Posted on 10/07/2006 6:40:10 AM PDT by NYer
NEW YORK - A new 10-nation survey of Pentecostal and charismatic Christians, considered the fastest-growing stream of Christianity worldwide, shows they are deeply influencing the Roman Catholic and mainstream Protestant churches and are poised to make a big impact on global affairs. p>The poll released Thursday by the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that "spirit-filled" Christians, who speak in tongues and believe in healing through prayer, comprise at least 10 percent of the population in nine of the 10 surveyed countries.
The study also found that followers are more willing than previously thought to bring their traditional values into public debates, potentially shaping government policies in the years ahead.
The surveys were conducted over the spring and summer in Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, India, the Philippines, South Korea" /> Researchers polled both Pentecostals, who form their own denominations such as the Assemblies of God, and charismatics, who have adopted some Pentecostal beliefs but remain members of traditional Protestant and Catholic churches.
The survey estimated that Pentecostals and charismatics together comprise at least half the population of Brazil, Guatemala and Kenya, and 44 percent of the Philippines.
They make up about one-third of the population of South Africa and Chile and nearly one-quarter of Nigerians and U.S. residents. The figure for South Korea is smaller, at 11 percent. In India, the poll was limited to three states with large Christian populations, so a national estimate could not be made.
The study found Pentecostal beliefs have a strong hold in major churches in many countries.
In the traditionally Catholic nations of Brazil, Guatemala and the Philippines, charismatics are a larger share of the population than Pentecostals.
In six of the 10 countries, Pentecostals and charismatics together make up the majority of the overall Protestant population, according to the survey.
The Pentecostal movement, which began a century ago in Los Angeles, spread quickly overseas because of its adaptability to local cultures, whose indigenous beliefs often include healings and casting out of evil spirits, and because of the exuberance of its worship.
While Pentecostals and charismatics are known for speaking in tongues, the survey found respondents were more likely to say that they had personally witnessed or experienced other signs of the Holy Spirit, such as a healing through prayer or a direct revelation from God.
The majority of Pentecostals in every nation surveyed except South Korea and India believed religious groups should express their views on social and political issues. In seven of the 10 countries, 70 percent of charismatics agreed.
"These are folks for whom the world of spirit is remarkably alive ... but that in no way diminishes their commitment to social justice for the poor, for instance, or a role for government in meeting those needs," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum.
The polls were conducted by phone in the U.S., and in person overseas, with margins of error ranging from plus or minus 4 percentage points to 9 percentage points for some subgroups.
The polls in Brazil, South Africa and South Korea focused on urban areas.
Do they have hot babes at least?
Actually, the IQ slam is wholesale false.
A LOT of research has proven that.
A retraction would be in order.
Fad??? At the current rate of growth, Pentecostals/Charismatics will be the largest Christian category worldwide by the middle of century.
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Already true in Brazil, much of So America and much of Asia and Africa.
Sorry... want some meat with my church service...
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Yes, that happens sometimes. Some worship times go on when they shouldn't. Sometimes folks try and wind up things pretending it's Holy Spirit.
But the opposite happens probably at least as often.
Why is there not a complaint about the times when HOLY SPIRIT has pressed and anointed for a whole evening of very anointed, meaty, lastingly potent 100% WORSHIP which was set aside because the preacher liked to hear himself talk?
A worship service where HOLY SPIRIT FALLS IN MIGHT AND POWER AND DRAWS FOLKS DEEPER INTO GOD IS LASTINGLY MEATY IN WAYS THAT WORDS--EVEN SCRIPTURAL WORDS FROM MAN--JUST CAN NEVER EVEN BEGIN TO APPROACH OR MATCH. If you have not experienced such, you have missed out on something incredibly meaty and potent.
Why does it have to be either or?
I've been to Pentecostal Churches where the Spirit of God did move, but the emotional aspect of their comprehension often resulted in a rather shallow less a less stable faith, and people did come and go more so than in more traditional churches.
I've also been to Baptist Churches that are known more for their Biblical teachings and have found people more stable in the faith because they are founded on the Word of God more so than than Pentecostal tend to be.
The Spirit of God lives in His Word and moves more through sound teaching of the scripture than emotional displays. But I still love the Pentecostal Church.
