Protestantism in Brazil is one of the directions of Christianity in the country. According to the data of the general census in 2010, 42.3 million Protestants lived in Brazil, which made up 22.2% of the population of this Latin American country [1] .
The number of Protestants and their total share in the population of Brazil is growing steadily, especially the last three decades. So, during the census of 1872, only 1% of Brazilians classified themselves as Protestants, in 1932 - 2.6%. In 1960, Brazilian Protestants made up 4% of the country's population; in 1980 - 6.6%; in 1991 - 9%. The previous census in 2000 counted 26.2 million Protestants (15.4%) in Brazil [2] .
In 2010, over 215 thousand Protestant churches and places of worship operated throughout the country (for comparison, the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil has 9.25 thousand parishes) [3] . Protestants of the country are united in 155 church unions (2004) [4] .
Brazilian Protestants live mainly in cities (89.5%). By ethnicity, most of them are Brazilians , and the share of Protestants among white Brazilians is slightly higher than among Afro-Brazilians and Pardos . Over half of Germans , Koreans , Tukun , Americans , English , Kainangs and Dutch living in the country are protestants . Protestant missionaries have made significant progress in evangelizing the indigenous peoples of Brazil; Nowadays, more than half of all Christians of such nations as Terena , Guazhajara , Yanomamo , Satera Mave , Guarani Kaiova , Kayapo, Kakhinava, Apurinan, Karazh, Baniva, Kanamari and some others are Protestants.
In 2010, by decree of President Lula da Silva , an official holiday was established in Brazil - National Day of Evangelical Christians , which is celebrated annually on November 30 [5] .
Content
Historical Review
The first Protestants sent by Jean Calvin to Brazil arrived in this country on March 15, 1557 and held the first service on the same day [6] . However, the mission of this group of reformers was unsuccessful; by 1566, the Portuguese expelled the French from the country. Reformers (Dutch) reappeared in Brazil in the 17th century and lived in Dutch Brazil for a short time (1630-1654); Protestants attempted to evangelize the local indigenous population, as well as slaves brought to Brazil. With the expulsion of the Dutch, the reformer community also ceased to exist. Protestants appear in Brazil again only in the 19th century, with the beginning of mass emigration from Europe. In 1819, the Anglicans opened a parish in São Paulo for English immigrants [7] . Since 1823, the first German immigrants arrived in Brazil, accompanied by Lutheran pastors; in the same year, a second Protestant church was built in Nova Friburgo Lutheran. A third Protestant temple appeared in 1824 in San Leopoldo and served the local Lutheran community [7] . In 1837, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was established in Brazil. The waves of immigration that continued until the 1930s resettled 70,000 German and Swiss Lutherans to Brazil.
In 1855, Congregational missionary Robert Callie arrived from Scotland. A little later, the American A.R. Simonton will join him, who opened the Presbyterian community in Rio de Janeiro in 1862. By the end of the 19th century, the Presbyterians were Brazil's largest Protestant denomination. As a result of the split in 1903, the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil was created; subsequent splits led to the creation of the Conservative Presbyterian Church (1938), the Fundamental Presbyterian Church (1956), the Traditional Presbyterian Church of Brazil (1993) and others. The immigrants who arrived created the national Presbyterian churches: Armenian (1927), Hungarian (1932), Dutch (1933) Arabic (1954), Swiss (1958), Japanese (1960), Chinese (1962), Korean (1964), Canadian (1994) [6] .
The first Methodist mission, begun in 1835, was unsuccessful [8] . In 1867, American Methodists again began serving in the country. The first Methodist church appeared in Rio de Janeiro in 1876. In 1930, the Methodist Church of Brazil was established.
American Baptist Thomas Bowen preached on the streets of Rio de Janeiro in 1859-1860. The first Baptist church was formed in 1871 by American immigrants in Santa Barbara . In 1881, the Southern Baptist Convention sent its first missionary to the country. In 1907, the Brazilian Baptist Convention was established. In 1913, a seventh-day Baptist community appeared in the country [9] . As early as 1890, the Latvian Baptist Church was founded in Brazil; in 1921-1923 Amid the economic crisis in Latvia and eschatological sentiments among the Baptist churches, over 2 thousand Latvian Baptists moved to Brazil (the so-called “Brazilian movement”) [10] . In the 1920s, Ukrainian and Russian Baptists moved to Brazil, who later developed active missionary activity among the Russian diaspora and converted a lot of Russians [11] .
