Sophisticated study of religion and political culture compares rhetoric of 'the people' in the practices of Catholic Christian Base Communities and Pentecostal or Neo-Pentecostal congregations. Concludes that basista communities build small but powerful dissident elites among the poor, understandable in traditional terms of the relation between elite and popular culture, while crente congregations lead masses of the poor to break radically with what is rhetorically 'popular' and thus with familiar Brazilian political bargains"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.

Using the concept of a "religious market", this volume explores how African Traditional Religions and churches within Prophetic Pentecostalism in Zimbabwe seek to attract and retain members and clients. Chapters provide extensive coverage of two of the leading churches, namely, Emmanuel Makandiwa's United Family International Church (UFIC) and Walter Magaya's Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries (PHD). Contributors also explore the strategies adopted by Pentecostalism in general, while others focus on African Traditional Religions. They show that although Prophetic Pentecostalism has gained a significant share of the market in Zimbabwe and in Southern Africa in general, it is not without controversy. In particular, it has been associated with the abuse of women and exploiting members and clients for financial gain. Innovation and Competition in Zimbabwean Pentecostalism is an important contribution to understanding the marketization of religion.

Pentecostal forms of Christianity have now taken a dynamic role in contemporary Christianity, often at the vanguard of new movements and spiritual vitality among Christians in the late modern world. The many movements which constitute global Pentecostalism share in common an intense commitment to the Bible and life in the Spirit. Over the past several decades, Pentecostal biblical scholarship has played an important role in resourcing Pentecostal theologies. These elements come together in this volume in which leading Pentecostal biblical scholars from around the world account for the appearance of the divine Spirit, putting forth a defining work from a seminal generation of scholars. Contributors are: J. Ayodeji Adewuya, Kenneth J. Archer, Melissa Archer, Emma M. Austin, Holly Beers, Michael L. Brown, Blaine Charette, Jacob Cherian, Roger D. Cotton, Daniel K. Darko, Finny Philip, Roji Thomas George, Jacqueline Grey, Alicia R. Jackson, Wonsuk Ma, Lee Roy Martin, Robert P. Menzies, Brian Neil Peterson, Rebecca Skaggs, Joe Thomas, John Christopher Thomas, Robby Waddell, Rick Wadholm, Nimi Wariboko, Cynthia Long Westfall.