On this week’s episode of Yeah Nah Pasaran! on 3CR we talk to journalist Elle Hardy [Twitter]. Elle is the author of Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity Is Taking Over the World (Hurst, 2021):
How has a Christian movement, founded at the turn of the twentieth century by the son of freed slaves, become the fastest-growing religion on Earth? Pentecostalism has 600 million followers; by 2050, they’ll be one in ten people worldwide. This is the religion of the Holy Spirit, with believers directly experiencing God and His blessings: success for the mind, body, spirit and wallet.
Pentecostalism is a social movement. It serves impoverished people in Africa and Latin America, and inspires anti-establishment leaders from Trump to Bolsonaro. In Australia, Europe and Korea, it throws itself into culture wars and social media, offering meaning and community to the rootless and marginalised in a fragmenting world.
Reporting this revolution from twelve countries and six US states, Elle Hardy weaves a timeless tale of miracles, money and power, set in our volatile age of extremes. By turns troubling and entertaining, Beyond Belief exposes the Pentecostal agenda: not just saving souls, but transforming societies and controlling politics. These modern prophets, embedded in our institutions, have the cash and the influence to wage their holy war.
See/hear also : The Hillsong family emails, 7am (The Saturday Paper), May 26, 2022 | Hillsong: scathing internal letter denounces church response to Brian Houston’s ‘unhealthy’ leadership, Elle Hardy, The Guardian, April 22, 2022 | The Realization and Suppression of Religion, Ken Knabb, March 1977.
4.30pm, Thursday, June 2, 2022 /// 3CR /// 855AM / streaming live on the 3CR website
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