Adventist doctrine entered Brazil at the end of the 19th century thanks to literature sent from Germany. Since 1893, the literary evangelist Albert Staufer has been serving in Brazil; by 1895 he baptized 35 immigrant Germans. It is believed that the first Adventist church appeared in 1896 in Gaspar . In 1900, the Brazilian Adventist Conference was established [12] .
In 1907, the Plymouth brothers established a Christian mission in Brazil [13] . The ministry of the Salvation Army began in 1922, after the move of "Lieutenant Colonel" David Mike from Switzerland [14] .
In early 1930, the first steamboat arrived from Hamburg to Brazil, bringing Soviet Mennonites to the country. In 1931 and 1932, new Mennonite families arrived in Brazil, who fled from Soviet Russia in 1929; In June 1934, Russian Mennonites who fled through Harbin (China) arrived in the country. At various times, perfectionist churches entered Brazil: the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) in 1923, the Church of the Nazarenes in 1958, the Christian and Missionary Alliance in 1961 [13] . The churches of Christ established a permanent ministry in Brazil in 1948.
By 1930, there were 700,000 Protestants in the country; the largest denominations among them were Baptists (30%), Presbyterians (24%), Methodists (11.5%) and independent Presbyterians (10%) [15] .
Pentecostal Movement
In 1910, Luigi Francescon, an American of Italian descent, who converted to the United States on Pentecost, arrived from Brazil to Argentina. Francescon's ministry marked the beginning of the Pentecostal Christian congregations of Brazil . In November 1910, two Swedes Daniel Berg and Adolf Gunnar Wingren came from the United States to the country. Former Baptists who accepted Pentecostalism received a prophecy about the need to become missionaries in the city of Para , whose existence they did not know [15] . The ministry of Berg and Wingren marked the beginning of the Brazilian Assemblies of God (the first service was held in 1911). In 1937, an American missionary from the United States, Horace Ward, established the Pentecostal Church of Christ in Brazil.
Starting in the 1930s, a powerful Pentecostal revival began in the country. If in 1930 in Brazil there were 40 thousand Pentecostals [16] , then by 1940 their number reached 400 thousand [8] A little later, missionaries of the Quadrilateral Gospel Church (1951), the Church of God (1951), the United Pentecostal Church arrived in Brazil. (1956), Church of the God of Prophecy (1965); at the same time, a number of Brazilian Pentecostal ministers start independent churches - the Brazil for Christ Church (1956), the New Life Christian Church (founded in 1960 by Robert McAlister), God is Love Church (1962), and the Cathedral of Blessing (founded in 1964 year Doriel de Olivieira, who left the church "Brazil for Christ"), the Church of "Maranatha" (1967). A little later, large neo-charismatic churches appeared in the country - the “Kingdom of God” (1977), the Community of Grace (founded in 1979 by Carlos Alberto de Cuadros Becerra), the International Church of God's Grace (founded in 1980 by Romildo Ribeiro Soares, who broke with the “Kingdom of God” ), Revival in Christ (1986), Gospel community “Heal our land” (founded in 1992 by Robson Rodovallo), Apostolic Church “Fountain of Life” (founded in 1994 by Cesar Augusto Machado de Souza), World Church of God's Power (founded in 1998 year Valdemiro Sant th), the Church of "Snowball" (founded in 2000 by Rinaldo Luiz Pereira, a former parishioner of rebirth in Christ Church) and others.
At the same time, Pentecostal dogma penetrated other churches. As early as 1932, some Adventists who adopted Pentecostal doctrines formed the Adventist Church of the Promise. In 1952, the Convention of Independent Baptist Churches was formed, influenced by Pentecostal preachers. In 1965, the Brazilian Baptist Convention excluded from its membership Baptist communities that recognized the practice of speaking other languages , which led to the creation of another (Pentecostal in the doctrine of the doctrine) National Baptist Convention. In 1955, the Pentecostal movement in the Methodist Church of Brazil led to the creation of the Methodist Wesleyan Church, which later became part of the International Pentecostal Church of Holiness . Another group of Methodists , having adopted Pentecostalism in 1981, formed the United Wesleyan Church. Similar processes occurred in the Presbyterians , where the Christian Presbyterian Church (1968) and the Independent Renewed Presbyterian Church (1972) arose; in 1975, these churches came together to create the Renovated Presbyterian Church of Brazil [17] .
