Paul Freston's book is a pioneering comparative study of the political aspects of the new mass evangelical Protestantism of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia. The book examines twenty-seven countries from the three major continents of the Third World, burrowing deep into the specificities of each country's religious and political fields. The conclusion looks at the implications of evangelical politics for democracy, nationalism and globalization. This unique account of the politics of global evangelicalism will be of interest across disciplines and in many different parts of the world.

In Latin America, evangelical Protestantism poses an increasing challenge to Catholicism's long-established religious hegemony. At the same time, the region is among the most generally democratic outside the West, despite often being labeled as 'underdeveloped.' Scholars disagree whether Latin American Protestantism, as a fast-growing and predominantly lower-class phenomenon, will encourage a political culture that is repressive and authoritarian, or if it will have democratizing effects. Drawing from a range of sources, Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Latin America provides case studies of five countries: Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. The contributors, mainly scholars based in Latin America, bring first hand-knowledge to their chapters. The result is a groundbreaking work that explores the relationship between Latin American evangelicalism and politics, its influences, manifestations, and prospects for the future. Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Latin America is one of four volumes in the series Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in the Global South, which seeks to answer the question: What happens when a revivalist religion based on scriptural orthodoxy participates in the volatile politics of the Third World? At a time when the global-political impact of another revivalist and scriptural religion - Islam - fuels vexed debate among analysts the world over, these volumes offer an unusual comparative perspective on a critical issue: the often combustible interaction of resurgent religion and the developing world's unstable politics.

When American evangelicals flocked to Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe in the late twentieth century to fulfill their Biblical mandate for global evangelism, their experiences abroad led them to engage more deeply in foreign policy activism at home. Lauren Frances Turek tracks these trends and illuminates the complex and significant ways in which religion shaped America's role in the late–Cold War world. In To Bring the Good News to All Nations, she examines the growth and influence of Christian foreign policy lobbying groups in the United States beginning in the 1970s, assesses the effectiveness of Christian efforts to attain foreign aid for favored regimes, and considers how those same groups promoted the imposition of economic and diplomatic sanctions on those nations that stifled evangelism. Using archival materials from both religious and government sources, To Bring the Good News to All Nations links the development of evangelical foreign policy lobbying to the overseas missionary agenda. Turek's case studies—Guatemala, South Africa, and the Soviet Union—reveal the extent of Christian influence on American foreign policy from the late 1970s through the 1990s. Evangelical policy work also reshaped the lives of Christians overseas and contributed to a reorientation of U.S. human rights policy. Efforts to promote global evangelism and support foreign brethren led activists to push Congress to grant aid to favored, yet repressive, regimes in countries such as Guatemala while imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on nations that persecuted Christians, such as the Soviet Union. This advocacy shifted the definitions and priorities of U.S. human rights policies with lasting repercussions that can be traced into the twenty-first century.

This book argues that local and global religious social forces are primarily responsible for the social developments in communities in the global south.

What happens when a revivalist religion based on scriptural orthodoxy participates in the volatile politics of the Third World? This volume considers the case of Africa, the region with the world's fastest-expanding population. Christianity, especially in its evangelical and Pentecostal forms, has acquired many millions of new adherents in Africa in recent decades. The attitudes and behavior of these believers could have vast consequences for growth, development and democratization. In his Introduction, editor Terence Ranger provides a historical overview. The book then offers individual case studies of six countries: Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, and Mozambique. The contributors, mainly younger scholars based in Africa, bring first-hand knowledge to their chapters and employ both field and archival research to develop their data and analyses. The result is a groundbreaking work that will be indispensable to everyone concerned with the future of this volatile region.

Although a minority of the Asian population, Protestants in Asia are a fast-growing group. What are the political implications of this evangelical Christianity? In some cases, religion has enabled poor and marginalized people to gain greater prosperity, self-confidence and civic skills, and more open-minded and democratic societies. But does religion have the kind of cultural currency needed to generate political changes in governments such as China's? Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Asia provides six case studies on China, Western India, Northeast India, Indonesia, South Korea, and the Philippines. The contributors, mainly younger scholars based in Asia, bring first hand-knowledge to their chapters. The result is a groundbreaking work, indispensable to everyone concerned with the future of the region.Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Asia is one of four volumes in the series Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in the Global South and grew from a Pew-funded study that sought to answer the question: What happens when a revivalist religion based on scriptural orthodoxy participates in the volatile politics of the Third World? At a time when the global-political impact of another revivalist and scriptural religion - Islam - fuels debate, these volumes offer an unusual comparative perspective.

The Cambridge History of Religions in Latin America covers religious history in Latin America from pre-Conquest times until the present. This publication is important; first, because of the historical and contemporary centrality of religion in the life of Latin America; second, for the rapid process of religious change which the region is undergoing; and third, for the region's religious distinctiveness in global comparative terms, which contributes to its importance for debates over religion, globalization, and modernity. Reflecting recent currents of scholarship, this volume addresses the breadth of Latin American religion, including religions of the African diaspora, indigenous spiritual expressions, non-Christian traditions, new religious movements, alternative spiritualities, and secularizing tendencies.