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Pentecostalism and Shamanism

in Asia and Beyond

An Inter-disciplinary Analysis

Alena G

o every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.

Isaac Newton, Tird Law o Motion,

Philosophi Naturalis Principia Mathematica

Te unlike is joined together, and rom differences results

the most beautiul harmony, and all things take place by strie.

Heraclitus o Ephesus, On Nature

Erich Neumann suggests in The Origins and History of Con-sciousnessthat human consciousness is subjected to the constant process

of centroversion and differentiation (N , ). Tis tendency

o human thoughtto constantly strive toward polarities and reorganizeitsel again as a holistic modeseems to pertain to all layers o human cog-

nitive architecture, rom archetypal pre-reflective sel-awareness to highly

analytical interpretative supra-consciousness. It is reflected in the evolution

o cultures and civilizations and it seems to be the driving orce behind his-

*Alena Govorounova is a Research Associate at the Nanzan Institute or Religion and

Culture. Te quotations rom the Bible are rom the (New International Version, Grand

Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, ).

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torical changes in the intellectual climate and scientific paradigm shifs (see

K ). As Friedrich N ( []; []) once ironi-

cally observed, we are doomed to think in opposites and controversies, we

are trapped in categorical dualisms o good and evil, we are conditionedby contrast-based human language, where each unit o meaning is defined

against what it is not. We are carried away in the endless play o diffrance

in search or identity and meaning and we need the Other to define who we

are. We conceptualize reality in binary oppositionso sel/other, subject/

object, center/margins; we are cognitively wired to centralize certain ele-

ments o the system and marginalize others. Binary oppositions are categor-

ically inseparable, or there is no sel without other and no center without

margins. However, as Nietzsche shrewdly warned us, dualisms are poten-tially reversible, essentially unsteady and easily alterable.Once we reaffirm

the intrinsic value o the previously marginalized ideas, movements, and

social groups, they start gravitating towards the center, undermine the sig-

nificance o the previously centralized elements, and establish new power

relations and regimes o truth;history repeats itsel.

Te perpetual process o centroversion and differentiation is traceable in

the evolution o religions and spiritual traditions. Religious consciousness is

subjected to the same cognitive mechanisms o inclusion and exclusion, cen-tralizing and decentralizing. Religious doctrines and canons are constantly

shrinking or expanding, overlapping and dissociating; religious truths are

bouncing off one another in the quest or meaning and authentication. Te

. Diffranceis a term coined by Jacque Derrida to describe the way in which any sin-gle meaning o a concept or text arises only by the effacement o other possible meanings.

Derrida coined the term diffrance (a deliberate misspelling o difference, a play on the two

meanings o the French word diffrer: to differ and to deer) in order to demonstrate that

a meaning does not arise out o fixed differences between static elements in a given con-ceptual system, but that the meanings produced in language and other signiying systems

are always partial, provisional, and infinitely deerred along a chain o differing/deerring

signifiers. See D and .

. Binary oppositionssignifies a pair o related terms or concepts that are opposite in

meaning (the term originated in the structuralist theory o Ferdinand de Saussure).

. I reer to the Nietzschean On the Genealogy o Morals ( []), where he attacks

the Christian fixation on the opposition o good and bad and reinterprets it in terms o a

master-slave dialectic, which is a reversible relational paradigm.

. Regime o truthis a concept coined by Michel Foucault to describe how each society

creates a regime o truthaccording to its belies, values, and mores. See F .

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| Pentecostalism and Shamanism

pendulum swings between strict dogmatism and more liberal syncretism,

radical sectarianism and reconciliatory ecumenism, harsh exclusionism and

all-embracing universalism. Te picture becomes even more complicated

when we realize that the tendency to centroversion and differentiation is notsimply two-sided: countless combinations o concepts and multiple layers o

meaning are involved in the process.

Pentecostalism and shamanism make an interesting case study in this

regard, with the two spiritual charismatic traditions monotheistic and

polytheistic as mutually exclusive and yet categorically inseparable polari-

ties, which include, exclude, centralize, marginalize and ultimately define

one another. Te academic struggle to define their mutual relationships is

overcomplicated by the reality that academic thought is likewise prone tothe never-ending process o centroversion and dierentiation. his may

partly account or why there is so much debate on the relations between

Pentecostalism and shamanism in the sociology o religion: some claim

that Pentecostalism and shamanism are the categorical opposites by point-

ing to numerous doctrinal contradictions between the two traditions. Afer

all, the official Christian doctrine strongly dissociates itsel rom the hea-

then world and explicitly bans all kinds o occult spiritual practices out-

side Christianity. Others claim that Pentecostal and shamanistic spiritualityare ontologically identical in the baseand that theological doctrines are but

interpretative superstructures; thereore, any doctrinal theological contra-

dictions between Pentecostalism and shamanism are irrelevant to the social

scientific discussion.

So, how do we define Pentecostalism against shamanism and vice versa?

Is the contrastive-comparative approach legitimate at all?What would be

the basis for the comparison? Is it doctrinal? Is it subjective-experiential?

Is it an independent observant perspective? Should Christian theologicaldoctrine be taken into account in this discussion? Should we recognize the

first-person experiential accounts o Pentecostal believers and indigenous

. Base and superstructureis Marxian terminology, where the base signifies the orcesand relations o production in a society and the superstructure includes its culture, institu-

tions, political power structures, roles, rituals, and state. Te base determines (conditions)

the superstructure, yet their relation is not strictly causal, because the superstructure ofen

inluences the base; the inluence o the base, however, predominates (see M

[]).

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shamans as valid research data? Or maybe we should stay strictly confined

to an exclusively third-person researcher perspective? In other words, is the

marriage between Christian theology and the sociology o religion possible?

Pentecostalism and Shamanism:he Surace-level Academic Controversy

Why does the dichotomy o Pentecostalism versus shamanism gen-

erate so much controversy among the sociologists o religion? How do these

two religious traditions relate to each other? What is the common denomi-

nator between monotheistic and polytheistic charismatic spiritualities?o begin with, what is Pentecostalism? Pentecostalism is an umbrella

term that includes a wide range o Christian denominations that place spe-

cial emphasis on a direct personal experience o God through baptism in

the Holy Spirit. It emphasizes practical maniestation o the gifs o the

Holy Spirit in the church today, such as divine healing, prophesy, discern-

ment o spirits and other orms o supernatural revelation and paranormal

cognition.

In my observation, Pentecostal congregations largely rely on the experi-

ences o the gifs o the Holy Spirit or the acquisition o Christian doctri-

nal truths. Prophecies, word o knowledge, divine healings, and exorcism,

among others, constitute a specific prophetic subculture, having its own

theory and praxis, instructional literature, symbolism, and so orth. Perhaps

the most commonly recognized revelatory phenomena are the message

o knowledge/wisdom and prophecy that operate as instant and usually

very particular supernatural knowledge o other individuals inner thoughts

or private undisclosed inormation. Tere are many biblical and historical

accounts o such supernatural ways o knowing, with the biblical story o

the Christs encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (John : )

being one o the most amous examples. Pentecostals claim that such revela-

tory phenomena did not cease with time and are commonly observed today

across Pentecostal and charismatic congregations.

What is shamanism? Shamanism is primarily defined as a polytheistic

and poly-demonic religion based on the animistic worship o spirit beings.

It emphasizes direct communication with the spirits, healing, prophesy

(orecasting), and other orms o paranormal cognition and precognition.

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Mircea E (, ) defines shamanism as techniques o ecstasy (or

what is termed today as altered states o consciousness) and shamans

as specialists in the sacred (E and , ). Shamans are

psychic healers and spiritual mediums, who possess the ability to channelsupernatural spirits though trance, meditation, prayer, chanting, dance, and

other sacred rituals. Overall, traditional shamanic communities are known

to be spiritually tuned toward various kinds o non-conventional psy-

chic maniestations, miraculous healings, spirit-guidance, paranormal cog-

nition, communal trance, and shamanic hysteria.

So, what is the undamental difference between Pentecostalism and sha-

manism? May this dichotomy be conceptually overturned, deconstructed,

and confined to a unitary rame? Should we agree with Mircea Eliade thatthe dialectic o the sacred permits all reversibilities (E and

, xviii)?