The charismatic renewal movement also affected the Catholic communities. And although most charismatic Catholics remain faithful to the Roman Catholic Church , there are also independent Catholic churches in Brazil - the Catholic Charismatic Church (founded in 1979 by Joseph Busher in Canada), the Catholic Apostolic Renovated Church (founded in 1996 by Jader Pereira Reis), the Catholic Apostolic Charismatic Church of St. Expedito, the Catholic Apostolic Charismatic Church of Brazil, the Catholic Charismatic Church in Belem (founded in 2006), the Old Catholic Charismatic Church of Brazil, the Old Catholic Church of Brazil (founded in 2001 by John Wesley), etc.
Current status
Pentecostal
Most Brazilian Protestants are parishioners of Pentecostal and Non -Pentecostal churches (35.092 million [3] or about 85% of all Protestants [18] ). By the number of Pentecostals, Brazil is in first place in the world, while the number of believers of this denomination is growing steadily. In the early 1980s, Brazil had 5.8 million Pentecostals [19] , by 2001 their number reached 25 million [18] .
The largest Protestant church in the country is the Brazilian Assembly of God , numbering 21.5 million parishioners [20] in 116 thousand churches (including 15.6 million baptized members) [3] . Thus, approximately one third of the believers of the Assemblies of God live in Brazil. The neo-charismatic World Church “Kingdom of God” owns a network of 5875 churches in the country and unites 4 million believers [21] . The international church of the four-sided Gospel has 8600 parishes and unites 3.2 million parishioners [3] . Other major Pentecostal churches are the God is Love Church (3 million), the Church of the Renaissance in Christ (2.3 million, Neo-Charismatics), Brazil for Christ (1.9 million), Christian Congregations (1.9 million), “Maranatha” (0.75 million), the Gospel community “Heal our land” (0.75 million), the International Church of God's Grace (0.45 million), the Church of the Restoration (0.4 million) [3] . There are also smaller Pentecostal unions in the country - the Pentecostal Church of Christ (163 thousand), the Cathedral of the Blessing (126 thousand), the Christian Church “New Life” (91 thousand), the Methodist Wesleyan Church (90 thousand), the Apostolic Church “ The Fountain of Life ”(90 thousand), the United Church (51 thousand), the Church of God (49 thousand members), the Church of the Biblical Renaissance (18 thousand), the Pentecostal Church“ New Way ”(16 thousand members), the Church of God prophecies (2.4 th. [22] ), Christian churches Brazil (2.2 th.), Pentecostal church "Elim" (1.5 th.), apostolically I Church (1 ths.), and others.
It is not difficult to notice that the total number of believers of the above churches noticeably exceeds the total number of Pentecostals (35 million). This happens for two reasons: firstly, some Pentecostals can simultaneously be considered parishioners of different denominations, and secondly, some neo-charismatic unions overestimate the number of their parishioners; according to the estimates of the reference publication Operation World, the total number of double-counted Brazilian Pentecostals is 5.7 million people [3] .
In addition to Pentecostals and Neo- Charismatics , in Brazil, according to various estimates, from 20 [3] to 34 million [23] Christians are affected by the charismatic renewal movement, but who are parishioners of the Catholic Church or churches of other historical Protestant denominations. Most of these charismats remain in the bosom of the Roman Catholic Church. The largest of these Protestant churches are the National Baptist Convention (481 thousand parishioners) and the Adventist Church of the Promise (430 thousand .. believers, including 195 thousand members) [3] . The renewed Presbyterian Church of Brazil (charismatic) has 131 thousand parishioners.
Baptists
The second, after the Pentecostals, the Protestant confessional group in Brazil is made up of Baptists (2,784 million [24] ), by the number of which Brazil is in fourth place in the world, behind the USA , Nigeria and India . At the same time, the number of Baptists in the country is growing steadily; In the early 1980s, 1.1 million people adhered to the Baptist religion in Brazil [19] , in 1991 - 1.5 million [7] .
The country's largest Baptist organization, the Brazilian Baptist Convention, unites 8.2 thousand parishes and 1.536 million members. The National Baptist Convention, which has adopted Pentecostal doctrines but is part of the World Baptist Alliance, has 2.8 thousand churches and 481 thousand parishioners (including 384 thousand baptized members [25] ).
A number of small unions operate in the country - the Convention of Independent Baptists (436 communities and 68 thousand members), the Seventh Day Baptist Church (222 communities and 10 thousand members), the Biblical Baptist Brotherhood (250 communities, 9 thousand members), and the Conservative Baptist Mission (94 communities and 7.5 thousand members), Association of German Churches of Regular Baptists (10 communities and 1.6 thousand members).
