Fernando Adolfo Mora Ciangherotti

After his questionable re-election in 2018, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros (NMM) began a campaign to attract the attention of evangelical leaders, apostles, prophets, pastors, and church members to secure their votes for the 2024 campaign. The main reason for this move was the surprising growth of the evangelical population in the country, which reached almost 30% by the end of 2023. Several independent churches and denominations accepted NMM’s invitation to meet and participate in government programs specifically targeted at evangelical churches. Despite allegations of human rights abuses, corruption, and violations of the Venezuelan constitution, some evangelicals created a narrative about NMM as the “protector of families” and as God’s chosen one to usher in a new era of prosperity for the nation. Through acts of “identificational” repentance staged at the Miraflores Palace, a contrite NMM received prophetic declarations and prayers from apostles and pastors, and the country was cleansed of curses and satanic influences. This article seeks to document, analyze, and situate these discourses in relation to contemporary theological trends, as an important case of evangelical alignment with left-wing politics in Latin America. Moreover, the article also seeks to show how these events relate to the evolution of Venezuelan evangelical involvement in national politics, particularly under 25 years of socialist governments of Hugo Chávez Frías and Nicolás Maduro Moros.

This article describes the leadership and organizational elements that have made the Seven Mountains Mandate (7MM), one of the main doctrines of the Apostolic Restoration Movement (ARM), a very adaptable, simple to explain, and feasible to implement message and portable practice, which can be started at the local level and expand progressively to acquire regional and national dimensions. A new classification of apostolic networks is proposed in this article and a partial map of some of the networks that participated in the expansion of the 7MM is presented. Additionally, using definitions from network leadership theory, it is shown how different types of leaders, who function as horizontal connectors in apostolic networks, such as conveners, catalysts, mobilizers, facilitators, weavers, provocateurs, illuminators, hosts, and curators, contribute to the diffusion of the 7MM by promoting its global Widening, Deepening, and Lengthening (WDL). The article first describes the evolution of the church from denominations to networks and how the ARM adopted the network organizational structure that serves as a channel for the diffusion of the 7MM. Cases from the USA, Guatemala, Zambia, and Venezuela are used as examples to demonstrate how the 7MM’s expansion, or Widening (W); its contextualization and adaption, or Deepening (D); and its sustainability, reproduction, and evolution, or Lengthening (L), occur globally based on the network nature of the ARM and the network leadership enacted in the process.

This article describes the leadership and organizational elements that have made the Seven Mountains Mandate (7MM), a very adaptable, simple to explain, and feasible to implement message and portable practice, which can start at a local level to be expanded progressively to regional and national dimensions, one of the main doctrines of the Apostolic Restoration Movement (ARM). A new classification of apostolic networks is proposed in this article and a partial map of some of the networks that participate in the expansion of the 7MM is presented. Additionally, by using definitions from network leadership theory, it is shown how different types of leaders that function as horizontal connectors in apostolic networks, such as conveners, catalysts, mobilizers, facilitators, weavers, provocateurs, illuminators, hosts, and curators contribute to the diffusion of the 7MM by promoting its global widening, deepening, and lengthening (WDL). The article first describes the evolution of the church from denominations to networks, and how the ARM adopted the network organizational structure that serves as a channel for the diffusion of the 7MM. Cases from the USA, Guatemala, Zambia, and Venezuela are used as examples to demonstrate how the 7MM expansion or widening (W), its contextualization and adaption or deepening (D), and its sustainability, reproduction, and evolution, or lengthening (L), occur globally based on the network nature of the ARM and the network leadership enacted in the process.

We explore in this article how Evangelical and Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches (EPCCs) view Artificial Intelligence (AI), and how they use it, either intentionally or indirectly. Considering first the digital habitus in which EPCCs are immersed, we have documented and analyzed three sample cases showing how EPCCs use advanced AI tools to improve the sanctification process for believers; how the Bible can be translated, distributed, and its reading can be fostered around the world, using machine intelligence; and how a spiritual revival among EPCCs can spread rapidly through AI-mediated algorithms. We discuss the implications of these developments and conclude finally with some ideas about how EPCCs should engage AI applications in the future.

Este artículo estudia la contribución al sionismo cristiano-evangélico global de la asociación de iglesias pentecostales Obra Evangélica La Luz del Mundo (OELLM), presidida por su pastor-fundador Jaime Banks Puertas, una organización eclesiástica autóctona, de base popular, con sede en Guanare-Venezuela, fundada por un venezolano. Se hace una observación puntual sobre el caso de la interacción del pastor Banks Puertas con el fallecido presidente de Venezuela Hugo Chávez Frías, a raíz de su decisión de suspender las relaciones diplomáticas con el Estado de Israel en el año 2009. Se analizaron dos cartas enviadas por el pastor Banks Puertas al presidente Hugo Chávez Frías entre 2006 y 2009. Las mismas contienen la idea de que cualquiera que se interponga en contra de Israel, bien sea físicamente o de palabra, sufrirá un castigo divino, llegando incluso hasta la muerte. Para la OELLM, la muerte del gobernante venezolano ocurrida un tiempo después, es prueba contundente de que los mandatos divinos son reales y que deben ser acatados, reforzando así sus convicciones sionistas. El artículo aborda también otros aspectos que sirven de contexto al caso estudiado, tales como la producción de literatura, la realización de excursiones a Israel, y la adopción de elementos litúrgicos judíos, por parte de la OELLM. Los elementos analizados, junto con el caso descrito, sirven para comprender la cosmovisión e influencia de esta creciente denominación pentecostal tanto a nivel nacional como continental.

