The Economist explains

Why is Protestantism flourishing in the developing world?

As it sinks in the West, the faith is finding new followers elsewhere

By R.G.

PROTESTANTISM has played a large part in the development of the modern, liberal world. It has contributed to the emergence of concepts such as freedom of conscience, tolerance and the separation of powers. But as the world marks the 500th anniversary of the start of the Reformation, the faith’s axis is shifting. The percentage of Western Europeans and North Americans professing Protestantism is declining, whereas in the developing world the proportion is growing fast. For much of the 20th century, global secularisation was considered inevitable as nations modernised. But the developing world is actually becoming more religious, part of what Peter Berger, a sociologist, called the “desecularisation” of the world. At the heart of this religious resurgence have been Islam and Pentecostalism, a branch of Protestant Christianity. Islam grew at an annual average of 1.9% between 2000 and 2017, mainly as the result of a high birth rate. Pentecostalism grew at 2.2% each year, mainly by conversion. Half of developing-world Christians are Pentecostal, evangelical or charismatic (all branches of the faith emphasise the authority of the Bible and the need for a spiritual rebirth). Why are people so attracted to it?

Christianity has always had ecstatic elements, but modern Pentecostalism was born during the “Azusa Street revival” in Los Angeles in 1906. Led by a black preacher named William Seymour, congregants, many of them female, black or poor, began to experience the “baptism of the Holy Spirit”. This led them to speak in tongues, to prophesy and to experience miraculous healing. The movement spread across America and on to the developing world. In Africa, Latin America and Asia, the growth of the faith has coincided with large-scale economic reform and urban migration. The teaching that all people are made in the image of God helps give dignity to the downtrodden. It is a bootstrapping, forward-looking faith and its cultural malleability, with no requirement for clergy, makes it suitable to populations on the move, seeking new social identities and communities.

Berger called evangelicalism (under which he included Pentecostalism) a very modern faith, with an act of personal decision at the core of its piety. In the developing world it is associated with Western modernity. Preachers in Guatemalan megachurches and teachers in Chinese universities talk about Max Weber, a 19th-century German sociologist. He described the virtues of a “Protestant work ethic” that drives people to work hard and live frugally, and so helps drive the economy. Though the faith’s impact is less profound economically in today’s globalised world than in early modern Europe, Pentecostalism is bringing change to poor societies. Research has found that men who become Pentecostal Christians tend to give up alcohol and prostitutes, and that their families benefit. Women receive empowerment from the message that everyone has worth before God. The desire to read the Bible gives a boost to literacy programmes. In many parts of the developing world, the Pentecostal church is the only functioning organisation of civil society.

One result has been an explosion of the faith. Protestants have grown from 15% of the population of Africa in 1970 (some 54m people) to 29% today (more than 340m). In Latin America, they have gone from 8% (23m) to 19% (121m) over the same period. Some countries, such as Guatemala and Honduras are now over 40% Protestant. More than 80m Chinese have become Protestants in the past 40 years. The big question is whether the millions of individual transformations resulting from Pentecostal conversion can be translated into a deeper societal transformation. This is something that Pentecostals have not traditionally done well. Protestants have often lacked unity, and Pentecostal engagement in politics has been shallow and easily corrupted. For now, its influence on economics and politics in the developing world is likely to remain indirect, focusing on education, voluntarism and the push for religious freedom.

Dig deeper: Luther at 500, an essay

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