Pentecostalism’S Theological Reconstruction Of The Identity Of The Latin American Family

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the role and significance of God's counterpart in Chilean Pentecostalism. It argues that Pentecostals need the image of a powerful enemy so as to demonstrate the superior power of God and that their understandings of divine blessings, power and consequential intervention in human affairs are intrinsically intertwined with notions of diabolic resistance and deceptions. The chapter places analytical emphasis on the ways in which diabologies provide Pentecostals with an interpretative framework for understanding and addressing intra-church tensions and conflicts. Drawing on the scholarly literature on African witchcraft it also argues that perceived patterns of satanic/demonic strategies for creating disharmony among church members point towards inherent structural tensions within Pentecostal communities. The chapter is based on a total of 16 months of ethnographic field work in the city of Valparaiso in central Chile between 1999 and 2009. Keywords:Chilean Pentecostalism; diabologies; God; Pentecostals; satan; Valparaiso