Yes, I am and we do
If you look at the original Pentecost, the Apostles spoke in a language that was UNDERSTOOD by all that heard, in their own tongue and dialect. If someone speaks in a language that people cannot understand, it is quite simply BS.
I am afraid that some take advantage of this and interfere with giving out of God's bread to the flock.
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True. And some intellecutal, ego driven sorts . . . given to hearing themselves talk and/or heavy into control . . . have
UNBIBLICALLY QUENCED THE SPIRIT for service after service for YEARS. Holy Spirit has essentially given up on the group and gone elsewhere with His anointing, gifts and miracles. The group is left with a hollow shell of what might have been.
Amazing. This is exactly what unbelievers said about the first Christian in New Testament times...specifically when they spoke in tongues.
They accused them of being drunk.
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INDEED!
Maybe the Protestant Churches, but not Catholicism!
Um...
They already have been for decades.
There's a wonderful Spirit-Filled retreat center in Pecos New Mexico.
Just large deadly white washed sterile tombs.
I once new a couple--counselors both--who traveled vastly in evangelical Christianity.
They were not Pentecostal, as far as I can recall.
They persistently began to notice that the Assemblies of God had more beautiful women and even more handsome men. They thought they were imagining things. But then they began to really pay attention in a more consistent way. They found it to be persistently true. They didn't have an explanation. It was just a curiosity to them. And, it was a vastly significant difference, in their judgment.
Jesus of course said this about the Pharisees who rejected Him as Son of God.
WRONG.
St Paul mentioned speaking in the
TONGUES OF MEN
AND
TONGUES OF ANGELS.
It helps when a post is more Scripturally accurate.
Pretty standard, I'm sorry to say.
Used to be on FR, there were only a few of us Pentecostal types who'd dare to post anything at all. ANY posts by us were immediately descended upon with great knives and hostility to the max.
The Spirit-focused amongst us just left because the poison was so intense and constant.
THINGS HAVE MUCH IMPROVED! I think much of it is due to God's working and many more of us being an active part of FR.
And, I think much of it is due to the much more fair administration of the newer Sir Religion Moderator. AND PTL FOR HIM!
Thanks.
Agreed.
I have been a member of several Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches.
Currently, I am a member of a Vineyard church which I didn't know when I started going is considered pentecostal.
I grew up in Texas, and moved to Northern California after college about 20 years ago. I had a hard time finding a church in Northern California. Some of the churches were full of old people, and I did not get anything from those churches spiritually. Then there were the churches that seemed very liberal.
Some of my neighbors that I was close to were going to my current church. I visited. In the five years that I have been there, there have been several sermons on gifts of the spirits to explain what they are. I personally have never heard anyone speaking in tongues at our church. People talk about God sending them passages to read to the church, or some say they have had a dream about something that they think is a message from God. We've prayed for people to be healed, and I only know of one person who may have been healed after being prayed over in a sermon. She is a woman I have known for a long time, and has been dealing with a back problem. She only told a few of us that she thought she had been healed.
The worship is definitely more contemporary. I would prefer a more traditional worship, but my husband likes the contemporary worship.
What I like most about the sermons is that our minister goes over Bible passages and then he explains things that he knows about them (what the words mean in Greek, historical references, etc). Our pastor also likes to tell us what he is preaching about so that we can e-mail him questions beforehand.
Most of the people in my church our highly educated. We're in Silicon Valley, so we have a lot of engineers like my husband and I. Some of the women work, and some stay at home (like me).
Anyway, I don't think we're too extreme. We do place a high value on prayer, fellowship, and reading the Bible.
I think there are different churches for different types of people. As long as they are following the Bible, then I think they are okay. Of course, people can interpret the Bible differently, and I would hate to make too many judgements about that.
Just on the side. My church is trying figure out if we are staying with the Vineyard movement. We disagree with their stance on an issue about women pastors.
YUP.
I think it's important to insure that such groups are spiritually, Scripturally balanced; humble, loving, warm.
Nothing stinks worse than a very skewed, sick Pentecostal group.
But nothing is more Christlike or powerful than a balanced super anointed one, either. And nothing grows the Body of Christ more, either.
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