The Encyclopedia of World Religions

340 S persecution, religious

2001); The Century of the Holy Spirit: 100 Years of Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal, 1901–2001, ed. Vinson Synan (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001); Elaine J. Lawless, God’s Peculiar People: Women’s Voices and Folk Tradition in a Pentecostal Church (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1988); David Martin, Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2002); The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, 2002); Grant Wacker, Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001). persecution, religious The mistreatment and deprivation of rights of people because of their religion. A disturbing feature of the history of reli gion is the way in which certain religions have often been considered unacceptable by the state, or by the dominant religion in collusion with the state, or even by independent “vigilante” groups within a society determined to take the law into their hands. These religions have suffered perse cution. The nature of the persecution can range from the suppression of information about the unacceptable religion in books and other media, to the destruction or confiscation of its property, the arrest of its members, and finally the massa cre of its adherents, often to the accompaniment of horrible torture. Examples are manifold. Christians were persecuted under the Roman Empire, and after the triumph of Christianity, Jews and those deemed “heretics,” or holders of incorrect beliefs, were persecuted within Christendom. In early modern Europe and North America, “witches” were persecuted, tortured, and put to death. Com parable accounts could be given from the Islamic world, traditional China and Japan, and elsewhere. Even in the contemporary world, wars based on religion that amount to persecution take place, and even in countries supposedly recognizing freedom of religion, religious groups popularly regarded as “cults” or otherwise unacceptable have suffered various degrees of persecution.

Many have criticized Pentecostalism in the southern hemisphere as spreading not Christianity but capitalism and a lifestyle based on consuming material goods. Those who are attracted to libera tion theology have expressed that criticism quite sharply. (Liberation theologians, influenced by Marxism, have seen the goal of Christianity as the elimination of poverty and oppression; some have favored bringing this about by violent means.) But liberation theology no longer enjoys the favor that it once did. Furthermore, Pentecostals counter that they are doing people more good than armed rebellion ever did. They are helping them integrate productively into the changing worlds in which they find themselves. Some Pentecostal churches are churches founded by American missionaries, but local preachers have probably been most important in the spread of Pentecostalism. Their churches include the so-called AICs—an acronym whose first letter stands for African, whose last letter stands for churches, but whose middle letter has been rendered a number of different ways, includ ing independent, indigenous, and initiated. Latin American Pentecostalism has been particularly strong in Brazil and Chile and in central American countries such as Costa Rica. In Asia it has done well in India, Indonesia, and Korea. Some claim great successes for Pentecostalism in Europe, too, including the former Soviet Union, but others argue that the successes there have really not been very large. SIGNIFICANCE When Pentecostalism first arose 100 years ago, many people looked down on it and expected it to be a passing fancy. Today outsiders still find much to reject in Pentecostalism. Nevertheless, Pentecos talism turned out to be one of the major Christian movements of the 20th century and is now a major force in Christianity around the world. Further reading: Between Babel and Pentecost: Transnational Pentecostalism in Africa and Latin America, ed. André Corten and Ruth Marshall Fratani (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,