Opinions vary. Harvey C (, ), Karin H (), Wal-

ter H (, ), David M (, ), Sung-Gun

K (, ) and many others argue that Pentecostalism has seen

great success in Asia, Arica, and Latin America partly because Pentecostal

Christians in the non-Western parts o the world have incorporated local

shamanistic cultural elements and adapted indigenous religious symbolsinto Christian spirituality. Tey go so ar as reinterpreting Pentecostalism

as shamanized Christianityor Christian spiritism. Sylvie Shaw in Pentecos-

tal Shamanism? explicitly calls Brian Houston, the head pastor o Hillsong

Church (the biggest Pentecostal mega-church in Australia), a modern-day

shaman; she maintains that he may be considered the archetypal Pente-

costal minister and much o the similarities [with shamanism] surrounding

Pastor Houston can be used interchangeably with many Pentecostal min-

isters also exhibiting shamanic qualities (S , ). Harvey Cox, arecognized authority on the academic study o Pentecostalism, ormulates

his observations as ollows:

On a global basis, Pentecostals incorporate into their worship patterns the

. Shamanic hysteria(arctic hysteria) is a term signiying unique mental disorders

(bizarre tantrums and outburst) culturally-speciic to the indigenous Arctic peoples

(Eskimo, Chukchee). Tey are also ofen reerred to as shamanic sances o soul travel and

out-o-body experience. See F .

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insights and practices o other aiths shamanic trance, healing, ancestor

veneration more than any other Christian movement I know o, albeit, re-

quently without realizing it. Pentecostalism, I have come to believe, is cath-

olic and universal in a way most Pentecostals do not recognize and manymight even deny. (C , )

Might even deny may be too weak; most Pentecostals today, I believe, will

passionately disclaim the above presumed similarities between Pentecos-

talism and shamanism by reerring to their monotheistic convictions and

their theology o spiritual warare against the spiritual orces o darkness,

which shamanism embodies in their eyes.

o add to the academic controversy, Rosalind I. J. H in her work

Discourses o Demonization in Arica and Beyond () comes to theexact opposite conclusion to those by Harvey Cox, David Martin, and oth-

ers. She argues that Pentecostalism succeeded in Arica and beyond due to

the hostile discourses o demonization and scapegoating o shamanism and

other indigenous olk religions by Pentecostal communities. Interestingly,

Rosalind I. J. Hackett does not represent the voice o Pentecostalism in

academia: on the contrary, she depicts Pentecostalism in Arica as a hostile

(towards indigenous animism, occultism and witchcraf) social orce that is

responsible or religious intolerance in many parts o post-colonial Arica,occasionally resulting in serious conflict and violence (H , ).

Still, Hacketts academic study reaffirms the denial by Pentecostals o pre-

sumed similarities between Pentecostalism and shamanism:

Te animosity o evangelical and Pentecostal Christians toward traditional

religious practices in Arica assumed national significance. Tey posited that

the war was caused by people diluting the purity o the Christian gospel

with ancestral belies which they take to be the work o Satan (E ,

). Tey have opposed any attempt to revive traditional religion by thosewho attributed the war to the abandonment o tradition. Te newer Chris-

tian groups also view as demonic the popular local spiritual healers or heal-

ing churches by reerring to them as Sixes, recalling the mark o the Beast

() in the Book o Revelation. (H , )

Rosalind I. J. Hacketts research reaffirms Paul Gs earlier argument

expressed in hisArican Christianity: Its Public Role(, ) that the

growth areas o Christianity are those that demonizeArican traditions and

culture [my emphasis]. It is a clash o civilizations (the scholars o Ari-

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can Pentecostalism seem to be saying), it is a holy war that Pentecostalism

wages against shamanism in search or its place in the multiverse o Ari-

can religions: there is no observable syncretism, nor is there any observable

incorporation o indigenous religious symbolism into Christian spirituality.So, is Pentecostalism shamanism-riendly or shamanism-hostile? Should

we agree with Harvey Cox, David Martin, and others that Pentecostalism is

but shamanism in disguise, or should we agree with Paul Gifford and Rosa-

lind I. J. Hackett that Pentecostalism and shamanism are religious and cul-

tural counter-orces? Or both?

Pentecostalism and shamanism: the controversy gets magnified when we

turn our gaze to South Korea. A particular bone o contention among the

sociologists o religion remains the case with Korean Pentecostalism exem-plified by the Korean mega-church leader, Yonggi Cho, the ounder and the

senior pastor o Yoido Full Gospel Church, the biggest Christian congre-

gation in South Korea. Yonggi Chos representation o Christian theology

is criticized as being human-centered; it is likened to shamanism in that

it contains elements o magic and belie that we have the power to cre-

ate our own reality (R ). Yonggi Cho is mostly criticized as

a propagator o the so-called doctrine o prosperity (health-and-wealth

gospel, theology o prosperity, etc.) with its overemphasis on the worldlyideals o prosperity, wealth, success, health, longevity, and other practical

beneits that aith in God may grant. his overemphasis on the human-

centered attributes in Korean Pentecostalism is interpreted by the critics

o Yonggi Cho as Christian shamanism. Indigenous shamans attempt to

manipulate spirits to obtain healing, success in worldly affairs, luck, pros-

perity, and other material benefits; likewise the Christian shamans like

Yonggi Cho and Brain Houston attempt to manipulate Christian God or

their own purposes. Critics agree that health-and wealth theology disre-gards a clear Scriptural teaching regarding Christian suffering and content-

ment (R ).

Yonggi Chos deenders contra-argue that the purpose o Chos ministry

is not to bring the Christian message to the animistic moti o blessing, but

with social changes (afer the liberation and much poverty). o properly

understand Cho, it is important to consider the beginnings o the Chris-

tian aith in Korea under the harsh rule o the Japanese [being] extremely

other-worldly with a strong martyrdom mentality, the other-worldly out-

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look had to change and the Lord used Cho to bring this long-neglected part

o Gods message to the Korean churches (Wonsuk Ma in R ).

Wonsuk M (), Allan A (), and Hwa Y (, )

seriously question the presumption that there is a strong cultural connec-tion between Pentecostalism and shamanism in South Korea. Wonsuk Ma

calls this presumption biased and misinormed (R ). Allan

Anderson agrees, Whether this is conscious syncretism or the influence

o the aura o shamanism and the joint acknowledgement o the world

o spirits is debatable (A , ). Anderson insists that there is

enormous dierence between interacting with shamanism (as Korean

Pentecostals do) and becoming shamanistic (A , ). Lee

Wanak suggests that in order to avoid the distortion o the belies o Korean

Pentecostals, the sociologists o religion should utilize a more open-ended

approach, which would include the interviewing o Korean pastors and lay

people in an attempt to discover their motives, values, dreams, and desires

[and thus allow Korean people] to speak or themselves.So, should we

include first-person subjective accounts o personal aith by religious believ-

ers (Pentecostals or shamans) into the social scientific analysis o the rela-

tionship between shamanism and Pentecostalism? Should we let religiousbelievers speak or themselves? I yes, then how? What is the best way to

do so? Is it scientifically correct to include the believers doctrinal convic-

tions or their subjective narratives o spiritual experience into the academic

discourse? And i we welcome irst-person religious experience into the

halls o academia, would not we violate the academic standards o disci-

plinary rigor and good science? Would not it undermine the integrity

o academia itsel? Finally, how can we avoid eliciting a potential doctrinal

power-struggle between various religious groups, which all will be pullingthe blanket to their side?

On the other hand, is it even possible to resolve the present academic con-

troversy on the relations between two religions without taking into account

first-person accounts o their actual belie systems?

. Lee Wanak, a United States missionary working in the Philippines as Dean o the Asia

Graduate School o Teology and Director o the Ed.D. program in an email to Reynalds;

see R .

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Pentecostalism and Shamanism:he Underlying heological Controversy

he concerns about the potential dangers o eliciting doctrinalbiases and political agendas into the debate on Pentecostalism and shaman-

ism are certainly valid. However, I believe that all kinds o doctrinal biases

and political agendas have already crept into the contemporary academic

controversy even though these underlying theological influences have never

been openly recognized or sufficiently addressed.

What are these doctrinal biases and latent political agendas? I believe

that the theological doctrines, which have largely influenced the academic

polemic on Pentecostalism and shamanism, are those o Cessationismand Continuationism. Cessationism is the anti-Pentecostal doctrinal posi-

tion within Christianity, which holds that the miraculous gifs o the Holy

Spirit, such as tongues, prophesy, healing, and others ceased being prac-

ticed early on in Church history and are notor today.Cessationists are

mostly represented by Conservative Baptist, Reormed Churches, and other

Christian denominations, which express strong doctrinal opposition to

modern Pentecostalism. Contrary to Cessationism is Continuationism, a

pro-Pentecostal doctrinal position that argues the miraculous gifs o theHoly Spirit areor today: they have been available or use by the Church

throughout its history ever since Pentecost and will cease co-terminously

with the second coming o Christ.

Now, the Christian world is divided on the issue o the gifs o the Holy

Spirit and this theological splitseems to reflect on the academic discus-

sion on the relations between Pentecostalism and shamanism. What lies at

. See G ; W ; W ; MA ; G; and others

. See K ; ; R ; and others.