Este artículo intenta trazar la trayectoria de la profecía evangélica pentecostal desde el ámbito privado de las iglesias, al ámbito público de la política nacional en diferentes partes del mundo. Partiendo del surgimiento del ministerio profético en las iglesias neoapostólicas contemporáneas en la década de los 80, se demuestra cómo los cambios teológicos y eclesiológicos han empujado a los profetas de los púlpitos de las iglesias, hacia la politización de sus mensajes y su difusión en una amplia gama de medios de comunicación. Se proponen cuatro dimensiones de la profecía contemporánea: experiencial/ritual, doctrinal/moral, cultural/política, y relacional/ecológica, para describir cómo se expresa la profecía y cómo las diferentes dimensiones contribuyen a la elaboración del discurso de los profetas. Tres casos concretos, en referencia a Venezuela, el Brexit británico, y el ambientalismo amazónico, donde la profecía política ha salido a relucir y ha sido tomada en serio por los creyentes evangélicos, son discutidos usando las dimensiones propuestas, observándose cómo el cambio hacia una escatología postmilenialista y la influencia de la teología del dominio, propiciados por la Nueva Reforma Apostólica, se encuentran presentes como catalizadores de un renovado activismo político evangélico.

El propósito de este artículo es revisar las corrientes eclesiológicas y teológicas que impulsaron el origen y el desarrollo del modelo G-12 de iglesias celulares, aparte de analizar su conceptualización e implementación como una marca que refleja en parte el espíritu McDonalizador presente en muchas organizaciones eclesiásticas, en la búsqueda de lograr eficiencia, calculabilidad, predictabilidad y control, para garantizar su expansión y globalización. La intención es entender en qué maneras el modelo eclesiológico G-12 está influyendo en el avance de la Nueva Reforma Apostólica (NRA) a nivel global. A manera de discusión se proponen tres vertientes en las que este modelo sistematizado como una marca al alcance de numerosas iglesias, está contribuyendo con el avance de la NRA globalmente. Las mismas son: el desarrollo de redes de iglesias; la aceptación de estructuras teocráticas piramidales; y la incursión en la política por parte de las iglesias celulares al disponer de una base de membresía disciplinada y obediente.

La Nueva Reforma Apostólica (NRA) es un movimiento cristiano contemporáneo que tiene un alcance global. Miles de iglesias se cuentan entre sus numerosas, intrincadas y crecientes redes. Este artículo pretende mostrar que hay razones teológicas y litúrgicas, contenidas dentro del código genético de las iglesias apostólicas contemporáneas, que constituyen un formidable elemento unificador característico de su cultura globalizante. Una de estas influencias, mencionada constantemente pero poco estudiada de manera formal, es el área de la música de adoración y alabanza (AA), y su uso litúrgico en las iglesias neoapostólicas. Por ello en primer término se presenta brevemente la evolución de varias corrientes teológicas que fueron confluyendo hasta constituir la NRA. Las dos siguientes secciones describen cómo se fueron conformando las características actuales de la música de adoración y alabanza dentro de la NRA. Finalmente, se proponen cinco dimensiones que permiten caracterizar al movimiento de adoración y alabanza en la actualidad: la presencia de Dios o sacramentalidad de la AA como inspiración, el avivamiento como motivación, la tecnología como instrumento, la transformación cultural como misión, y el dominio como meta final. Se concluye que aunque no existe una uniformidad doctrinal y litúrgica monolítica, se puede hablar de una cultura, teología de la adoración, lenguaje ritual y prácticas que unifican a la NRA a nivel mundial, lo que permite la diseminación de ideas y bienes religiosos dentro de un mercado religioso altamente expansivo.

Several review articles about megachurch studies have been published recently concentrating their work on USA, Europe, and other parts of the world, with just a few references about Latin American megachurches. For that reason, this article aims to identify some of the characteristics of Latin American Evangelical megachurches by looking at relevant literature, especially that produced in the region, in Spanish and Portuguese, which is usually overlooked by researchers in the Global North. Since this research field is still limited in Latin America, areas where further work is necessary are identified. Three general catalysts for the emergence of megachurches in the region, church growth methodologies, Pentecostalization, and theologies of growth, serve as guides to organize the review process. The discussion shows that several potential areas of research in a variety of fields such as theology, ecclesiology, organizational theory, leadership, gender studies, and ethics, are proposed from the review.

Several review articles about megachurch studies have been published recently concentrating their work on USA, Europe, and other parts of the world, with just a few references about Latin American megachurches. For that reason, this article aims to identify some of the characteristics of Latin American Evangelical megachurches by looking at relevant literature, especially that produced in the region, in Spanish and Portuguese, which is usually overlooked by researchers in Global North. Since this research field is still limited in Latin America, areas, where further work is necessary, are identified. Three general catalysts for the emergence of megachurches in the region, church growth methodologies, Pentecostalization, and theologies of growth, serve as guides to organize the review process. The discussion shows several potential areas of research in a variety of fields such as theology, ecclesiology, organizational theory, leadership, gender studies, and ethics, are proposed from the review.