Reason to Believe by David Smilde

Reason to Believe by David Smilde

Evangelical Protestantism has arguably become the fastest-growing religion in South America, if not the world. For converts, it emphasizes self-discipline and provides a network of communal support, which together have helped many overcome substance abuse, avoid crime and violence, and resolve relationship problems. But can people simply decide to believe in a religion because of the benefits it reportedly delivers? Based on extensive fieldwork among Pentecostal men in Caracas, Venezuela, this rich urban ethnography seeks an explanation for the explosion of Evangelical Protestantism, unraveling the cultural and personal dynamics of Evangelical conversion to show how and why these men make the choice to convert, and how they come to have faith in a new system of beliefs and practices.

Within the context of a continuous social crisis, I consider Smilde's book a most valuable and helpful contribution in this fieldMissiology

David Smilde is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Georgia. He is co-author, with Margarita Lopez Maya and Keta Stephany, of Protesta y cultura en Venezuela: Los Marcos de accion colectiva en 1999.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780520249431
ISBN 10	0520249437
Title	Reason to Believe
Author	David Smilde
Series	The Anthropology Of Christianity
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	University of California Press
Year published	2007-07-02
Number of pages	277
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.