Tuesday, February 24, 2009

A half Billion of us under Investigation

It's all good. Pentecostals are going to be studied. All 500 million of us. I'll be interested to see what they say. Here is the background:

"Our goal is to inspire research partnerships around the globe and fund projects that will shape the discussion for years to come," said Donald Miller, executive director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture, and author of Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement. "We are interested in understanding why Pentecostalism is growing so rapidly, what impact it is having on society, and how it is different in various cultural settings."

Representing approximately 500 million adherents around the world, Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity is distinguished both by its powerful forms of worship, prayer, and manifestation of the Spirit, and its entrepreneurial drive generating profound social, cultural, and economic changes. Sustained academic research by sociologists, anthropologists, economists, political scientists, and other scholars is necessary to understand the significant growth and impact of this religious movement.


By the way, there are far more than 500 million of us. Lots of people in Africa, India and China.

You can only study those you can find. I think the real number is closer to a billion than not.

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