I came here to conquer!

: The Role of the Holy Spirit and Prosperity Theology in the Well-being of
Brazilian Neo-Pentecostals.

H.J. Franois Dengah II

Department of Anthropology
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL

This paper was prepared for presentation in a session entitled The Neuroanthropology of
Dissociation, Absorption, and Embodiment: Research in Ritual, Play, And Entertainment, organized by
Christopher Lynn and Jeffrey Snodgrass at the 110th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological
Association, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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In this paper, I examine how Neo-pentecostal Brazilians create narratives of prosperity through

baptism in the Holy Spirit, and how these are in turn related to psychological well-being. I argue that the

Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (IURD) church practices and mandates dissociative experiences as part

of the construction of past, present, and future identities. Following Sidney Greenfield (2008), I maintain

these dissociative rituals foster hyper-suggestive states (similar to hypnosis), allowing acolytes to quickly

and deeply internalize community discourses such as striving for individual prosperity and positive

affirmation. As such, these dissociative experiences carry with them cultural meanings which then shape

the interpretation and appraisal of life events and stressors.

THE IURD: My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches of glory in Christ

Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

Founded in 1977 by Brazilian Edir Macedo, the IURD is rapidly changing the religious

marketplace of Brazil. It currently has 3 million members, runs the second most popular television

channel, and circulates its newspaper to over 6 million households (Birman and Lehmann 2005; Oro

2004). Most individual IURD churches in Brazil are mega-churches: crentes (believers) worship with up

to several thousand fellow congregants (Thumma 1996). Meetings take place in large halls and

auditoriums; they are led by paid charismatic professionals; and each days sermons focus on a specific

topic: for example, Mondays meetings focus on prosperity, Fridays focus on liberation from demons,

and so on.

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 The biggest draw, according to members, is the IURDs claim to change lives. As one member

puts it, other churches talk about the Bible. But they dont live it. They forget that the Bible is full of

examples of Jesus performing miracles. The (IURD) church is the only one who still performs the

miracles of the Bible. This health and wealth gospel promises blessings of well-being and financial

security to the faithful. In practice, the gospel operates as a type of self-help/positive affirmation therapy

by encouraging independence and optimistic outlooks for its acolytes. Specialty meetingsfor prosperity,

liberation, and even romancefocus on positioning ones life and soul to receive blessings and to

radically improve life deficiencies. Through its prosperity theology, the IURD breaks from traditional

Christian theology which gives positive value to suffering or charismatic status to poverty" (Martin

1995: 115). The IURD makes the achievement of material and financial wealth a center-piece of its faith,

and a primary motivation among acolytes. The churchs use of mass-media, its focus on material

prosperity, and the array of worship times and themes has been attractive to lower and middle-class

acolytes who may have been turned off by traditional and/or rigid religions, and want to make religion

work for them (Thumma 1996).

According to Greenfield (2008), church meetings aim to engender dissociative states. Acolytes

view meetings as opportunities to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Sermons usually last for at least two

hours, much of which is spent on ones feet. Twentyminute-long prayers merge into group song and then

back into prayer. Simultaneous piano-playing, a booming preachers voice, and the private utterings of

3,000 acolytes creates a cacophony where - at least in my case - individual thoughts are drowned out by

the buzzing of personal prayers, the crying of grown men and women, and the rhythmic pulsing of a

keyboard. Unlike other Pentecostal churches that view glossolalia (or speaking in tongues) as a public

signaling of baptism in the Spirit, IURDians value a private and individual experience of the Holy Spirit.

For them, baptism is a warmth spreading through your body, a feeling of extreme comfort and love,

and hearing the whispers of God in your head.

The purpose of baptism in the Spirit is to be filled with the Holy Ghost and consequently,

liberation from demons. Crentes maintain that demons are the cause of all of lifes problems. From

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drug and sex addiction, to domestic violence, poverty, diseases like HIV and cancer, and even automobile

accidents, all of lifes stressors and tribulations are viewed as the direct result of Satan and his minions

(Medeiros 2005). In services, I repeatedly heard, God doesnt want you to be poor; He doesnt want you

to be sick in this lifeall these things come from Satan. And only God can rid your life of the demons

and make you complete. Baptism in the Spirit is thus as much about feeling close to God as it is about

exorcising demons that cause tragedy and sorrow, and that prevent the manifestation of Gods blessings.

