While there are a growing number of researchers who are exploring the political and social aspects of the global Renewal movement, few have provided sustained socio-economic analyses of this phenomenon. The editors and contributors to this volume offer perspectivesin light of the growth of the Renewal movement in the two-thirds world.

"The stunning spread of Pentecostalism may be the most important religious reality of the late twentieth and earlytwenty-first centuries. But the movement is so multi-faceted it is hard to say: What does its growth mean for the globalized world or for the larger church? The burdgeoing of 'prosperity preaching' among Penecostals puts this question more pointedly. Why has this preaching been so well received? Is it a betrayal of the Gospel or retrieval of one of its vital overlooked dimensions? This balanced and well-documented collection addresses these and other issues about the fastest growing theological current in the fastest growing Christian movement. No one seriously concerned about the role of Christianity in thetwenty-first century should miss reading it." - Harvey Cox, author of The Future of Faith

Autorentext
Amos Yong is Professor of Theology & Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California, USA.

Inhalt
Introduction: Pentecostalism and Prosperity: Historical and Global Contexts; K.L.Attanasi PART I: THEOLOGY AND ETHICS OF PROSPERITY A Typology of the Prosperity Theology: A Religious Economy of Global Renewal or a Renewal Economics?; A.Yong Stop Worrying and Start Sowing! A Phenomenological Account of the Ethics of 'Divine Investment'; J.L.Walton PART II: PROSPERITY IN PRACTICE Risky Careers and Spirit-Guided Prosperity: How Prosperity Theology is Uniquely Suited to the Uncertain Work Lives of Christians in Advanced Capitalism; G.Marti Under the Radar: Pentecostalism in South Africa and Its Potential Social and Economic Role - Centre for Development and Enterprise, Johannesburg, South Africa The Prosperity Gospel among Filipino Catholic Charismatics; K.L.Wiegele The Prosperity Gospel in Brazilian Pentecostalism; P.Freston Pentecostal Paradigms of National Economic Prosperity in Africa; N.Wariboko PART III: RESPONSES An Economist's Response; D.A.Hicks A Historian's Response; R.A.Chesnut