Regardless of one’s moral stance toward Prosperity theology, its global impact cannot be dismissed as it continues to grow in influence, including within centers of political power, writes Simon Coleman (University of Toronto) in the bulletin of the Observatoire International du Religieux (April). A cultural logic of material and institutional growth is central to Prosperity […]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) continues to expand and grow more international in Spain, reports the Salt Lake Tribune (May 2). The church has grown more among immigrants than among native Spanish people, Mark Eddington writes. It was the late filmmaker Jose Maria Oliveira, a Latter-day Saint since 1966, who played […]
Chinese evangelical Protestant churches are expanding in France, congregations originating from several Chinese Christian diaspora groups that shared the same faith without being homogeneous. Writing in the French ecumenical studies journal Istina (January–June), Eric Pires Antunes (Psalt College in Paris) reports that there are now 50 Chinese evangelical churches in France, with more than 40 […]
Ukrainian Protestants are grappling with their historical commitment to pacifism in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country, which has forced them to reassess their beliefs amid the violence, reports David Kirichenko in the Kyiv Post (April 13). “Protestants make up around 2–4 percent of Ukraine’s population, but their influence, especially in central […]
The recent terrorist attacks by Islamic jihadists against tourists in Kashmir and the threats by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pursue them and their backers in Pakistan have revealed an emerging marriage between radical Islam and communism, reports the Washington Free Beacon (April 26). “Pakistan is the classic example of this nexus,” Mike Watson […]
The belief in Nigeria that there are months of the year particularly marked by demonic forces has been influenced by a combination of Pentecostal and indigenous African beliefs, writes Nduka Udeagha in the Journal of Religion in Africa (online in April). What are called the “ember months,” marking the end of the year, are associated […]
New religious movements in the Philippines are having an impact on politics, but they are also likely to feel the repercussions of this contentious election year, writes Yuchen Ma in the online journal Religions (April 7). While the Philippines is still a strongly Catholic country, new religious movements (NRMs), often based in Christianity (unlike other […]
As its momentum has dissipated, Hillsong’s place within the Contemporary Congregational Song (CCS) industry has been irrevocably altered, writes Daniel Thornton (Alphacrucis College, NSW, Australia) in the journal Religions (March 27). For decades, Hillsong was the dominant producer of the contemporary worship music used in churches worldwide. By 2017, it had managed to become a […]
New Calvinism, known for its impact on the wider evangelical world in the early 2000s, has retreated to more internal concerns, primarily serving its own community, writes social forecaster Aaron Renn in his Substack newsletter (March 7). The movement generated a considerable number of institutions, spokesmen, and old and new media and publishing outlets compared […]
A growing number of converts to various forms of Protestantism in France come from Catholic backgrounds, reflecting broader societal shifts in religious attachment, writes Claire Bernole in the French Catholic weekly La Vie (April 3). According to an Ifop survey published in January, 25 percent of French Protestants were not born into Protestant families, with […]
