Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames

Description

The book is an ethnographic study of Christian groups in contemporary Goan society that come under the umbrella of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity. Most studies on Pentecostalism in India are from a theological perspective. This work is an attempt to fill this gap and provides a sociological understanding of religion in a modern globalised context. It is an attempt to understand the rapidly expanding and overtly evangelistic movement of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity in pluralist, non-Christian societies, both as a social process and as an embodied everyday practice. It is specifically an ethnographic exploration, into the religious journey of a neophyte from one's conversion and initiation into the new movement to his/her religious life, worship patterns, worldview, and life-cycle rituals till his/her death. This book is an important contribution to the growing field of 'new religious movements' in India, characterised by their distinct modes of interaction with mainstream religious establishments and their specific religious identities, beliefs, rites and rituals.

About the author

Savio Abreu, a Catholic priest belonging to the Society of Jesus, is Assistant Professor of Sociology & Anthropology at St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Mumbai. He was the former Director of Xavier Centre of Historical Research (XCHR), Goa from 2011-2018. He has jointly edited two books so far, Goa 2011: Reviewing and Recovering Fifty Years (Concept, 2014) and Public History of Goa: Evolving Politics, Culture, and Identity (CinnamonTeal Publishing, 2019). He has presented many papers at local, national and international seminars and conferences and has published around twenty articles in several edited volumes and academic journals. He is interested in sociology of religion, especially New Religious Movements, cultural studies, Jesuit studies, issues of human rights and social movements.

Table of contents

Foreword
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
List of Tables, Maps, Diagrams, and Plates

1. Introduction
2. Entry of New Christian Movements in Goa
3. The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement in Goa Today:
People, Organisation, and Membership
4. The New Testament Church and the Emergence of Religious
Identities
5. An Exploration of the Symbolic World of Charismatic Christianity
6. Charismatic Life Cycle Rituals and a Life Plan
7. Power, Inequality, and Terrains of Conflict
8. Tying the Loose Ends: Concluding Remarks
References
Index
About the Author