Reinterpreting Chilean Pentecostalism

Social Compass

Volumn 43, Issue 3, 1996, Pages 299-318

  Sepulveda, Juan ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0030520373     PISSN: 00377686     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/003776896043003002     Document Type: Article

References (79)

1. The classics are Emile Willems, Followers of the New Faith. Culture Change and the Rise of Protestantism in Brazil and Chile, Nashville, TN, Vanderbilt University Press, 1967; and Christian Lalive d'Epinay, Haven of the Masses. A Study of the Pentecostal Movement in Chile, London, Lutterworth Press, 1969. More recent is David Martin, Tongues of Fire. The Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1990.
2. The classics are Emile Willems, Followers of the New Faith. Culture Change and the Rise of Protestantism in Brazil and Chile, Nashville, TN, Vanderbilt University Press, 1967; and Christian Lalive d'Epinay, Haven of the Masses. A Study of the Pentecostal Movement in Chile, London, Lutterworth Press, 1969. More recent is David Martin, Tongues of Fire. The Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1990.
3. The classics are Emile Willems, Followers of the New Faith. Culture Change and the Rise of Protestantism in Brazil and Chile, Nashville, TN, Vanderbilt University Press, 1967; and Christian Lalive d'Epinay, Haven of the Masses. A Study of the Pentecostal Movement in Chile, London, Lutterworth Press, 1969. More recent is David Martin, Tongues of Fire. The Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1990.
4. That this sort of "conspiracy theory" is quite old is shown by J. Samuel Escobar, "Conflict of Interpretations of Popular Protestantism", in Guillermo Cook, ed., New Face of the Church in Latin America, pp. 112-134, especially pp. 117ff, New York, Orbis Books, 1994.
5. "The Latin Conversion", in The Guardian Weekend, 10 June 1995, pp. 14ff (here p. 27).
6. This expression, which could be translated as "lowly" or "humble" people, was at the turn of the century the common designation of the lower classes of Chilean society. Having the same descriptive connotation as "lower classes", the expression also connotes the sort of cultural and moral judgement that the mainstream of society had about the lower classes. The expression has been brought into historical research by Gabriel Salazar, "The History of Popular Culture in Chile: Different Paths", in Kenneth Aman and Cristián Parker, eds, Popular Culture in Chile. Resistance and Survival, pp. 13-39, Boulder, CO, Westview Press.
7. The concept of "religious field" makes reference to the totality of religious institutions acting in a pluri-religious society, and the conflicts and tensions between them, especially with regard to their ability (or inability) to establish relations of mutual legitimation with the state. Cf. Otto Maduro, Religión y conflicto social, Mérida, 1978.
8. Hans-Jürgen Prien, La historia del cristianismo en América Latina, Salamanca, Ediciones Sígueme, 1985, pp. 434-438; 585-597.
9. James Thomson, a Scottish Baptist minister, representative of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the Foreign School Society, came to Chile in 1821 in response to an invitation from Bernardo O'Higgins, the first "Supreme Director" (1818-1823) of the Chilean nation. See J.B.A. Kessler, A Study of the Older Protestant Missions and Churches in Peru and Chile, Goes, Oosterbaan & le Cointre N.V., 1967, pp. 19-23.
10. Figures quoted from Cristián Parker, "Christianity and Popular Movements in the Twentieth Century", in Aman and Parker, eds., op. cit. Note 4, pp. 41-65, here p. 43.
11. Cristián Parker, "Radiografía a la religión de los chilenos". Mensaje 428 (1994): 178-181.
12. Traditional Protestant Churches seem to have grown at a rate hardly higher than that of the Chilean population as a whole, and in some cases even lower: cf. Lalive, op.cit. Note 1, pp. 16ff.
13. Ibid., pp. 23f.
14. Hoover's written testimony is still the main source for the origin of Chilean Pentecostalism. Although finished in 1931, the book was first published after his death: Historia del avivamiento pentecostal en Chile, Valparaiso, Imp. Excelsior, 1948.
15. Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, pp. 124ff.
16. In 1907 Mrs Hoover received a pamphlet which contained this claim. The pamphlet, describing a revival which had taken place in the girls' home of Pandita Ramabai at Mukti, India, had been written and sent by Minnie Abrams, Mrs Hoover's old classmate at the Chicago Training School. Hoover, op.cit. Note 12, p. 14.
17. The opinion generally accepted within the western theological tradition since St John Chrysostom (4th century), that the charismata were gifts temporarily given to the early Church because of its weakness, was maintained by Luther and Calvin (see José Comblin, The Holy Spirit and Liberation, New York, Orbis Books, 1987, pp. 35ff). Wesley seems to have separated himself from that tradition (Donald Dayton, Raíces teológicas del pentecostalismo, Buenos Aires, Nueva Creación & Eerdmams, 1991, pp. 25f). However, Robinson, the pastor of the 2nd Methodist Church of Santiago, wrote an editorial article in El Cristiano (18 October 1909) defending the "traditional" opinion, making the further statement that the work of the Spirit was "rational".
