Subtitle: The Pentecostal Boom and the Pathogens of Poverty
Author: R. Andrew Chesnut
Subject: Latin American Studies/History/Religion
Cloth ISBN 0-8135-2405-9
Paperback ISBN 0-8135-2406-7
Pages: 224 pp., 18 b&w illus.

"An exciting and provocative book! Without sensationalizing, Chesnut brings us to an understanding of the spiritual and emotional profundity of conversion."-Virginia Garrard-Burnett, Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas, Austin

"An engaging case study of one of the most successful Pentecostal bodies in Latin America. Importantly, it focuses on what most Latin American Pentecostals do-personal healing."-David Stoll, author of Is Latin America Turning Protestant?

"For vivid insight, lively narrative and persuasive use of life histories, this is a major piece of ethnography."-David Martin, University of London

As spiritual revolution is transforming the religious landscape of Latin America. Evangelical Protestantism, particularly Pentecostalism, has replaced Catholicism as the leading religion in thousands of barrios on the urban periphery. But in few Latin American nations have Protestants multiplied as rapidly as in Brazil. What accounts for this rise?

Combining historical, political, and ethnographic research, R. Andrew Chesnut shows that the relationship between faith healing and illness in the conversion process is integral to the popularity of Pentecostalism among Brazil's poor. While providing analysis of the economic and political factors, Chesnut draws on his extensive interview material to capture his informants' conversion experience. In doing so, he both provides a historical framework for understanding Pentecostalism in Latin America and insight into the motivations and beliefs of the crentes themselves.

R. Andrew Chesnut received his Ph.D. in Latin American history at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is currently a lecturer there.