The Wesleyan Religio Pectorum in Relation to Brazilian “Cordial” Religion: Between Adaptation and Enculturation
PDF (FULL TEXT)

Keywords

Religion of the heart
religio cordis brasiliensis
"cordal" religion
Brazil
Methodism

How to Cite

Renders, H. (2016). The Wesleyan Religio Pectorum in Relation to Brazilian “Cordial” Religion: Between Adaptation and Enculturation. Methodist Review, 8, 1–42. Retrieved from https://methodistreview.org/index.php/mr/article/view/111

Abstract

This article suggests an understanding of the major Brazilian Protestant and Pentecostal expressions of the religio cordis—the “religion of the heart”—not primarily on the basis of the Protestant theology or conceptuality, but rather as a variation of the culturally established Catholic iconographic language of the “warmed heart,” characterized by a profound mystical emphasis and a lack of interest in any critical encounter with the world in search for its transformation. In the vast majority of its occurrences, the religio cordis brasiliensis seems to be a religious expression and underpinning of the world view of the “cordial man,” a sociological type created by Sérgio Buarque de Holanda in the 1930s to describe  the Brazilian national character. Alternatives to this “cordial” religion do appear, however, and could be explored to develop an authentic Wesleyan religio pectorum within and as a contribution to a Brazilian spirituality that might be able to overcome the extremes of rationalism and mysticism and may lead to the articulation of a Christian lifestyle that is both affectionate and engaged.

PDF (FULL TEXT)

Authors who publish with Methodist Review agree to the following terms:

  • Authors retain copyright ownership and all intellectual property rights to their work, and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal but prohibits modification or commercial use of the work without the permission of the author.

  • Authors are free to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), in whole or in part, on the condition that its initial publication in this journal is clearly acknowledged.

  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.