The Right Faith at the Right Time? Determinants of Protestant Mission Success in the 19th–Century Brazilian Religious Market

Abstract

The modern period of Protestant missions parallels 19th–century Western capitalist expansion, which aided northern hemisphere churches in extending their mission work to the south. In some regions, those missions followed a sponsored model, where the church was part of the larger transplanted colonial social order. In others, missions operated in an open religious market, where churches vied for their share of converts. This article compares the work of two American Protestant denominations in an open religious market (19th–century Brazil), looking for the conditions that facilitated or hindered their propagation. It finds that differences in faith and timing of arrival help explain degree of success in the host society.