18. The opinion generally accepted within the western theological tradition since St John Chrysostom (4th century), that the charismata were gifts temporarily given to the early Church because of its weakness, was maintained by Luther and Calvin (see José Comblin, The Holy Spirit and Liberation, New York, Orbis Books, 1987, pp. 35ff). Wesley seems to have separated himself from that tradition (Donald Dayton, Raíces teológicas del pentecostalismo, Buenos Aires, Nueva Creación & Eerdmams, 1991, pp. 25f). However, Robinson, the pastor of the 2nd Methodist Church of Santiago, wrote an editorial article in El Cristiano (18 October 1909) defending the "traditional" opinion, making the further statement that the work of the Spirit was "rational".
19. Ibid., pp. 70-71; 74; 81-82.
20. W. Hollenweger, "Methodist's Past in Pentecostal's Present", in Methodist History 20(4) (1982): 169-182, here p. 176.
21. Lalive, op.cit. Note 1, p. 10.
22. Hollenweger, op.cit. Note 17, passim.
23. "Reflections on the Pentecostal Contribution to the Mission of the Church in Latin America", Journal of Pentecostal Theology 1 (1992): 93-108, here p. 95.
24. He makes reference to the conversion of many humble people, some of them outlaws, but also to the attraction the movement had for some "gentlemen of dignity and serious young men" (Hoover, op.cit. Note 12, p. 43).
25. M. Canales, S. Palma and H. Villela, En tierra extraña II, Santiago, Amerinda-SEPADE, 1991, p. 24.
26. Op.cit. Note 7, passim.
27. F.H. Kamsteeg, "Prophetic Pentecostalism in Chile", PhD dissertation, Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit, 1995, p. 56.
28. This is the subtitle of Kessler's book.
29. Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, p. 105 (emphasis mine). This letter is also commented on by W. Hollenweger, op.cit. Note 17, p. 170.
30. Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, p. 105 (emphasis mine). This letter is also commented on by W. Hollenweger, op.cit. Note 17, p. 170.
31. Ibid., pp. 49-50, 52-54, 101-102.
32. Garvin's letter to Speer dated 2 October 1905, quoted by Kessler, ibid., p. 63.
33. Ibid., p. 48. See also pp. 46 and 100.
34. One of the literary debates which made David Trumbull, the founder of the Presbyterian Church in Chile, popular in liberal circles, was related to a procession with the image of Saint Isodorus, the patron saint of the rain, held in Valparaiso during a prolonged drought. Ibid., p. 44.
35. Ibid., pp. 96-108; David Bundy, "The Legacy of William Taylor", International Bulletin of Missionary Research (October 1994): 172-176.
36. Ibid., pp. 96-108; David Bundy, "The Legacy of William Taylor", International Bulletin of Missionary Research (October 1994): 172-176.
37. Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, p. 103.
38. Letter to Gillespie dated 17 January 1888, quoted by Kessler, ibid., p. 100. Kessler justifies Trumbull's criticism on the ground of what he considers Taylor's total lack of provision for those missionaries who could run into difficulties (pp. 99f.). He did not realize that this lack of provision was not the result of Taylor's improvisation, but rather the expression of his conscious missionary theories and policies (cf. Bundy, op.cit. Note 31, p. 174).
39. Letter to Gillespie dated 17 January 1888, quoted by Kessler, ibid., p. 100. Kessler justifies Trumbull's criticism on the ground of what he considers Taylor's total lack of provision for those missionaries who could run into difficulties (pp. 99f.). He did not realize that this lack of provision was not the result of Taylor's improvisation, but rather the expression of his conscious missionary theories and policies (cf. Bundy, op.cit. Note 31, p. 174).
40. During the 1880s the Methodist Episcopal Church had initiated a strategy to bring Taylor and his missionaries working in South America, Asia and Africa back to the flock. In 1882 the General Missionary Committee asked them to "locate" in local churches, Taylor becoming a member of a local church in South India. The 1884 General Conference celebrated in Philadelphia, which Taylor attended as delegate of the South India Conference, elected him missionary bishop for Africa. As part of the new arrangement, the Mission board agreed to continue the "self-supporting" policy on the west coast of South America. Under the new circumstances, the groups in Chile started to organize themselves into Methodist Churches as early as 1886, and by 1903, the year of Taylor's death, they were all working under the board's control. Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, p. 175; Bundy, op.cit. Note 31, p. 175.
