The Soul of Development: Biblical Christianity and Economic Transformation in Guatemala

233 Pages·1997·11.06 MB·English

by  Amy L. Sherman

The Soul
of
Development
RELIGION IN AMERICA SERIES
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Edited by Mark A. Noll, Gregory A. Wills
David W. Bebbington, and
George A. Rawlyk The Soul of Development
Biblical Christianity and Economic
Religious Melancholy and Protestant Transformation in Guatemala
Experience in America Amy L. Sherman
Julius H. Rubin
Conjuring Culture
Biblical Formations in Black America
Theophus Smith
The Soul
of
Development
Biblical Christianity and
Economic Transformation
in Guatemala
A M Y L . S H E R M A N
New York Oxford
Oxford University Press
1997
Oxford University Press
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Copyright © 1997 by Amy L. Sherman
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sherman, Amy L., 1965–
The soul of development : Biblical Christianity and economic
transformation in Guatemala / Amy L. Sherman.
p. cm. — (Religion in America series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-510671-7
1. Protestant churches—Guatemala—History—20th century,
2. Evangelicalism—Guatemala—History—20th century. 3. Economic
development—Religious aspects—Christianity. 4. Guatemala—Church
history—20th century. 5. Guatemala—Economic policy.
6. Guatemala—Economic conditions—1945- L Title. II. Series
Religion in America series (Oxford University Press)
BX4834.G9S48 1997
305.6'o44O7i8i—dc20 96-10378
Author and publisher wish to thank the following publications for allowing
us to reproduce articles by Amy L. Sherman that appeared previously
in these publications, sometimes in a slightly different form:
"The Evangelical Explosion in Latin America," reprinted (in somewhat altered form)
from Rutherford, May 1994, by permission, all rights reserved.
"Evangelicals and Politics in Latin America," reprinted (in somewhat altered form) from
terra nova, Summer 1992, by permission, all rights reserved.
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
FOR
G A B R I E L A M I C H E L L E SAMAYOA VELASCO
a jewel of Guatemala and my special friend
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Preface
Of Fires and Tremors
I nearly killed myself (accidentally, of course) in the north-central
mountains of Guatemala. I was taking a bath. Not any sort of bath,
though, but a Mayan Indian "sweat bath" or tuk. Grimy from a three-
hour tortuously slow "crawl" up a muddy mountain trail from the
town of Uspantan to the hamlet of Las Pacayas, I was ready for any
kind of a bath. From the outside, the tuk looked a little like an oversized
wooden doghouse. Inside, its essential elements were an open fire with a
large, black "witches' brew" kettle of boiling water suspended over it
and a small three-legged stool. You sit on the stool, relaxing in the
steamy, sauna-like atmosphere, letting your anxieties float up with the
hot vapors seeping through the multiple cracks in the roof.
Unless you get in too soon, while the fire is still smoldering. Then you
flatten yourself against the dirt floor, gasping for breath, groping for the
door in a wild, desperate attempt to escape asphyxiation. The teenage
Mayan domestic who had prepared the tuk had told me (I'd thought)
that "the water wasn't ready." I'd misinterpreted, dashed in and felt the
water in the pot—plenty hot!—and told her the temperature was fine.
(She'd actually said that the bath wasn't ready.) Twenty minutes later,
the homeowner stared down incredulously at me as I lay limply in bed,
coughing and clearing my throat. Rolling her eyes at this greenhorn
gringa, she blurted out: "You NEVER go in until the smoke has totally
cleared!"
viii Preface
It's likely that some people who read this book will have an attitude
similar to that of my hostess from Las Pacayas. I am, after all, trying to
analyze the consequences of a phenomenon—the "explosion" of Evan-
gelical Protestantism in Guatemala—that is still under way. The fires of
revival are still smoking, and, in the thick of the event itself, it is difficult
to assess what its impact will be. Scholars may argue (with some legit-
imacy) that it is premature to analyze the social, economic, and political
consequences of the dramatic Evangelical explosion under way in Gua-
temala; that the smoke produced from this explosion is still too thick,
hindering our ability to discern the effects of this still-in-process reli-
gious revolution.
Such an objection is difficult to answer. Ideally, a book about the
socioeconomic consequences of the Protestant revival in Guatemala
would base its conclusions on years of research and longitudinal sur-
