento Ecumeénico 9977-83-044-4. de la Religión; San de Investigaciones, Reviewed by David Bundy 1967) based on his licentiate Droogers and Frans Kam- Una lectura antropologica del y caribefño (Colección José Costa Rica: Departa- 1991), 180 pp. ISBN by of Geneva (also 1969), there Latin American Pentecostalism as a Since the pioneering analysis of Latin American Pentecostalism Christian Lalive d’Epinay, El refugio de las masas, Estudio sociologico del protestantismo chileno (Santiago de Chile: Editorial del Pacífico, thesis at the University 1967) and translated into English as Haven of the Masses ; A Study of the Pentecostal Movement in Chile (London: Lutherworth, has been a tendency to interpret bastian where the dispossessed withdrew from involvement with the world and ceased to confront the realities of life, protected by a veneer of ideology. During the past decade, a number of scholars, in both Latin America and Europe, have been looking again at the phenomenon of Pentecostalism in Latin America. phenomenological studies of precisely They are finding something quite of North American Pentecostalism can more readily be made. more with both traditional comparative method) as the introduction cientifica, sino tambien misiologica mssiological The first essay, different from docile step-children where the case for social This volume which disengagement suggests it thesis in the title, “Something than opium,” is the work of a group of Dutch scholars associated the Free University of Amsterdam. It is comprised of a series of defined aspects of Pentecostal life in Chile, Brazil, Peru and on Curazao in the Caribbean. All case studies are developed using methods of cultural anthropology involving field work and interaction with published studies, rather than the more or social analytic theories. It is a theme (and a suggests, which “no solo tiene relevancia del pentecostalismo arly theories which Pentecostal churches and/or observation of [has not only scholarly but also del crecimiento to explain the growth of the phenomena on a continent diversity, a diversity mirrored, Pentecostal believers. relevance] (p. 14).” contributed by Andrd Droogers, “Visiones parado6ji- cas sobre una religioó parad6jica; Modelos explicativos en Brasil y Chile,” (pp. 17-42) reviews the schol- have attempted in Brazil and Chile. He argues that the theories based on a sociological theory developed in another cultural context a single or limited number of Pentecostal churches in Latin America cannot provide a basis for interpreting socio-religious replete with cultural and socio-religious if not amplified in the experience of the 1 199 Angela Hoekstra, “Pentecostalismo rural en Pernambuco (Brasil); Algo mas que una protesta simbolica,” (pp. 43-56) examines Pentecostal development in this area evangelized by Swedish (not North American!) missionaries from 1918. She observed that Pentecostalism contains both traditionalist (conservative) values and revolutionary values which serves the urbanizing generations as an “adaptive mechanism, necessary in a time of processes of radical and rapid change (p. 56).” She argues that it is in part a “fight against injustice” which “contributes to the betterment of society (p. 56).” ” Barbara Boudewijnse, “El Desarrollo del movimiento carismatico dentro de la iglesia catolica de Curazao,” (pp. 57-76) reports on field work and observations made between August 1985 and February 1986. Special attention was given to the role of personal experience in the context of the social profile of the participants. It is argued that the charismatic renewal allows development and maintenance of religous faith at a time when “modern society” is transfering that to the “private sphere” and away from the public. “Mujeres pentecostales chilenas; un caso en Iquique,” by Hanneke Slootweg, provides results of a study of the role and life of Pentecostal women in this city in northern Chile, where Wesleyan/Holiness mis- sionary William Taylor (who recruited Hoover for the south) built a church which later evolved into the local Iglesia Evangelica Pentecostal. This chapter is particularly rich, providing as it does, partial transcripts of interviews with twenty women from this city. The essay of Frans Kamsteeg, “Pastor y discipulo; El rol de lideres y laicos en el crecimiento de las iglesias pentecostales en Arequipa, Peru (pp. 95-113),” examines the relationships between laity and clergy as contributory to the growth of the Pentecostal congregation in Arequipa, the second largest city of Peru where Pentecostals comprise somewhat less than 5% of the population. It is argued that the relationships reflect the tensions between hierarchical and egalitarian tendencies within Pentecostalism, but that the “will of the people” is respected in both word and practice, and each individual in the relationship has a defined vocation within the religious social structure. The last essay, “La conducta del consumidor en el mercado brasileno de salvaci6n; La opinion publica relativa al pentacostalismo y las reli- giones afro-americanas en la cuidad provincial de Alagoinhas (Bahia)” (pps. 115-133), by A. W. Westra reports on the popular understanding and evaluation of Pentecostalism and “the African-American religions” in the diverse religious matrix of the provincial city of Alagoinhas. It is a particularly enlightening discussion of the interplay between public and private religiosity. The scholarly essays that make up the first 136 pages of this volume are individually and together important contributions to the study of Pentecostalism and Charismatic Renewal in Latin America and the Caribbean. The authors carefully conceived the research projects, chose – 2 200 a methodology and applied it rigorously. The studies will be bench- marks against which others must compare their own work. It has clearly demonstrated that the thesis of Lalive must be revised. The bibliography compiled by Andrd Droogers on that same subject makes the volume essential to any scholar of Pentecostal history and theology. This bibli- ography contains over 700 entries. It is limited to materials published in English, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Spanish. The other signifi- cant limitation is to materials written about the Pentecostal churches. The second limitation means that there is very little primary material included in the bibliography. Ecclesial documents, writings about spirituality, theology and ethics, biography, homilies and autobiography written by Pentecostals, whether as books or, more importantly, as periodicals are not included. Another limitation, that is to printed materials, excludes the legions of tapes, and increasingly videos, which circulate widely. The language limitation, especially to the exclusion of Swedish and Norwegian publi- cations unfairly skews, once again, the appearances of the origins of Pentecostalism in Latin America. Some of the “paradox” of Latin American Pentecostalism (that is, it does not look much like its name- sake in North America) would be resolved by examining the non-North American Pentecostal roots of much of Latin American Pentecostalism. Volumes such as the recent autobiography of Leonard Pettersen, Pinse over Grensene (Oslo: Filadelfiaforlaget, 1989), and the long standard work of G. E. Soderholm, Den Svenska Pingstv3ckelsens Spridning ittom och inom Sverige (Supplement till Den Svenska Pingstväckelsens Historia: Stockholm: Fbrlaget Filadelfia, 1933), offer important counter- points to the triumphalist North American tendency to take credit for all Pentecostal successes. There are certainly titles which were missed within the categories of the bibliography. The “Select Bibliography on Latin American Pente- costalism,” compiled by Cecil M. Robeck, Jr. [Pneuma 13( 1991 ), 193- 197] is an essential supplement to that in Algo mas que opio. However, despite the hesitations expressed about scope of language and media covered, the bibliography is no mean achievement. To establish more a core bibliography of primary materials would be even more difficult. It is to be hoped that eventually, a consortium of European/North Ameri- can and Latin American scholars might undertake to build on the base provided here. David Bundy is Librarian and Associate Professor of Church History at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, IN 60637. 3
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