. Te scholarly theological debate on the legitimacy o the gifs o the Holy Spirit

today is ar more complex than described here and includes various views o the in-between

moderate Pentecostal and moderate Cessationist Evangelical groups. Despite the theolog-

ical split on the issues o the Holy Spirit, the majority o Evangelical Christians express

cautious yet tolerant views and attitudes towards one another and accept one another as

saved (born-again) yet deluded. Te views propagated by the adherents o moderate

Cessationism and moderate Pentecostalism are not relevant to the present discussion and,

thereore, are not introduced here.

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the heart o the doctrinal polarity between Cessationism and Continuation-

ism, and how does it resonate with the academic controversy on Pentecos-

talism versus shamanism?

Cessationists propose that the gifs o the Holy Spirit were given only orthe oundation o the Church during the period o . Te ounda-

tion o the Church was laid on the day o Pentecost in (Acts,chapter

) and the Church came into ull maturity by , when the last book

(Revelation) o the New estament was written and the Holy Scriptures was

complete. Tey propose that the gifs may have continued as long as until

(ake the last living apostle [about ] who imparted gifs to

the youngest possible person who lived to the oldest possible age) but then

ceased completely. Where does the idea that the gifs o the Holy Spirit hadceased by the second century originate? Cessationists build their doc-

trine on the basis o the ollowing biblical passage:

Love never ails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there

are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perection comes,

the imperrect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought

like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways

behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall seeace to ace. Now I know in part; then I shall know ully, even as I am ully

known. (I Corinthians : )

Afer the Apostle Paul gives an exhaustive explanation o the miraculous

gifs o the Holy Spirit, their unctions in the Church and their proper

ecclesiastical exercise (I Corinthians, chapter ), he goes on to philosophize

that all supernatural spiritual gifs no matter how powerul and impres-

sive are nothingunless their bearer also maniests the ruit o spiri-

tual godly love (I Corinthians, chapter ). Ten, when the perect comes,prophesies, tongues and supernatural revelations will cease. So, what is

. See Cessation o Spiritual Gifs: Intro and Various Foundational Arguments; http://

www.bible.ca/tongues-ceased-perect-come-intro.htm.

. I I speak in the tongues o men or o angels, but have not love, I am only a resound-

ing gong or a clanging cymbal. I I have the gif o prophecy and can athom all mysteries

and all knowledge, and i I have a aith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am

nothing. I I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames but have not

love, I gain nothing. (I Corinthians : )

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the perect that is said to come? Cessationists argue that the coming per-

ection reers not to the second coming o Christ but to the finality o

inscripturated revelation, that is, the year . Te Bible as it is now is an all

sufficient guide-book [that] contains all that we have to know about doc-trine and moral conduct,and a good Christian must concern himsel with

leading a good sinless lie, not with some kind o bizarre precarious spiri-

tual warare.

Pentecostals (Continuationists) strongly disagree. Pentecostal apologet-

ics aimed at deying Cessationist theological critique claims instead that

the perect is a reerence to the second coming o Christ when the ull

true knowledge o the world will be revealed through divine judgment. It

may also reer to the event o a persons physical death and his reunion withGod in the spiritual realm. Delimited by the temporal-spacial parameters

in the material realm we can only see [the spiritual reality] in a mirror

dimly but once we are ully exposed to the spiritual realm we shall know

ully; thus there is no need or prophesy or other supernatural orms o

knowledge. And again (remind the Continuationists), afer the Apostle Paul

urges the believers to balance their spiritual gifs (gifs o the Holy Spirit)

with spiritual ruit (godly love), he immediately reasserts again in the next

verse: Follow the way o love and eagerly desire spiritual gifs, especiallythe gif o prophecy. (I Corinthians : ). Continuationists reason that the

age o the new covenant o man with God (the age o the New estament)

is marked with the global-scale outpouring o the Holy Spirit, promised by

Christ to the disciples beore his ascendance to heavenand essential or the

ulfillment o His great commission o the global evangelization. Evict-

ing demons is an integral part o the great commission, maintains Conrad

M in his Practical Demonology() and this evicting o demons,

he insists, concerns both non-Christians andChristians alike. While onlynon-Christians may be demon-possessed (internally) in some serious cases,

both non-Christians andborn-again Christians can potentially be demon-

oppressed (externally), which explains why so many Christian believers live

.Cessation o Spiritual Gifs: Intro and Various Foundational Arguments; op. cit.

. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: Do

not leave Jerusalem, but wait or the gif my Father promised, which you have heard me

speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a ew days you will be baptized with the

Holy Spirit. (Acts : ).

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ar rom victorious and godly Christian lives.Unortunately, Murrell

explains, a shallow, cheap gospel with little o the holiness o God revealed

produces shallow repentance in many Christians and where the light is

dim, much darkness lies undisturbed. Tus, the deliverance ministry inthe church becomes a patch-up job on deective soteriology (M ,

). Tereore, combating with sin in ones lie is obviously a noble task but it

may simply be not enough, Murrell concludes, since the flesh can be yielded

up to the Cross or crucifixion, but demons must be rejected and driven away

by the Name o Jesus and the authority o the Blood. You cannot cast out the

flesh or cruciy demons (M , ).

Prophetic ministries are also essentially important or the church today,

argues a amous Pentecostal prophetic minister, Rick Joyner:

Why do we need prophets today? Do we not have the Scriptures, which con-

tain the whole council o God? Yes, the Bible is complete, sufficient, inerrant,

written Word o God, and it is the only oundation upon which we base the

Christian doctrine. But it was never intended to be the whole council o God.

I it were, we would not need the Holy Spirit or any o the ministries that He

has given to His church. (J , )

hus, according to Continuationists, the gits o the Holy Spirit were

meant or the whole interadvental period and will cease only with the

return o Christ. Why do Cessationists reuse to accept these empower-

ing spiritual gifs rom God? It is because o the natural human ear o the

supernatural, argue Continuationalists. In act, it is Satan, who sows the

seeds o doubt and ear into the minds o anti-Pentecostals to keep them

in bondage and deprive them o a divine blessing o the gifs o the Holy

Spirit. In the words o Rick Joyner, Many, out o a ear o deception, have

shied away rom all prophetic or other spiritual gifs. But i we allow the ear

o deception to control us, we have already been deceived, and the enemy

has accomplished his purpose (J , ).

All the while radical Cessationists spread the message that the attempts

to revive the gifs o the Holy Spirit are demon-inspired and insist that

the modern Pentecostalism is a revival o the ancient Montanist movement,

. he basic idea o deliverance is that a Christians progress and advance can be

blocked by demons who maintain some power over the Christian, despite his or her com-

ing to Christ (G , )

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which was reuted by the Church as a heresy in the second century . A

strong anti-Pentecostal rhetoric maintains, ultimately, Satan is the God o

modern Pentecostalismand, modern Pentecostals, thus, are:

the lawless one [which] will be in accordance with the work o Satan dis-

played in all kinds o countereit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every

sort o evil that deceives those who are perishing. Tey perish because they

reused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a

powerul delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be con-

demned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

(II Tessalonians, : )

Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your

name, and in your name drive out demons and perorm many miracles?(Matthew : )

Tese biblical words comprise the ancient warning against modern Pen-

tecostalism, which is but occultism (shamanism) in disguise, Cessation-

ists claim.Pentecostals contra-argue that the above biblical passages in II

Tessalonians and the Gospel oMatthew, chapter , do not reer to mod-

ern Pentecostalism but designate pagan or neo-pagan occult teachings and

practices, which creep into the Church in a orm o alse prophesies, alse

tongues and alse signs and wonders. In the words o Rick Joyner:

Te Lord Himsel warned us that every time he sows wheat, the enemy will

try to sow tares in the same field. He also warned that in the last days many

alse prophets will arise, and will mislead many (Matthew : ). Tis warn-

ing that there will be many alse prophets implies that there are also true

ones. Otherwise, Jesus would have just said that all prophets in the last days

will be alse. o claim that we no longer need prophets is to claim that we

.Montanismwas an early Christian sectarian movement beginning in the mid-secondcentury , named afer its ounder Montanus. It flourished in and around the region o

Phrygia in contemporary urkey, and also spread to other regions in the Roman Empire in

the second and third centuries. Its defining characteristics were a belie in continuing rev-

elation, a reusal to compromise with worldly standards, its anti-hierarchical stance against

appointed bishops leading the Church, and the practice o ecstatic worship in which its

prophets channeled messages rom God

. Cessation o Spiritual Gifs, op. cit.

. see Cessation o Spiritual Gifs, op. cit.

. According to Cessation o Spiritual Gifs, op. cit.

