Evangelical coaching: New Age elements in Brazilian Charismatic Christianity

Abstract

rom the 1990s on, the New Age ceased to be visible only among the exclusivist groups of salvific character, typical of the 1970s. Its values began to be disseminated among the broader culture through what was called the New Age ethos. This article seeks to show how these values are seen even among Brazilian Pentecostal Denominations. To this end, we adopt life coaching as an object. We briefly return to the history of life coaching and its relation to the New Age. We then explain how the spread of the New Age ethos into the broader society led to the incorporation of some of the New Age values and practices into even institutionalized forms of religion. Finally, we discuss how life coaching became incorporated into the plethora of religious goods also offered by Brazilian Charismatic Christians, and how Evangelical coaching maintains much of the religious logic of the New Age itself.