veys tracing the effects of conversion from one generation to another.
But the ideal is not always possible. Moreover, though the smoke from
the fires of Evangelical revival has not yet cleared in Guatemala, enough
time has passed to allow for at least some tentative conclusions.
Historical Background
Protestantism was introduced into Guatemala, after all, over 100 years
ago. The Protestant community grew slowly but steadily in the early
years. During the first 35 years of this century, according to one history
of Protestantism in Latin America, the Evangelical movement in Gua-
1
temala "experienced extraordinary progress." From the mid-1930s to
the mid-1960s, the number of Protestant converts in Central America
more than quadrupled. The number of Protestants relative to noncon-
verts, though, was still small. In Guatemala, Evangelicals constituted
2
just under 3 percent of the population in 1950. Missionary fervor in
Guatemala and the novel Evangelization in Depth campaigns in the
1960s sponsored by the Latin American Mission (which included door-
3
to-door evangelization) stimulated a heightened pace of growth. From
1967, annual growth of the Protestant community averaged over 10
4
percent.
The real explosion of Protestantism in Guatemala, though, began
around 1976, after a massive earthquake registering 7.5 on the Richter
scale shook the country. Scores of Evangelical relief and development
agencies, churches, and "para-church" organizations (mission agencies,
associations of Christian schools, Christian radio stations, Christian
student organizations, etc.) came into Guatemala to help with recon-
struction efforts following the disaster. After the clean up, many organi-
zations decided either to stay, or at least to establish national partner
organizations in the country in order to have a continuing presence
Preface ix
there. Such groups combined evangelism with their relief and develop-
ment efforts and won many converts. Even more important, indigenous
Pentecostal churches were extremely active in evangelism, and, perhaps
because people were more open to spiritual matters in the aftermath of
5
the suffering caused by the earthquake, these churches multiplied. The
translation of some parts of the Bible into the indigenous Mayan lan-
guages, and the emphasis put on preaching in those languages, rather
than in Spanish, further spurred the growth of the Evangelical move-
ment. Today over half of Guatemalan Evangelicals are Pentecostal and
6
nearly 40 percent of the Protestant community is indigenous.
The wrenching political violence in Guatemala during the late 1970s
and early 1980s also encouraged large numbers of conversions. Many
people had their lives tragically turned upside down by the war, and
they found in the Evangelical churches a spiritual solace they had not
known previously. Traditional Mayan "Cristo-pagan" religion (a syn-
cretistic blending of animism and Catholic ritual) had already begun to
erode by the late 1970s under the combined influences of political
change, modernization, and urbanization, thus paving the way for
adoption of new beliefs. Moreover, the traditional religious leaders
were unable to explain the violence that ripped apart poor communities
in the highlands, and many Mayans lost faith as the old customs and
sacrifices did not lead to a relenting of their suffering. Many people in
this difficult climate, in short, were ripe for conversion. By 1981, 20
percent of the population of Guatemala called itself Evangelical; now,
this small nation has the highest per capita representation of Evangeli-
7
cals in Latin America. Today, estimates of the size of its Protestant
community range from 25 to 35 percent of the population.
Defining "Evangelicals"
By way of definition, it should be noted that in the Guatemalan context
"Evangelical" is basically synonymous with "Protestant"—in common
conversation it denotes a non-Catholic. The Guatemalan Evangelical
community can be divided, simplistically, into three main branches. The
first is the historic mission churches ("mainline" denominations such
as, for example, the Methodists, Presbyterians, and Nazarenes). The
second is the Pentecostals, including both formal denominations (such
as the Assemblies of God, Church of God, and the Prince of Peace, to
name some of the major ones) and independent churches with no over-
arching denominational authority structure. The third is the neo-
Pentecostal denominations. These are generally younger than the Pen-
tecostal groups, have greater membership among urban middle- and
upper-class Ladinos, have varying ties with North American counter-
points, and, broadly speaking, are less pietistic and more concerned