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are already perect, which even the most casual observer would recognize

as a major delusion. Even so, we know that there are alse prophets and a

lot o them! Tis includes alse prophets who are in the church and those

who are not. Te alse prophets who are not in the church, such as cult lead-ers and those who are vehemently anti-Christ, are obvious. Te ones who

are in the church I do not like to call alse prophets but rather pseudo

prophets. Tey can truly be good Christians but have simply presumed to

have a ministry that the Lord did not give to them. We do need to recog-

nize though that the enemy has a countereit or each o the true prophetic gifs

and that they do have some power. Te spiritual power being released by the

New Age movement and other cult practices is real, but it is the supernatural

power o the evil one. (J , ) [my emphasis]

Tus, Pentecostals transer the blame o alse signs and wonders entirely

on pagan and neo-pagan spirituality, embodied in the New Age move-

ment, cults, and the occult. Neil A, a leading Pentecostal author-

ity on spiritual deliverance, in his Resolving Spiritual Conflict(, )

presents a non-exhaustive (allegedly) list o satanically-inspired occult

practices or alse religions and countereit religious experiences, which

born-again Christians seeking reedom rom spiritual bondage in their

lives should renounce in order to experience ull spiritual reedom, vic-

tory and joy in their Christian walk. Tey include:

. Occult: astral-projection, ouija board, table lifing, speaking in trance, auto-

matic writing, magic eight ball, telepathy, ghosts, materialization, clairvoy-

ance, spirit guides, ortune telling, tarot cards, palm reading, astrology, rod

and pendulum (dowsing), hypnosis, sance, black and white magic, men-

tal suggestions (attempts to swap minds), etishism, incubi and succubae,

blood pacts (or cut yoursel in a destructive way), other.

. Cults: Christian science, Unity, Scientology, Witness Lee, Te Way Inter-

national, Unification Church, Mormonism, Jehovah Witness, Children oGod, Swedenborgianism, Herbert W. Armstrong, Unitarianism, Masons,

New Age, Science o Creative Intelligence, ranscendental Meditation,

Yoga, Echkanhar, Roy Masters, Silva Mind Control, ESP, Father Divine,

Teosophical Society, other.

Conrad Murrell repeats this list and adds to it: idolatrous practices and

superstitions o ancestors, all idolatry, charms, amulets and etishes, signs

o the zodiac, all sorts o mystic healings and communication with spirits

through mediums, common olk practices as water witching, wart removal,

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stopping nose bleeds, etc. through certain mystical procedures, so-called

psychic activities: psychoneurosis, psychic healing, all orms o projection

o spirits or thoughts, drugs (M , ). Te same views are

advocated by Peter Wagner, Cindy Jacobs, Derek Prince, a Pentecostal fic-tion-writer Frank E. Peretti and other recognized Pentecostal authorities on

spiritual warare.

As evident rom the above, shamanism is not explicitly on the list o

satanically-inspired countereit (presumably because traditional indig-

enous shamanisms are rarely encountered today). However, all shamanistic

practices such as speaking in trance, spirit guides, idolatrous practices

and superstitions o ancestors, all idolatry, charms, amulets and etishes,

all sorts o mystic healings and communication with spirits through medi-ums, common olk practices and drugs are. Tese practices have been

revived and reinorced through the New Age movement, new religions and

cults, and they are perceived as demon-inspired by mainstream Pentecos-

tals, especially those preoccupied with the spiritual warare. Since shaman-

ism in a modern society is most vocal in the orm o neo-shamanisms and

all neo-shamanisms are marked out by eatures more or less bound to New

Age postmodernism (H , ), the Christian spiritual warare

today is primarily concerned with deying the occult religious experiencespromoted by the New Age movement and cults.

It is very important to make it clear at the outset that the discourse o

devilization o shamanism (occultism) is not and has never been the inven-

tion o the Pentecostal subculture. Regardless o denomination, all kinds o

Christian groups and congregations today (and historically) perceive occult

spiritual practices as either doctrinally incompatible with the Christian

worldview (on the positive end o the spectrum) or plain demonic (on the

negative end).Historically, Western Christianity doctrinally dissociated itsel rom the

trance-like spiritual practices maniest within pagan traditions. rance,

which comes rom the Latin transire to die, to pass rom one state to

another, was used to condemn pagan practices in the Middle Ages in West-

ern Europe (H , ), argues Roberte Hamayon in Ecstasy and

the Sel or the West-dreamt Shamanism: From Socrates to New Age Postmod-

ernism(). Eastern Christianity, likewise, condemned non-Christian

spiritual practices, Hamayon explains, Due to Russian Orthodox mis-

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sionaries, the shamans figure observed in Siberia was held to be religious,

although aimed at serving the devil instead o God. Te intended purpose

o this devilization o shamanism was avouring the spread o Christianity

(H , ).So what does the devilization o the New Age movement and neo-sha-

manisms mean or the promotion o Christianity today? A chapter on A

Christian Response to the New Age by John A. S in Te Encyclopedic

Sourcebook o New Age Religions () discusses three Christian responses

to the New Age Movement (): Christian undamentalist, mainline Prot-

estant, and Catholic. According to Saliba, Christian Protestant responses to

New Age spirituality vary rom virulent denunciations, hysterical tirades

against all New Age ideas (undamentalist) to looking or areas whereChristians can learn rom, and cooperate with, those involved in the New

Age (mainline Protestant) (S , ). Saliba demonstrates that

most undamentalist writings on the spur Christians to counteract its

activities belligerently (S , ), and even though some un-

damentalist writers, like Douglas Grootius de-emphasizes the theory that

it is a satanic plot to overthrow Christianity by remarking that the

does offer hope in a hopeless world, most undamentalists like Constance

Cumbey and David Hunt portray the as demonic conspiracy aimed atdestroying Christianity (S , ). As or the mainline Protestant

reaction, like the undamentalist perspective it has drawn attention to the

gnostic elements o the movement and stressed their incompatibility with

traditional Christian doctrine (Richard Tompson, ed Peters) (S

, ).

Still, some mainline Protestant theologians admit that the is a revival

o the Western esoteric tradition which has sometimes existed in creative

tension with orthodox Christianity (Philip Almond) and avoid hystericaloutcries and earul condemnations (ed Peters). Finally, Saliba comments

that the Catholic answer to the New Age has been varied and contradic-

tory (S , ). Some Catholic critics claim that Te New Age

is based on deception. Tis is certainly allied to the satanic (Ralph Rath),

while others point out to the act that the quest or meaning and healing,

which are central to New Age consciousness being rooted in both Eastern

and Western contemplative and mystical traditions [creates] a continuity

between Christian thought and New Age (David oolan) (S ,

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). Nevertheless, even the most New-Age-riendly Catholic writers criti-

cize the or its idealism, sel-centeredness (David oolan) and or

its egocentric worldview and its syncretism (Cardinal Godried Danneels)

(S , ). Overall, according to Saliba, Catholics envisage theNew Age largely as a threat to orthodoxy and orthopraxis (S ,

).

In a word, in his analysis o the variety o Christian responses towards

New Age spirituality today, Saliba admits that even those Christian critics

who manage to find a positive connection between Christianity and the New

Age movement, do so in an attempt to reinterpret New Age as a Christian

ally in the united battle against the modern-day secularization and de-spir-

itualization o existence. Te New Ages reaction to scientific rationalism,its integration o matter and spirit, and its stress on mystical experiences are

solidly based in the Christian tradition, maintains Saliba, and yet, many

o the elements o the New Age movement are altogether incompatible with

Christianity (Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy o Miami) (S ,

).

o summarize, discourses o demonization o shamanism (pagan and

neo-pagan spirituality) vary across Christian denominations and range

rom defining it as doctrinally incompatible with Christianity at best tosatanically-inspired at worst. Christian undamentalists appear to be the

most uncompromising and non-politically-correct in expressing their views

on pagan spirituality and, curiously enough, these same Christian unda-

mentalists comprise the majority o the Cessationist critics o Pentecostal-

ism. o them, all psychic spiritual phenomena both inside and outside the

church are demon-inspired and the case cannot be re-appealed. Pentecos-

tals agree that satanically-inspired countereits o spiritual gifs certainly

exist inside the church (alse prophesies, alse signs and wonders) as wellas outside (New Age, cults, the occult) but they disagree with the Cessa-

tionist position that holds allpsychic spiritual maniestations as demonic.

Pentecostals do not waver in their confidence that authentically Christian,

God-inspired gifs o the Holy Spirit are real and areor today; they pow-

erully reveal Gods glory.