41. During the 1880s the Methodist Episcopal Church had initiated a strategy to bring Taylor and his missionaries working in South America, Asia and Africa back to the flock. In 1882 the General Missionary Committee asked them to "locate" in local churches, Taylor becoming a member of a local church in South India. The 1884 General Conference celebrated in Philadelphia, which Taylor attended as delegate of the South India Conference, elected him missionary bishop for Africa. As part of the new arrangement, the Mission board agreed to continue the "self-supporting" policy on the west coast of South America. Under the new circumstances, the groups in Chile started to organize themselves into Methodist Churches as early as 1886, and by 1903, the year of Taylor's death, they were all working under the board's control. Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, p. 175; Bundy, op.cit. Note 31, p. 175.
42. Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, p. 111. It is worth noting that this new thinking represents a major change in North American Protestantism. According to W. Hudson, the characteristic core of North American Protestantism was, before the rise of liberalism, the reinterpretation of Christianity in terms of evangelicalism and revivalism: "Evangelicalism was a theological emphasis upon the necessity for a conversion experience as the beginning point of a Christian life, while revivalism was a technique developed to induce that experience" (American Protestantism, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1961, p. 78).
43. Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, p. 111. It is worth noting that this new thinking represents a major change in North American Protestantism. According to W. Hudson, the characteristic core of North American Protestantism was, before the rise of liberalism, the reinterpretation of Christianity in terms of evangelicalism and revivalism: "Evangelicalism was a theological emphasis upon the necessity for a conversion experience as the beginning point of a Christian life, while revivalism was a technique developed to induce that experience" (American Protestantism, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1961, p. 78).
44. Ibid, p. 103.
45. It may be argued that without the financial support of the North American Church, Taylor's mission would hardly have survived. That is possibly true, but it is also true that the North American Church was not prepared to support the Chilean Church as self-governing.
46. Op.cit. Note 12, p. 74. Hoover's position against "church nationalism" could well be the result of his own experience. In September 1895, when Hoover returned to Iquique after his furlough in the USA, he found that A. Vidaurre, the Chilean worker in charge of the church during his absence, did not want to submit himself to the authority of a foreign missionary. So Vidaurre left the Methodist Church with most of the congregation. Hoover had to start again from nothing, in which he succeeded. Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, p. 109.
47. Op.cit. Note 12, p. 74. Hoover's position against "church nationalism" could well be the result of his own experience. In September 1895, when Hoover returned to Iquique after his furlough in the USA, he found that A. Vidaurre, the Chilean worker in charge of the church during his absence, did not want to submit himself to the authority of a foreign missionary. So Vidaurre left the Methodist Church with most of the congregation. Hoover had to start again from nothing, in which he succeeded. Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, p. 109.
48. Ibid., pp. 281 and 300. Doctrinal differences (the question of infant baptism, the forms of baptism, in other words, the Methodist legacy) prevented Hoover from going further. To be sure, he would have found a bigger "stumbling block" in the opposition of the Chileans to that solution.
49. There was also an accusation of immorality against Hoover. However, Kessler shows clearly that although Hoover eventually "confessed his guilt", this accusation was subservient to the power struggle. Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, pp. 303-307.
50. Philadelphia: National Association for the Promotion of Holiness, 1879.
51. Bundy's synthesis, op.cit. Note 31, p. 174.
52. London: World Dominion Press, 1912.
53. Bundy, op.cit. Note 32, p. 174.
54. Except through Goodsil F. Arms, who wrote the book History of !he William Taylor Self-supporting Mission in South America, New York: Methodist Book Concern, 1921. Arms was, before the division, a close friend and supporter of Hoover.
55. James McLean's letter to Speer dated 10 June 1907, quoted by Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, p. 66.
56. Kessler's comment on this incident is worth quoting: The basic trouble was not, however, a lack of supervision, but a surplus of United States nationalism. As soon as the missionaries discovered that the church practice in Concepción was irregular, they reacted against what they felt was a failure to conform to the Gospel by asserting their Presbyterian law. The missionaries forgot that this law had arisen as a result of an attempt by European or Anglo-Saxon people to conform to the Gospel in their own environment. (Ibid., p. 67)