Lutherans
In Brazil, the largest Lutheran community in Latin America is concentrated (951.6 thousand in 2011 [26] ). And although in absolute numbers the number of Lutherans is increasing from year to year, in percentage terms their share among the Brazilian population is falling; in the early 1980s, the country had 815 thousand believers of this denomination [19] . Currently, the country's largest Lutheran organization is the Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil. The church, a member of the World Lutheran Federation , unites 2.7 thousand parishes and 717 thousand believers. Another major Lutheran denomination - the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil has 233 thousand believers. In addition to the above, the country also has a small Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (1 thousand) [26] .
Calvinists
Another major confessional group consists of related movements - Presbyterians , Congregationalists and Reformers (1.2 million [6] ). Currently, over 20 independent Calvinist unions operate in the country. Almost half of the faithful of this denomination are parishioners of the Presbyterian Church in Brazil (520 thousand in 2.28 thousand churches). The renewed Presbyterian Church of Brazil, which adopted Pentecostal doctrines, unites 131 thousand believers. Another major Presbyterian organization, the Independent Presbyterian Church, has 100,000 believers [27] . Congregationalists are represented by two churches - the Union of Evangelical Congregational Churches of Brazil (50 thousand [28] ) and the Evangelical Congregational Church of Brazil (42 thousand [29] ).
Other churches in this area are very few. These are the United Presbyterian Church of Brazil (5.2 thousand [30] ), the Conservative Presbyterian Church (4.5 thousand [31] ), the Evangelical Reformed Church of Brazil (2.5 thousand [32] ), the Fundamental Presbyterian Church of Brazil ( 2 thousand [33] ), the Korean Presbyterian Church of Brazil (1.8 thousand [34] ), etc.
Other Protestants
Brazil is in second place (after India) in the number of baptized members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (1.2 million members in 6109 churches [35] ). The Adventist Church of the Promise has 430 thousand believers, (including 195 thousand church members) in 558 parishes. In addition to the above, in Brazil there are other small Adventist groups - the Church of God (seventh day), Adventists of the seventh day of the Reformation movement , etc.
The Methodist Church of Brazil has 279 thousand parishioners (including 215 thousand members) [36] . There are a lot of believers in the Holiness Movement in the country, primarily the Nazarene Church (125 thousand [37] ), as well as the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana - 6.5 thousand [38] ) and the Christian and Missionary Alliance (3 thousand [ 39] ).
Anglicans are represented in Brazil by the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil (120 thousand [40] ), as well as by some other very small unions, such as the Anglican Reformed Church of Brazil, which left the Episcopal Church in 2005 without recognizing liberal tendencies in it.
The largest of the five Mennonite unions (12.8 thousand members in 2012 [41] ) is the Brazilian Convention of the Gospel fraternal Mennonite churches (6.5 thousand, 68 churches). Other Protestant groups include Christian brothers (65 thousand), the New Apostolic Church (60 thousand), Christ Church (25 thousand), Salvation Army (1.7 thousand) [42] .
See also
- World Church "Kingdom of God"
- Evangelical Pentecostal Church of Brazil for Christ
- Pentecostal Church "God is Love"
- Christian church "Maranatha"
- Christian Congregations of Brazil
- Church of the rebirth in Christ
Notes
- ↑ Numero de evangelicos aumenta 61% em 10 anos, aponta IBGE (port.) . Globo Comunicacao e Participacoes SA (June 29, 2012). Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Censo Demografico - 2000 - Resultados da Amostra (port.) . Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica. Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Jason Mandryk. Brazil // Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation . - 7th ed. - InterVarsity Press, 2010 .-- 978 p.
- ↑ Clifton L. Holland. Number of religious groups by country . Prolades / Holland International Consultants (January 23, 2003). Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. LEI Nr 12.328, De 15 de setembro de 2010 (port.) . 2010-09-16 . Presidência da República. Date of treatment June 13, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Benedetto, McKim, 2009 , pp. 51-58.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Usarski, 2010 , pp. 388–397.
- ↑ 1 2 Melton, 2005 , p. 103.
- ↑ William H. Brackney. Brazil // Historical Dictionary of the Baptists . - Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2009 .-- pp. 102-103. - 669 p. - ISBN 0810856220 .
- ↑ Latvian Brotherhood // History of Evangelical Christians-Baptists in the USSR. - Publication of the All-Union Council of Evangelical Christian Baptists. - 1989 .-- S. 309.355. - 624 p.
- ↑ A.A. Khisamutdinov. Russian in Brazil // Vladimir E. Travkin Latin America: Journal. - Moscow: Academic Publishing Center "Science", 2005. - Issue. 9 .