While at times dramatic, exorcism of spirits is a quotidian event. All acolytes hope to experience

liberation as part of the experience with the Spirit. The bodies and lives of acolytes are proof of the

eternal battle of good versus evil; exorcisms attest to the power and authority of church pastors, and

blessings realized are reverently charted and retold by the faithful.

To recapitulate, the IURD church is lead by prosperity theology and rituals that foster dissociative

experiences. However, unlike in other Pentecostal faiths, the purpose of IURD baptism in the Spirit is not

for public signaling; rather, for the average IURD crente, baptism is a private affair. Experience in the

Holy Spirit helps the individual create an optimistic narrative in which he/she is independently-capable of

overcoming life stressors. Past trials are attributed to demons (and the lack of the Spirit), whereas

successes are ascribed to divine blessings.

SURVEY DATA: BAPTISM, HEALTH, AND PROSPERITY

To examine the role that baptism in the Spirit plays in shaping narratives and well-being, I

employ both qualitative and quantitative anthropological methods. Here I begin with my quantitative data

and expand to the qualitative data. This research shows that culturally validated experiences with the Holy

Spirit shape both psychological and physiological experiences of self.

Over the past several months, I administered a questionnaire to 34 members of the IURD in

Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. These informants are equally split among men and women (n=17) and range from

18 to 64 years of age, with a mean of 31 years. On average, these informants have the equivalent of a high

school education, which is expected from a faith that draws from the lower socio-economic strata of

Brazilian society.

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 To measure experiences in the Holy Spirit, I developed an emic scale of experiences that

informants cited most commonly as conditions for complete Spirit baptism. The four items constituting

the IURD Holy Spirit Experience Scale include: the frequency of the body feeling literally full of the

Spirit; feeling the presence of God; feeling so overwhelmed by joy and peace that other thoughts

disappear; and a complete liberation of demons. Taken together, the measure holds together satisfactory

with a Cronbachs alpha of 0.7.

To measure well-being, several outcome variables were employed. All of these report a

significant association with the main independent variable, the IURD Holy Spirit Experience Scale. For

psychological well-being, controlling for age and sex, those with more experiences with the Holy Spirit

experience less stress (via Perceived Stress Scale, B=-0.39, t=-2.4, p=0.022) and less depression (via

CES-D, B=-0.37, t=-2.26, p=0.031) related symptoms. The salutogenic affect continues with

physiological well-being: increased experiences with the Holy Spirit are associated with both lower

systolic (B=-0.34, t=-2.03, p=0.051) and diastolic (B=-0.29, t=-1.71, p=0.097) blood pressures after

controlling for age, sex, BMI, and confounding behaviors (smoking, drinking, and drug use).

Finally, to test how baptism in the Spirit alters appraisals of life events, I employed an interaction

effect of experiences with the Holy Spirit with a measure of lifestyle material success. (Remember that

the church promotes the conquista da vida material or the conquest of the material life.) The lifestyle

measure is essentially a cultural model of material items which Brazilians identify as necessary for the

good life. Developed by William W. Dressler (1996), this measure is associated with both physiological

and psychological health outcomes. Within the IURD, respondents indicate that frequent baptism in the

spirit alters the perception of ones material lifestyle success, as it pertains to stress (B=-0.328, t=-2.1,

p=0.044). More specifically, those who have greater culturally validated experiences with the Holy Spirit

experience less stress-related symptoms as their material lifestyle conditions improve. Those who lack

such authentic experiences with the Spirit show a sharp increase in stress as material conditions advance.

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QUALITATIVE DATA: TESTIFYING OF THE BLESSING OF THE SPIRIT

How can we interpret the driving force between IURD experiences with the Holy Spirit and well-

being? Following Sidney Greenfield (2008), I argue that the dissociative experience fosters a hyper-

suggestible state that allows acolytes to embody cultural knowledge and reinterpret their selves and

surroundings. In his study of Brazilian Spiritualist surgeries, Greenfield posits that when combined with

teachings and testimonies, dissociative rituals facilitate even neophytes to transform his/her perceptions of

healing and pain. The impact of these rituals enables invasive surgical practices without the use of

anesthesia. Similarly, IURD rituals combine altered states of consciousness and discourse, taking

advantage of the hypersuggestive state that accompanies dissociation. Acolytes embody the messages of

pastors and testimonies of crentes, altering the appraisals of stress, and impacting psychological and

physiological well-being.