57. Letter republished in Evangelio y Sociedad 15 (1992): 32-33 (translation mine).
58. Quoted by Lalive, op.cit. Note 1, p. 63, from I. Vallier (Project Director), Anglican Opportunities in South America, New York, Bureau of Applied Social Research, Columbia University (mimeo), p. 24. Consistent with his interest in structural change, Lalive himself applies this paradigm of continuity and discontinuity (rejection) to the analysis of the relation between the Pentecostal community and what he sees as the basic institution of traditional society: the hacienda (the land estate). According to him, the structure of the Pentecostal community, with its face-to-face relationships, resembles the structure of the hacienda; while the pastor, and the kind of authority he enjoys, resemble the figure of the patrón. The element of discontinuity is that the Pentecostal community does not reproduce the class structure of the hacienda: in the Pentecostal community, both the congregation and the pastor belong to the same social class (op.cit., pp. 32-33, 82-84, 129-132)
59. Quoted by Lalive, op.cit. Note 1, p. 63, from I. Vallier (Project Director), Anglican Opportunities in South America, New York, Bureau of Applied Social Research, Columbia University (mimeo), p. 24. Consistent with his interest in structural change, Lalive himself applies this paradigm of continuity and discontinuity (rejection) to the analysis of the relation between the Pentecostal community and what he sees as the basic institution of traditional society: the hacienda (the land estate). According to him, the structure of the Pentecostal community, with its face-to-face relationships, resembles the structure of the hacienda; while the pastor, and the kind of authority he enjoys, resemble the figure of the patrón. The element of discontinuity is that the Pentecostal community does not reproduce the class structure of the hacienda: in the Pentecostal community, both the congregation and the pastor belong to the same social class (op.cit., pp. 32-33, 82-84, 129-132)
60. See, for example, the full-page photograph in the cover story of The Guardian Weekend, 10 June 1995, p.15.
61. Kessler, op.cit. Note 7, p. 309.
62. Ibid., p. 309.
63. The percentages of Protestants in national censuses since 1907 are: 1907, 1%; 1920, 1.4%; 1930, 1.4%; 1940, 2.34%; 1952, 4.06%: 1960, 5.58%; 1970, 6.18%; 1992, 13.2%. The census of 1982 did not ask about religious affiliation. The census of 1992 asked only the population 14 years or older.
64. Op.cit. Note 7, p. 309.
65. Asambleas de Dios Autonóma, Sweden (1937); Asambleas de Dios, USA (1942); Iglesia Cuadrangular (Foursquare) (1945); Iglesia de Dios (1950); Iglesia de Cristo (1952); the latter three from the USA as well.
66. In fact, most of Lalive's fieldwork took place in 1965, when the situation for the bajo pueblo in terms of real opportunities for social participation was just starting to change.
67. See William V. D'Antonio and Frederick B. Pike, Religion, Revolution, and Reform: New Forces for Change in Latin America, New York, Praeger, 1964.
68. In contrast to 1964 (the year of Eduardo Frei Montalva's election as President) when from a total of 335,537 agricultural day workers only 1647 (0.49%) belonged to labour unions, in 1972, of a total force of 335,343, those unionized numbered 207,910 (62%). Manuel Castells, Reforma agraria, lucha de clases y poder popular en el campo chileno, Santiago, CIDU, mimeo, 1972.
69. Until the middle of the 1960s the popular movement was concentrated in the workers' movement. By 1972 it had expanded and it was estimated that there were about 800,000 members of neighbourhood and village movements within a vast network of territorial organizations up and down the country. This amounted to a greater number than all rural and urban workers' unions. Manuel Castells, "El movimiento de pobladores y lucha de clases en Chile", in Revista Latinamericana de Estudios Urbanos Regionales (EURE) 3(7) (1973): 9-35.
70. See for example Irma Palma, ed., En tierra extraña: itinerario del pueblo pentecostal chileno, Santiago, Amerinda, 1988, which contains interviews with 10 Chilean Pentecostal leaders.
71. Cf. Lalive, op.cit. Note 1, pp. 106ff.
72. Hans Tennekes, El movimiento pentecostal en Chile, Iquique, CIREN, 1985.
73. See the chapter "Ecumenism of Trial" in Lalive, op.cit. Note 1, pp. 161-190.
74. Two lengthy accounts are provided by Pamela Constable and Arturo Valenzuela, A Nation of Enemies: Chile under Pinochet, New York, Norton, 1991; and Mary Helen Spooner, Soldiers in a Narrow Land: The Pinochet Regime in Chile, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1994.
75. Two lengthy accounts are provided by Pamela Constable and Arturo Valenzuela, A Nation of Enemies: Chile under Pinochet, New York, Norton, 1991; and Mary Helen Spooner, Soldiers in a Narrow Land: The Pinochet Regime in Chile, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1994.
76. On the subject of Protestants during this period, see Humberto Lagos, Crisis de la esperanza. Religión y autoritarismo en Chile, Santiago, Presor/Lar, 1988.
77. "The Indigenous Churches in Latin America", Practical Anthropology 8 (1961): 97-105.
78. Cf. Francisco C. Rolim, "Pentecôtisme et société au Brésil", Social Compass 26(2/3) (1979): 345-372, here p. 346.
79. See Claudio Véliz, The New World of the Gothic Fox: Culture and Economy in English and Spanish America, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1994.