So, what picture is coming into ocus here? Pentecostals demonize sha-

manism, anti-Pentecostals demonize shamanism and Pentecostalism, Pen-

tecostals strive to reute the attacks o the anti-Pentecostals while reminding

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anti-Pentecostals that their ear o the supernatural hinders them rom

releasing the power o the Holy Spirit and advancing Gods kingdom on

earth. Both parties are convinced that the other one had allen prey to a

satanic plot and both are eager to save and lead one another into all

truth. Religious truths bounce against one another in the endless play o

diffrance whereironically enoughSatan serves as the transcendental

signifiedand the ultimate point o reerence.

he present essay, obviously, does not do ull justice to the depth and

width o the doctrinal-historical debate between Cessationists and Continu-

ationists, nor does it draw an exhaustive picture o the complexity o the

relationship between Pentecostal and anti-Pentecostal Christian groups anddenominations. While my ocus has been on the doctrinal polarity between

the two camps, I must point out that the majority o Pentecostal and anti-

Pentecostal Christians exhibit inclusive and tolerant attitudes towards one

another despite the apparent theological contradictions on the so-called

secondary doctrinal issues.In act, a vast majority o Christians in the

world today would probably all into the doctrinally-neutral non-Pentecos-

tal category, which does not concern itsel with the peculiarities o the above

theological polemic.Without going into the deep complexity o the Cessationist-Continuationist

doctrinal debate, let us return to the original question: How does the Chris-

tian theological split on the matters o the Holy Spirit reflect on the academic

discussion on the relationship between Pentecostalism and shamanism?

. Atranscendental signified is term coined by Jacques Derrida to designate a signifiedthat transcends all signifiers, and it is a meaning that transcends all signs (as in Saussurean

semiotics). Derrida assumes that the entire history o Western metaphysics rom Plato tothe present is ounded on a classic, undamental error. Tis error is searching or a tran-

scendental signified, an external point o reerence (like God, religion, reason, science,

et al.) upon which one may build a concept or philosophy. Tis transcendental signified is

centered in the process o interpretation and whatever else is decentered. o Derrida this

is a great error because: . there is no ultimate truth or a uniying element in universe, and

thus no ultimate reality (including whatever transcendental signified); what is lef is only

difference; . any text, in the light o this act, has almost an infinite number o possible

interpretations, and there is no assumed one signified meaning. See D , .

. In Christian parlance, secondary doctrines are those that are important, but are not

essential to salvation.

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Seeing in a Mirror Dimly:

Challenging the Academic Objectivity Myth

Te above-described Cessationist-Continuationist split is not lim-ited to doctrinal disagreements: on the level o ritual praxis mutual criti-

cisms abide as well. Anti-Pentecostals accuse Pentecostals o proaning the

gospel by means o happy-clappy worship style, excessive emotionalism

and sensationalism. Pentecostals, in turn, accuse their more conservative

brothers and sisters o robbing their adherents o personal experience o

God and the liberating power o the Holy Spirit. Tey criticize Christian

undamentalists or being too dry and scholastic and or depriving their

church members o true joy and ullness o lie. Eventually, these Pentecos-tal and anti-Pentecostal intra-denominational understandings o proper

expressions o Christian religiosity permeate into secular culture, create a

popular image o appropriate Christian worship style, and shape the aca-

demic discourse on Pentecostalism in the sociology o religion.

ake what is called Hallelujah-robics, suggests Jeremy R in

Is Cho a Pentecostal Shaman? (). He quotes rom Harvey Cs Fire

rom Heaven(, ): Te dancing is led by enthusiastic teams.Ten

more singing begins... and the people move aster and aster until, no longerable to keep it up, they stop in happy exhaustion. o a visitor schooled in

shamanism, the worship at the Yoido Full Gospel Church bears a striking

resemblance to what is ordinarily known as shamanism. (quoted in R-

).

But, Pentecostals object, the first Hallelujah-robics is ound in II Samuel

in the Old estament! A charismatic leader o Israel, King David, danced

and leaped hal naked beore the Lord with all his might and King Sauls

daughter, who despised him as a vulgar man was actually punished byGod! ( Samuel, : -). Does this mean that King David exhibited sha-

manic qualities? How about the Old estaments Jewish prophets who cer-

tainly were not the most culturally conventional figures o their times? Was

John the Baptist a highly reverential legalistic character, who cared about

how his appearance and actions would look on the surace to his audience?

And eventually, we find that the most outwardly reverential, godly, law-

abiding and culturally fit characters o their time were the Pharisees who

crucified Jesus. Again, the accusation pendulum swings back.

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So, what is proper Christian worship? Is it Catholic, Orthodox, Chris-

tian Fundamentalist, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Anglican, Pentecostal?

What did the first-century early Christian worship service look like? How

do we know that the first-century Christians did not dance in the Spiritto the point o happy exhaustion in line with the ancient Jewish tradition

o ritual celebratory dance? Is it possible to conceive that today we are look-

ing at the Pentecostal worship style through the prism o the conservative

Christian tradition?

Tat is to say, what preconceived ideas o the properness o Christian

religious expressions do sociologists o religion have in mind when they

approach Pentecostal worship services and prayer meetings? Is their bias

Pentecostal, anti-Pentecostal, or non-Pentecostal and how does it reflect ontheir perception and interpretation o Pentecostalism? Would it be more

intellectually honest and academically rigorous to recognize our doctrinal

biases and make them explicit rom the outset (including my own: moderate

Pentecostal)?

In other words, instead o asking i the marriage between theology and

the sociology o religion is possible, we should awake and see that this mar-

riage has already been enunciated without us realizing it? When sociologists

o religion analyze the relationship between religion and the economic orsocial structure o society, when they ocus on religious population demo-

graphics, birth rates, migration patterns and other social or economic ac-

tors, they may well succeed at applying methodological atheismto their

research. But when sociologists o religion begin to make interpretative

claims on religious ideas and belies o others, as it happens in the case with

the attempts to assimilate Pentecostalism with shamanism, they certainly

cross the disciplinary boundaries into the fields o theology, philosophy,

ethics and other disciplines.Not surprisingly, Pentecostal Christians sense that the anti-Pentecostal

theological biases inadvertently influence the academic discourse on Pen-

tecostalism and react correspondingly. One o the readers o Harvey Coxs

Fire rom Heaven() wrote in a review in the amazon.comcustomer

review section:

. Methodological atheism designates the method o comparing multiple conflicting

religious belies and dogmas without assessing the validity o religious belies. See B

().

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Coxs Fire From Heavendoes bring some sense o legitimacy to Pentecostal-

ism among the liberal academy o theologians and religionists. However,

in playing up the idea that Pentecostalism may be little more than a Christian

mask over indigenous spiritualities, I think he may have played into thehands o religious right undamentalists who attack a charismatic Christian-

ity as heretical and into the hands o intellectual universalists who dont wish

to see a distinct contribution rom the Christian Pentecostal movement as a

unique orm o religious spirituality.

Now, Pentecostals express concerns that Cessationist doctrines may have

ogged the academic interpretation o Pentecostalism in the sociology o

religion and demand a retrial. However, should not they first cast out the

plank rom their own eye? How about pro-Pentecostal voices in academia?Are they any more objective or unbiased in the way they rame their aca-

demic counter-arguments? Did not Lee Wanak suggest that in order to

avoid a distortion o Pentecostal belies we need to discover their motives

values, dreams and desires? Did he not insist that Pentecostals should be

allowed to speak or themselves and express their subjectiveinterpretation

o who they really are? And unless Pentecostals eventually speak or them-

selves, does Pentecostalism stand anychance o disclaiming the academic

presumption that it is little more than a Christian mask over indigenousspiritualities? Tis is highly doubtul. In my view, Pentecostal apologetics

is crippled without the crutches o theological justification and first-person

experiential evidence, and pro-Pentecostal rhetoric is even more doctrinally

and experientially bound than the anti-Pentecostal critique. Still, the differ-

ence between Cessationist and Continuationist biases in academia is that

while Continuationist (Pentecostal) doctrinal biases are explicit, the Ces-

sationist (anti-Pentecostal) biases are implicit and remain largely unrecog-

nized and unchallenged.

Let us look at one more example o a doctrinal bias, which may be drawn

rom A Study o Strategic Level Spiritual Warare rom a Chinese Perspec-

tive by Samuel Hio-Kee O(). In his paper, Ooi maintains that It is

a act that in the Chinese context, shamanism never ceases to exist (O

, ), and suggests that Pentecostal strategic level spiritual warare

() may be likened to traditional shamanic exorcism. What is this stra-

. Available at: http://www.amazon.com/Fire-From-Heaven-Pentecostal-Spirituality/

dp/.

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tegic level spiritual warare? Ooi explains by reerring to Peter Wagner,

Cindy Jacobs and other promoters o :

is a popular charismatic method o casting out demons rom geo-

graphical locations and territories. Te demonic control o the spirits over

the geographical area can even be identified on three levels, namely: first,

on the ground-level demons, which possess people, second, occult-level

demons, which empower witches, shamans and magicians; and the inal,

strategic level demons, which are the most powerul o the three. Te last

ones are said to rule over certain large regions and territories.