IURD meetings are dissociative places, in which the health and wealth doctrine is internalized. In

turn, acolytes who fully experience baptism in the Spirit experience a greater sense of control over their

lives and a greater sense of optimism for the future. Interspersed between 20 minute long prayers,

acolytes hear testimonials from those who have been liberated from demons and have received

miraculous healing or financial rewards through the Holy Spirit. As Maria, a middle-aged woman wearing

a red shirt reading F + Sacrifcio = Sucesso, testified before the congregation:

I was making only $5 a week as a seamstress, with 2 children to support. I had debt over
R$50,000. I was depressed, overcome with self-doubtThanks to the Fogueira Santa (blessing of
the Holy Spirit), my life has changed, I now own my own business, I have 4 cars, my marriage is
beautiful, and I no longer have depression. God transformed my life.

Marias story of dramatic life change, while not the norm, is presented as such and provides hope to the

acolytes of what they can achieve through the Holy Spirit. Acolytes thus embody the script that individual

faith and the Holy Spirit lead to opulence. Outside the church, at a nearby lunch stand, one can overhear

stories that attribute even relatively minor life changes (such as buying a car, television set, or passing an

employment examination) to miraculous blessings of the Spirit. These testimonies reify the discourse of

the church within daily life by creating and solidifying identities as Gods chosen warriors, worthy of His

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blessings. In turn, these identities foster hope and optimism through direct access to divine interventions.

Although these daily testimonials risk making miracles banal, Marias story and others help keep acolytes

striving for greater experiences of the Holy Spirit and greater blessings of opulence.

There is a dark side to prosperity, however. IURDians, as members of Brazils lower social

classes, are aware of the vast wealth inequalities in Brazil; many view the upper classes as doing the work

of Satan. Such prosperity is tainted, and destined to bring misfortune, pain, and misery. As Danilo, a

young man in his 30s explains:

Can someone be successful without the Holy Spirit? Certainly. It happens all the timejust look
on television, all around you. But it is not safe. Some make deals with the Devil, some just have
it (from inheritance or work) but it doesnt matter, if its not of God, you will lose it and you will
fall. (Prosperity without God is) like building a house with a rotten foundation, it wont last.

My research shows that IURDians view wealth in two different forms: the wealth of God and the wealth

of the world (see also Mesquita 2007; Swatowiski 2007). One type is corrupting and damning and the

other is a sign of Gods grace. While the material manifestations may be similar, the source of the

prosperity is important. It is thus unsurprising that informants who achieve both material prosperity and

baptism in the Spirit possess lower stress than those who achieve material success alone. These materially

successful acolytes, who have not yet fully experienced the Spirit, view their prosperity as ill-gained and

potentially dangerous.

CONCLUSIONS

The health and wealth gospel of the IURD is particularly attractive for socio-economically

marginalized Brazilians whose social mobility is stymied by structural constraints. While the discourse

depoliticizes the reasons for health and wealth disparities, it empowers acolytes to believe that faith and

hard work will help their dreams will be realized. Through church rituals that emphasize dissociation

and awe-inspiring testimonials, acolytes embody the cultural values of the churchshaping both identity

and appraisals of life events. The potential to experience baptism in the Holy Spirit presents acolytes with

a sense of self control and positive affirmation that leads to improved psychological and physiological

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states (see Kirsch 1997; Linley et al. 2006). Failure to do so, challenges their identity vis--vis Gods

grace, and alters their appraisal of life stressors.

Studies of dissociation must not overlook emic interpretations and functions of such experiences.

For the IURD, dissociative states are the norm within church meetingsvery few of my informants

reported not being filled with the Holy Spirit. The experience, however, is much more complicated than

simply feeling the Spirit. Rather, Spirit Baptism is simply the first step; it is a vehicle for embodying

other values of the church, such as liberation, self-reliance, and optimism. For acolytes, psychological and

physiological well-being follows from the integration of church discourse and ritualized dissociation. The

combined effect shapes how individuals view themselves within a hostel Brazilian socio-economic

environment.

References Cited

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2005 Religion and the media in a battle for ideological hegemony: the Universal Church of the
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Dressler, William W.
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Greenfield, Sidney M.
2008 Spirits with scalpels: The culturalbiology of religious healing in Brazil. Leftcoast Press: Walnut
Creek, California.

Kirsch, Irving
1997 Response expectancy theory and application: A decennial review. Applied and Preventive
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Linley, P. Alex; Stephen Joseph, Susan Harrington, and Alex M. Wood

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1995 New mutations of the Protestant ethic among Latin American Pentecostals. Religion 15(2): 101-
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Mesquita, Wania Amlia Belchior
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1996 The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: Megachurches in Modern American Society. Ph.D.
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