Abstract

Over the past decades, Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity has arguably become the fastest growing religious movement in the world. Distinguishing features of this variant of Christianity include formal ritual activities as well as informal, experiential, and ecstatic forms of worship. This book examines Pentecostal-charismatic ritual practice in different parts of the world, highlighting, among other things, the crucial role of ritual in creating religious communities and identities.

“The book is a solid piece of work…Besides the theoretical novelties, the amount of empiric material that is presented is one of the book’s major benefits…the anthology represents a breakthrough in Pentecostal studies...it is one of the most interesting books that has been written on charismatic Christianity for a long time, and it must absolutely be read by everyone with an interest in Pentecostalism or/and ritual theory.”  ·  Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review

“The quality of the essays is thankfully high, even as the cumulative result of the volume is suggestive for rethinking contemporary theories of ritual. This suggests that Practicing the Faithnot only tells us about pentecostal-charismatic life, but it also has methodological implications for anthropologists and other students of ritual. The study of Pentecostalism, thus, shows itself to be no less surprising than the phenomenon itself.”  ·  Religious Studies Review

"This is a welcome collection of essays on ritual within Pentecostal and charismatic churches [that] will stake out new ground in a very crowded field."  ·  Matthew Engelke, London School of Economics

Martin Lindhardt is a lecturer in ethnology at the University of Copenhagen. His research and writing mainly focus on Pentecostalism in Chile and on charismatic revivalism, witchcraft, medical pluralism, and occult economies in Tanzania.