(O , )

Apparently, the doctrine relies on a Christian semantic [o] angels

and demons believed to be composed o different ranks (O , ).Samuel Hio-Kee Ooi finds similarities between the Christian understanding

o the world o spirits as being hierarchically rankedand the hierarchi-

cal ranking o deities in the Chinese pantheon o aoist gods. He provides

a comprehensive analysis o the Chinese pantheistic cosmology and the

Chinese shamanic exorcism methods and states that his hope is to shed

light on the idea o exorcism or demon casting in by looking at the

practice o demon-casting in Chinese popular religion (O , ). He

provides a step-by-step description o the methods in Chinese traditionalshamanic exorcism, namely: . cast the demon and ry it in the hot pan; .

seeking a successor; . making a substitute; . sacrifice to the offended gods.

Ooi compares the step-by-step Chinese shamanic exorcism method to the

clear steps as ritual to cast out or expel demons (O , ) elabo-

rated by the Pentecostal promoters. Tese are: . seek the name o a

ruling spirit and identiy its territory; . seek the unction o demons in

a particular area; . praise march, prayer walk, prayer expedition, or

prayer journey to expel demons rom the appointed geographical areas.Identification repentance is also required in order to discover the sin

and guilt that allow the demon to build ootholds in the area. Repenting or

that sin is necessary to break the grip o demons in an area.Based on the

. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the

authorities, against the powers o this dark world and against the spiritual orces o evil in

the heavenly realms. (Ephesians : ).

. Ooi reers to D , .

. O , . Tus, the most distinguishing eature o Christian exorcism in con-

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comprehensive analysis o the similarities and differences between the Chi-

nese shamanistic and the Christian Pentecostal demon-casting strategies,

Ooi comes to the conclusion that the Pentecostal ascination with strategic

level spiritual warare is the result o exposure to the Eastern mysticismo transcendental meditation and others, leading the Western society and

some Christian churches into the Eastern spiritual worldview that embraces

a concept o hierarchical ranking o spiritual beings, which is nothing new

to Chinese people (O , ).

I hesitate to label Oois position as that o a Cessationist, however, it is

clear that his views relect the Cessationist understanding that a good

Christian must concern himsel with leading a good sinless lienot with

some kind o bizarre precarious spiritual warare, as ollows:

Is it possible that the spirits that possess different individuals are truly the

spirit o rage, spirit o promiscuous, spirit o lust and so orth? Teologically,

it is sound to state that spirit possessions are usually related to sin. Te

Apostle Paul elaborates sin in personified terms. Te body belongs to the

sin. Paul says that the body can only be redeemed when the power o sin is

cancelled. Te only way to cancel that is through the death o Christ on the

cross. It is interesting to note that in the Epistle to the Romans, Paul does

not attribute the bondage o human beings to Satan, or to the powers o this

dark world and the spiritual orces o evil in the heavenly realm, as illus-

trated in Ephesians , but to sin (O , ).

For many generations, exposure and contact with the spiritual realm was

deemed a prohibited act by most Chinese evangelical believers, who believed

that the gods, the spirits o the dead, the spirits o the ancestors, are all evil

spirits in disguise; and having turned to Christ, converted Christians have

entered the realm o God, rom darkness into light. Tus, once liberated rom

the grasp o the old gods, and having denounced the physical and visibleidols, the power o darkness and Satan could no longer take hold onto their

lives. Christians do not need to re-enter into the spiritual realm to bind the

evil spirits whom they once venerated and certainly not to say they must

look or the overlords o these spirits or a battle at a higher level. Christ has

already won the victory once and or all. (O , ).

trast to that o shamanic is that there is a consensus among Pentecostals that repentance

o sins is the most crucial step in a spiritual warare without which demon-casting is

impossible.

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Why is the teaching dangerous, according to Ooi? It is because it

would be more than welcome to Chinese people, or that would airm

their belie system as well. Tey would perceive it as a Christian version

o a pantheistic view o the different levels o gods. Moreover, the same viewwould certainly fit with the Hindu pantheistic view which sees all gods as

maniestations o the Brahma, whereas one is at a higher or a lower level.

But what then is so unique in Christianity? (O , ). Ooi notes that

A. Scott Moreaus analysis o the similarity o and Hinduism in his

Gaining Perspective on erritorial Spiritshares his viewpoint.

My purpose here is ar rom trying to advocate the practice o geographi-

cal exorcism o territorial spirits elaborated by Peter Wagner, Cindy

Jacobs, and other promoters. Te problem that I find with Oois lineo argumentation is that his personal theological position implicitly over-

shadows his analysis o the nexus between shamanism and Pentecostal-

ism and predominates over his comparative religion ramework. However,

Oois work raises a number o important questions, among which the most

troubling one is the question o syncretism o Christianity with indigenous

cosmologies and the role that Pentecostalism might have played in its

expansion in Asia. Ooi is not alone in asking this question. Other scholars

o Asian Pentecostalism also point out to the syncretic tendencies in AsianChristianity that stem rom the similarities between the Christian spiri-

tual worldview which holds angels and demons to be composed o differ-

ent ranks, and polytheistic cosmologies o indigenous religions that venture

hierarchical pantheons o deities and demons. o give another example,

Sung-Gun Kim in Pentecostalism, Shamanism and Capitalism within Con-

temporary Korean Societynotes:

Within Koreans Shamanistic pantheon there developed a concept o a hier-

archy o the gods. Above all the spirits stood one supreme ruler named

Hananim. American Christian missionaries recognized Hananimas a

distinctive Korean deity [but] it was easy to accept Hananimas a counter-

part o the Christian God Tus being part o its essential Korean religious

heritage, the monotheistic concept o God originally developed rom Koreas

Shamanistic pantheon. Te Shamanic personalized view o God as the

. Samuel Hio-Kee Ooi gives a reerence to Moreau, Scott, A. Gaining Perspective on

erritorial Spirits; http://www.lausanne.org/Brix?pageID=), August .

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supreme God presiding over the affairs o heaven and earth was undamen-

tally important in the rapid progress o Christian Evangelicalism. Tis was

especially true in its Pentecostal guise which stressed spiritualism and spirit-

ism. (K , )According to Kim, the metonymic transition o the notion o a supreme

deity rom the indigenous pantheistic term Hananimonto the Hananim

designating Christian God resulted in syncretic tendencies and encour-

aged the overall shamanization o Christianity in Korea.

Now, this proposition invokes a number o counter-arguments: Are

Christian adherents in Korea doctrinally illiterate and incapable o distin-

guishing the original Hananimthe celestial god o Korean shamanistic

pantheonrom the Christian Hananim? Are they unaware o semanticrelations within language and are they incapable o inerring meaning rom

context? By the same token, do Japanese Christians conuse a polytheistic

termkami designating gods (spirits) and a monotheistic term kamides-

ignating Christian God?How do Christians today read Leviticus : :

Do not turn to idols or make gods o cast metal or yourselves. I am the

Lord your God and know the difference between gods with a small g

and God with a capital G? Finally, are Chinese Pentecostal Christians

across Asia unable (as Samuel Hio-Kee Ooi suggests) to doctrinally dis-criminate between the Chinese pantheon o aoist deities and the Christian

biblical worldview, which holds pagan deities as demons?

As many sociologists o religion quoted above argue, the expansion o

Christianity highly depends on the discourses o devilization o pagan dei-

ties and their spiritual mediums. How is it possible that Chinese, Japanese,

and Korean Christians missed out on this belligerent Pentecostal anti-sha-

manistic rhetoric?

On the other hand, is it possible to conceive that by engaging in a spiri-tual warare against the occult powers o darkness, Pentecostalism (para-

doxically) highlights and reaffirms indigenous shamanism, spiritism, and

occultism, as the critics o Pentecostalism suggest? What are we dealing

with here? Does Pentecostalism encourage syncretism and doctrinal con-

. Te problem o the translation o the Christian theological concepts (God, Holy

Spirit, spirits, others) and their appropriation in the Japanese sociolinguistic code was

discussed in detail in my article on Orthodox Bible translation into Japanese in Meiji

Japan ().

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tamination o Christianity in Asia and beyond? Or does it encourage the

quest or doctrinal purity and spiritual holiness?

Tese are the burning questions. Why are some Christians more prone

to syncretism while others are crucially concerned with the purity o thedoctrine? And who is there to decide where this notorious purity o the

doctrine lies? Religious worldviews permanently evolve: religious doctrines

and canons are constantly shrinking and expanding, overlapping and dis-

sociating, bouncing off one another in the never-ending process o centro-

version and differentiation. Te pendulum swings between dogmatism and

syncretism, sectarianism and ecumenism, exclusionism and universalism.