- ↑ Gary Land. Brazil // Historical Dictionary of Seventh-Day Adventists . - Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2005 .-- P. 44-45. - 419 p. - ISBN 0810853450 .
- ↑ 1 2 Clifton L. Holland. Chronology of Protestant Beginnings: Brazil . Prolades / Holland International Consultants (May 27, 2003). Date of treatment October 22, 2016.
- ↑ Paulo M. Franke, 2006 , pp. 46-48.
- ↑ 1 2 John P. Medcraft. The Roots and Fruits of Brazilian Pentecostalism (English) // Vox Evangelica: Journal. - London: London Bible College, 1987 .-- No. 17 . - P. 66-94 .
- ↑ Wilson, 2002 , p. 39.
- ↑ Igreja Presbiteriana Renovada do Brasil . reformiert online (16 August 2002). Date of treatment October 22, 2016.
- ↑ 1 2 Wilson, 2002 , p. 38.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Religion in the modern world. Brazil // Handbook of an Atheist / S. D. Skazkin. - 9th. - M .: Publishing house of political literature, 1987. - S. 109. - 431 p. - 300,000 copies.
- ↑ Latin America and Caribbean . The General Council of the Assemblies of God. Date of treatment August 15, 2013. Archived on September 16, 2013.
- ↑ Melton, 2005 , p. 104.
- ↑ Brazil - Global Mission . Global Outreach Ministries / Church of God of Prophecy. Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Wilson, 2002 , p. 35.
- ↑ Flavius Raslau. The Baptist World: Part 2: Where are We? (English) (unavailable link) (May 13, 2011). Date of treatment March 15, 2014. Archived May 18, 2013.
- ↑ Statistics ( inaccessible link) . Baptist World Alliance. Date of treatment March 15, 2014. Archived June 27, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 2011 World Lutheran Membership Details . Lutheran World Federation (January 15, 2012). Date of treatment March 15, 2014.
- ↑ Igreja Presbiteriana Independente do Brasil . reformiert online (13 April 2006). Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Uniao das Igrejas Evangelicas Congregacionais do Brasil . reformiert online (February 20, 2004). Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Igrejas Evangelicas Congregacionnais do Brasil . reformiert online (February 20, 2004). Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Igreja Presbiteriana Unida do Brasil . reformiert online (July 21, 2006). Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Igreja Presbiteriana Conservadora do Brasil . reformiert online (February 20, 2004). Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Igrejas Evangelicas Reformadas no Brasil . reformiert online (February 17, 2006). Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Igreja Presbiteriana Fundamentalista do Brasil . reformiert online (February 20, 2004). Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Igreja Presbiteriana Coreana do Brasil . reformiert online (February 20, 2004). Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Adventist Atlas - Brazil (English) (link not available) . Adventist Atlas (2011). Date of treatment June 6, 2014. Archived March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Statistical Information . The World Methodist Council (2012). Date of treatment March 15, 2014. Archived April 30, 2013.
- ↑ Statistics by World Area (inaccessible link) . Church of the Nazarene. Date of treatment March 15, 2014. Archived March 10, 2014.
- ↑ Brazil . Church of God Global Mission. Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Brazil . The Alliace. Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil . World Council of Churches. Date of treatment June 6, 2014.
- ↑ Brazil . Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (2013). Date of treatment June 10, 2014.
- ↑ Patrick Johnstone, Jason Mandryk. Japan // Operation World 2001 . - London: Paternoster Publishing, 2001 .-- 798 p. - (Operation World Series). - ISBN 1-8507-8357-8 .
Literature
- Melton JG Brazil // Encyclopedia of Protestantism. - Facts On File, Inc., 2005. - S. 103-104. - 628 p. - ISBN 0-8160-5456-8 .
- Wilson EA Brazil // New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, The / Stanley M. Burgess, Eduard M. Van Der Maas. - Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan; Exp Rev edition, 2002 .-- pp. 35–42. - 1328 s. - ISBN 0310224810 .
- Paulo M. Franke. Brazil Territory // Historical dictionary of the Salvation Army . - Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Incorporated, 2006 .-- 798 p. - ISBN 0-8108-5344-2 .
- Robert Benedetto, Donald K. McKim. Brazil // Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches . - Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2009 .-- 790 p. - ISBN 0810870231 .
- Frank Usarski. Brazil // Religions of the World, Second Edition A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices / Melton JG , Martin Baumann . - 2nd. - Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO , 2010 .-- 3200 p. - ISBN 978-1-59884-203-6 .