This book investigates the life and leadership of Lewi Pethrus, a monumental figure in Swedish and international Pentecostalism. Joel Halldorf describes Pethrus' role in the emergence of Pentecostalism in Sweden, the ideals and practices of Swedish Pentecostalism, and the movement's turn to professional party politics.

When Pentecostals in the USA ventured into politics, they became allied with the Republican party, and later Donald Trump. The Swedish Pentecostals took another route: while culturally conservative, they embraced the progressive economic politics of the Social Democratic party. During the 2010s, they have also rejected the nationalism of the growing populist movement. Halldorf analyzes and explains these differences between Swedish evangelicals and Pentecostals on the one hand, and the Religious Right in the USA on the other.

Autorentext

Joel Halldorf is Associate Professor at the University College Stockholm and docent in Church history at Uppsala University. He is a regular contributor to several newspapers and magazines in Sweden.

Inhalt

Chapter 1 Introduction: A Life Bent Towards Politics

Chapter 2 Born And Born Again: The Making Of A Counter-Cultural Identity

PART I: LIFE IN THE PENTECOSTAL POLIS

Chapter 3 Visions Of The Polis: From Denominational Bureaucracy To Spiritual Community

Chapter 4 The Capital Of Power: Charisma, Friendship, And Institutions

Chapter 5 Escaping The Iron Cage: Pentecostalism And The Malaise Of Modernity

PART II: SUSTAINING A COMMON LIFE: STRIFE AND POLITICAL STRUCTURES Chapter 6 Flirting With Fanaticism: Ecstasy, Authenticity, And Middle Class Respectability

Chapter 7 Lonely At The Top: Calling And The Cost Of Leadership

Chapter 8 All About The Money? Saving Souls Or Funding Ceos

Chapter 9 Church Politics For Revivalism: How To Contain Latter Rain

III: PENTECOSTAL POLITICS IN THE WORLD

Chapter 10 Mission In Modernity: Large-Scale Projects And Episcopal Structures

Chapter 11 Dreaming Of A Christian Nation: Pentecostal Party Politics Chapter 12 Epilogue. Swedish Evangelicalism And The American Religious Right (Or: Why Swedish Pentecostals Are Not Trumpists)