Mircea Eliade reminds us, Not only can a communityconsciously or

unconsciously practice many religions but the same individual can havean infinite variety o religious experiences, rom the highest to the most

undeveloped and aberrant (E and , xviii). Indeed, the reli-

gious identity o a given individual is not a fixed entity it is constantly

developing throughout ones lie. Ten, what individuals, what social groups

and communities should be considered the representative research target

or the sociology o religion studying Pentecostalism in Asia? Who should

be considered a representative model o Asian Christianity a radical Pen-

tecostal promoter o strategic level spiritual warare who sees a demonbehind every bush? Or a liberal syncretist who puts a statue o Jesus next

to the statues o other gods on his Hindu (ao, Shinto, Conucian, Buddhist)

home altar and consults with a local ortune-teller about investments?

Finally, who should be the voice o shamanism in the academia? In the

neverending quest or meaning and authentication, shamanism has been

conceptually marginalized and re-centralized, devilized and idolized, ostra-

cized and exoticized. In the Christian context it suffers devilization. In the

modernist colonialist context shamanism is reduced to the psychiatric med-icalization discourse, where shamanic behavior is qualified as psycho-path-

ological and shamanic practice as therapeutical (H , ).

Te post-colonial discourse tries to restore shamanism and shamans to their

human dignity and human rights and to de-marginalize indigenous

spiritualities under the banner o eco-centrism. Western neo-shamanisms

and the New Age movement create explicit discourses o idealization and

exoticization o traditional shamanisms. So, who is the voice o shamanism

in the academia? What does it mean to be authentically shamanic?

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o summarize, who represents whom in the sociology o religion? Te

first-person subjective perspectives are multiple and contradictory and the

third-person independent observant perspective is obscured. What is a

disciplinary rigor in regard to the sociology o religion, where are the dis-ciplinary boundaries? I we identiy Australian mega-church pastor Brain

Houston as archetypal modern-day shaman and South Korean mega-

church leader Yonggi Cho as a Christian shaman, then let us cut straight

to the chase andusing the same line o reasoningask ourselves: How

about Jesus Christ? Does he not satisy the classical definition o a charis-

matic shaman-master, a Spirit-medium, a psychic healer and community

leader, a mystic specialist in the sacred? Perhaps, these questions are valid

as long as we conceptualize them ahistorically, on the level o philosophicalabstractions. But is it possible to make such sweeping comparisons socio-

logically and anthropologically? Is it possible to take these charismatic

leaders out o context? Is it possible to strip them off their socio-cultural

bearings and doctrinal paradigms? Would not this violate the disciplinary

rigor o the sociology o religion? Would not this violate the dignity o the

research subjects themselves?

Now, there is one comparative ramework applied or the analysis o the

relations between Pentecostalism and shamanism that seems to stand thechallenge. Many sociologists o religion in Asia utilize the social scientific

category o pragmatism to compare the two traditions by pointing out to

their shared qualities o human-centeredness and this-worldly orienta-

tion. What would be a Pentecostal response to this approach?

Human-All-oo-Human: Is the heology o ProsperityRooted in Shamanism?

Did shamanism pave the way or the easy acceptance o Pentecos-

talism in South Korea, Latin America, Arica and other non-Western parts

o the world where shamanistic practices are still vibrant today? Certainly,

it is possible to speculate that modern societies, which are marked by the

strong presence o shamanism, animism, occultism, and witchcraf are gen-

erally more open to the acceptance o Pentecostal spiritual practices, such

as trance, visions, prophesies, and speaking in tongues. Shamanism makes

Pentecostalism look less strange, deviant, or exotic and prepares modern

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rational minds or smoother cultural adaptation o extravagant Pentecostal

expressions o Christian spirituality. In the words o William W. Menzies:

In much o Asia, there is a surprising cross-current o belie that somehow

meshes concern or the immediate and the practical with the notion that

there is, indeed, a spiritual realm that overshadows the concrete world.

Apparently most Asians already are prepared to accept the act o spiritual

reality. Tis has made it relatively easy or Pentecostals to reach animistic cul-

tures. By demonstrating that the God o the Bible, the risen Lord, has offered

to intervene in the problems o lie, not only or the eternal issues, but also or

the immediate practical needs o health and harvest, Pentecostals have been

able to get inside the elt-needs o tribal peoples. (M , )

While I strongly agree with Menzies that shamanism-affected societies aregenerally more sensible to spiritual reality, I propose that the above-men-

tioned concern or the immediate and the practical is not and has never

been exclusive to Pentecostalism. Human beings lifed prayers or health,

rain, and harvest since the dawn o human history. Long beore Pentecostal-

ism, even long beore Protestantism came onto the historical scene, Catholic

and Orthodox churches practiced special prayer services or the sick, or

the protection o sailors and travelers, and other practical human needs

throughout the history o the Church. On the surace, there is nothing par-ticularly this-worldly about Pentecostalism that makes it more concerned

with human problems and needs than any other Christian denomination.

Likewise, human obsession with the attempts to manipulate God and to

re-describe the relationship with God in market terms is nothing new in

the history o Christendom. I suggest that historically the efforts to bar-

gain with God reached their epitome in the absurdity o Catholic practices

o selling and granting indulgences in the Middle Ages when remission o

sins was re-described in monetary value and the humanistic etishizationo aith reached its peak. Tis, surely, fits the description o elements o

magic and belie that we have the power to create our own reality! Still, we

do not call the corrupt Catholic priests o the Middle Ages shamans, nor

do we reduce the Catholic Church to shamanism.

I multitudes o Christian believers all over the world constantly lit

prayers or health and prosperity in the same human-centered, this-worldly

oriented manner, why do we primarily associate human-centeredness

with Pentecostalism? Perhaps, the reason is that it wasrom withinPente-

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costalism that the notorious theology o prosperity (prosperity gospel,

word-o-aith theology,aith gospel, name-it-and-claim-it, positive

statement theology) emerged and ormulated this universally-present,

inherently human human-centeredness as a vocal, explicit, and aggres-sively sel-imposing doctrine. Historically, prosperity gospel began to take

a recognizable shape in the in s through the Evangelical Pentecostal

revival movements with the emphasis on the principles o divine blessing,

aith healing, and divine reciprocity.It is strongly associated with the names

o E. W. Kenyon, Oral Roberts, .L. Osborn, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Cope-

land, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, and Bruce Wilkinson, among the latest.

So, what is specifically shamanistic about the theology o prosperity and

what do indigenous olk religions o Asia, Arica, and Latin America have todo with the historical emergence and popularization o this doctrine? Are

we orgetting that the theology o prosperity is a cultural product o North

American Evangelical Christianity? Paul Giffords expresses similar doubts:

Without some idea o the aith gospel, it is possible to miss some o the com-

plexity o some developments within Christianity globally. Tus, a recent

study o Korean charismatic Christianity claims that Korean Christianity

has become almost completely shamanized. Te author proves the shaman-

istic orientation o the theology o Paul Yonggi Cho by expounding Chos

exegesis o John . Yet everything Cho understands by prospering has

. Name-it-and-claim-it or the word o aith () or positive conession theol-

ogy states that complete healing (o spirit, soul, and body) is included in Christs atone-

ment and thereore is available here and now to all who believe. he biblical passages

requently cited in support o this doctrine are Isaiah : , By his wounds we are healed,

and Matthew : , which says that Jesus healed the sick so that Tis was to ulfill what was

spoken through the prophet Isaiah: He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.

Because Isaiah speaks in the present tense (we are healed), teaches that believersshould accept the reality o a healing that is already theirs. Accepting this healing is done

by conessing the verse or verses ound in the Bible declaring they are healed (i.e., word

o aith) and then believing them ully without doubt. It is notan act o denying the pain,

sickness, or disease, but an act o denying its right to supersede the receiving o the gif

mentioned in Isaiah : . According to adherents, sickness is an attempt by Satan to rob

believers o their divine right to total health. Te same principle applies to prosperity, suc-

cess, and so orth.

. Give, and it will be given to you. (Luke : ).

. Dear riend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with

you, even as your soul is getting along well ( John ).

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been taught in exactly that orm by the aith gospel or years, and John has

been one o its key texts. Te emphasis on this-worldly blessing is too read-

ily attributed to shamanism, with no reerence to what is taught in a whole

swathe o Christianity in America. (G , )

Te emphasis on this-worldly blessing is too readily attributed to sha-

manism, argues Paul Gifford. Or may it also be that the emphasis on this-

worldly orientation is too readily attributed to Pentecostalism as a global

phenomenon? Even though the prosperity gospel historically emerged

rom within Pentecostalism, many Pentecostal groups never embraced this

doctrine and some even harshly reject it as a heretical deviation rom the

original Christian gospel.Pentecostal critics o the theology o prosper-

ity generally agree that it is a distortion o the biblical doctrine o blessings

and curses.Te prosperity gospel takes the blessings part out o con-

text, overemphasizes blessings (divine love) over curses (divine justice), and

makes the happy-go-lucky principle the cornerstone o Christian aith. Tis

unbalanced perspective, which takes one part o the doctrine to the extreme

and diminishes all others, results in heretical deviation.

