Amazonia, a religious revival land

the case of Pentecostalism

Abstract

Based on a localized ethnography, carried out during the visit of the televangelist Benny Hinn to Manaus, it was possible to witness the introduction of the concept “Land of Revival” in
Amazonian territory, which very quickly spread throughout the Pentecostal manauara communities. In this sense, two central questions are discussed: why this immense geographic
region, with emphasis on the cities of Belém and Manaus, is recognized by Evangelicals as a place of spiritual revival? What are the theological, anthropological and sociological reasons that explain this religious phenomenon? To answer these questions, the objective of the work is to analyze the process of introduction and adaptation of the Protestant-Pentecostal
movement in the Amazon and to understand the Pentecostal imaginary that defined that as the region of the religious revival. Findings suggest that the encounter of diverse cultures and religious practices, of traditional communities (indigenous, cabocla, riverside, peri-urban), with the North American Protestant revival, caused a complex cultural-religious hybridization, thus creating a ‘caboclo Pentecostalism’.
thus creating a ‘caboclo Pentecostalism’.