Many Pentecostal critics theologically reute the theology o prosperity,

and many Pentecostal groups are also overtly skeptical about the happy-clappy charismatic expressions o spirituality, unrestrained emotionalism,

and sensationalism in the church. Among them are the conservative Pente-

costal groups, which place a great emphasis on Christian suffering, content-

ment, and martyrdom today. For example, the so-called Old Pentecostals

in contemporary Russia and the ormer communist bloc, which survived

harsh persecutions under the communist regime, exhibit an excessively

puritan legalistic martyr mentality up to this day. Tey ofen utilize escha-

tological rhetoric or address other Christian groups in Russia and EasternEurope with warnings such as the end times is approaching, prepare or

tribulations, and the government will cease our religious reedom again.

At the same time, these Old Pentecostal groups are authentically Pente-

. See K ; O .

. See, I am setting beore you today a blessing and a cursethe blessing i you obey

the commands o the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse i you disobey

the commands o the Lord your God and turn rom the way that I command you today by

ollowing other gods, which you have not known. (Deuteronomy : ).

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costal in a sense that they speak in tongues, prophesy, and run deliverance

ministries and exorcism ministries.

What is it about human thought that makes it constantly oscillate between

polar opposites? What is it about human nature that makes us over-empha-size one perspective at the expense o all others and create a conceptual

idolatry by putting a certain doctrine or ideology into the center o the

system? A nineteenth-century prince o preachers Charles H. Spurgeon

amously proclaimed: I believe that it is anti-Christian and unholy or any

Christian to live with the object o accumulating wealth (C ,

). A century later the pendulum swings back: Kenneth C (,

) declares that poverty is under the curse o the Law and a televangelist

Robert ilton postulates that being poor is a sin.

Perhaps the theology oprosperity simply tries to make up or centuries o the Christianity equals

poverty mentality? Perhaps it overcompensates or the centuries o the

predominance o another quasi-Christian doctrine: sel-imposed legalistic

asceticism in the name o salvation through sel-mortification?

Is it possible to conceive that the theology o prosperity, with its over-

emphasis on the ultimate redemption rom poverty, illness, and oppression,

can partly (only partly) be explained by the overall Protestant inatuation

with the idea o sola fidesalvation and de jureredemption rom the curseo sin and (spiritual) death? Protestantism celebrates the act that Christs

redemptive work on the cross was complete, resulting in Christians who

are joyous because o the ull orgiveness o sins.Tus, the prosperity

gospel embodies the idea that the New estament church should be the

place or redemption, healing and restoration, not or blaming and con-

demnation. It highlights the biblical principle that the role o the church in

society should be to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the bro-

kenhearted, to proclaim reedom or the captives and release rom darknessor the prisoners (Isaiah : ).

Eventually, this Protestant joy and zeal is contagious and spreads to all

other areas o religious lie, including the economic side o existence. A

Weberian classic, he Protestant Ethic and the Spirit o Capitalism (

[]) a century ago elucidated the intrinsic connection between Protes-

. Robert ilton, Success in Lie, program on BN, December .

. Shishko, William, What Is a Protestant Church; http://www.opcli.org/pds/Whatisa-

ProtestantChurch.pd.

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tant work ethics and capitalist economics. Is it possible to apply a Weberian

model to the theology o prosperity? Is it a coincidence that the theol-

ogy o prosperity arose rom within the most enthusiastic layers o North

American Protestantism afer World War II, during the golden era o Amer-ican capitalism? Is it possible to conceive o the theology o prosperity as a

religious-economic cultural phenomenon, an alloy o exuberant Protestant

religious enthusiasm with capitalist aspirations? What is the prosperity gos-

pel i not a spiritualized, lofy version o the American dream? I find the

confirmation or this line o reasoning in the words o Alan Boraas: Gos-

pel prosperity or Christian materialism does or st-century corporate

capitalism what early th-century Protestantism did or regular capitalism:

connect economics to Gods blessing. Wealth has become a maniestationo the sacred (B ). South Korea seems to have undergone a sim-

ilar process in the post-war afermath, according to Sung-Gun Kim, who

speaks o the affinity between Evangelical Religion/Pentecostal Christian-

ity and capitalism in his native land:

Ater the Korean War, in Martins terminology [M : ], the

whole US Protestant package o religion including Pentecostalism, economic

dynamism, progress, and egalitarianism could be welcomed by many or-

ward-looking Koreans as good or them and good or Korea. As a result, inpost-war Korea, Protestantism became an important and indispensable link

between the US Government and the authoritarian regimes o Park Chun-

ghee, Chun Duwhan and Noh aewoo. (K , )

From South Korea to Brazil, rom Nigeria to Russia, the non-Western

nations unpacked the Protestant package afer World War II, and

now the theology o prosperity is triumphantly marching throughout

the world in a post-industrial pseudo-Christian quest to build the king-

dom o God on earth in socio-economic terms. Curiously, the period aferWorld War II in the was also marked by the increased popularity o

psychiatry, psychology, and other mental health medical proessions, which

explicitly articulated the importance o boosting emotional well-being and

mental health o the population. Tus, the emergence o the theology o

prosperity in the in s coincided with the publication o Te Power

o Positive Tinking(), whose author and co-ounder o theAmerican

Foundation o Religion and Psychiatry (), Norman Vincent Peale, laid the

oundation or the religion-based psychoanalysis and the positive think-

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ing movement. A Methodist and later a Reormed Church member, Nor-

man Vincent Peale greatly influenced the development o the prosperity

gospel in the , as Harvey C points out in his Fire rom Heaven (,

).Te present essay provides only a very brie sketch o a number o pos-

sible reasons or the emergence and popularization o the theology o

prosperity across the Christian world, aiming to demonstrate that it is too

complex a phenomenon to approach lightly. Tere are too many underly-

ing economic, psycho-social, ideological and political currents that we must

take into account when analyzing the theology o prosperity as a histori-

cal phenomenon. Some critics even argue that the prosperity gospel is not

based in the Christian gospel at all, but in obscure New Age movementsalong with hints o Hinduism and Oriental philosophy (J ). So,

again, what is the theology o prosperity and why does it seem to resonate

with shamanism?

Human-Centrism Versus heo-centrism:he Ancient Battle

As previously established, the theology o prosperity is primarily

defined as a heretical deviation rom the original Christian gospel. What

are the roots o this heresy? Is it rooted in corrupted, sinul, human-cen-

tered Adamic nature which the Bible exposes all so critically? Is human-

centeredness simply human-all-too-human (Nietzsche []) to

utilize classical Nietzschean terminology? Is it part o universal human

nature that we all seem to share? Or does it emanate rom the shamanic

background o indigenous olk religions? What is this presumed human-

centeredness and why is it negativelyassociated with shamanism (as a kind

o egotism, deviating rom the original Christian ideals o sel-denial and

sel-sacrifice)? Is it possible to anthropologicallydemonstrate that traditional

shamanistic cultures are inherently human-centered and this-worldly

oriented? Most importantly, is human-centeredness a valid anthropo-

logical or social scientific category? Perhaps, we are slipping again onto the

level o philosophical abstractions and conceptual speculations?

Who is a shaman, afer all? A traditional shaman-master, a charismatic

leader o the tribe, a spirit-medium is primarily defined as a mediatoryfig-

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ure between the world o spirits and the world o humans. raditional sha-

mans attend to the basic needs o their communities in the same pragmatic

manner as priests, doctors, teachers, and politicians o today do in a modern

society. Ten, what is it that sets shamans apart as particularly human-cen-tered charismatic protagonists?

What I ind most baling and conusing in regard to the above-men-

tioned negative association o the theology o prosperity with shamanism

in the sociology o religion (termed as a degradation or distortion o the

original Christian doctrine) is the act that this kind o negative associa-

tion paradoxically enough reaffirms the validity and the cogency o

the Teo-centric Christian ethos in the academic discourse.

Te Teo-centric ethos is ultimately Other-centered: it venerates the toutautretranscendental Other (Creator) and humbles sel (creation). It stands

as an antithesis to human-centrism (philosophical humanism), which puts

humans into the center o the sel-elliptic relational system and downplays

the significance o divine authority in the cosmic drama. By contrast with

sel-consumed, sel-centered, and sel-gloriying anthropocentrism, the

Teo-centric Christian ethos emphasizes sel-humbling, sel-denial, and

sel-sacrifice or the sake o the Other. Teologically, the Teo-

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