Shermer and Hardy discuss:
- Hardy’s own religious journey (raised Catholic, now agnostic)
- origin of Pentecostalism (a white preacher named Charles Fox Parham, a Black son of freed slaves named William J. Seymour, and a female preacher, Aimee Semple McPherson)
- biblical basis of Pentecostalism
- Pentecostalism in Korea North and South
- Pentecostalism and Israel (“ultimately, in the end times, they believe that the Jews must convert to Christianity or burn in hell.”)
- the structure of the Pentecostal church and how it differs from other churches
- New Apostolic Reformation
- the rise of the nones (no religious affiliation) in the context of the decline of evangelicalism but the rise of Pentecostalism
- Seven Mountain Mandate: bringing about the end of the world & second coming (7 spheres: education, religion, family, business, government, A&E, media) Lord’s Prayer: “your kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.”
- what purpose Pentecostalism serves in communities and societies
- witnessing for Pentecostalism and how religions grow
- pentecostalism and politics
- the psychology of the believer in a Pentecostal church
- Trinity in Pentecostalism: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?
- dispensationalism and the Rapture
- the Jews killed Jesus libel: Christianity and Anti-Semitism
- replacement theology: Christians replaced Jews as the “chosen people”
- prophecy
- talking in tongues/glossolalia
- snake handling
- eschatology and end-times theology
- sin and redemption
- pentecostalism and prostitution
- what people need that religion fulfills
- Jordan Peterson and secular religion
- the nature of Pentecostalism and how it differs from other faiths.
Elle Hardy is a journalist and foreign correspondent who has reported from the United States, the former USSR and North Korea, among a long list of places. Her work has appeared in GQ, Lonely Planet, Foreign Policy and Business Insider, and on ABC Australia. Her new book is Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World.
About the Book
How has a Christian movement, founded at the turn of the twentieth century by the son of freed slaves, become the fastest-growing religion on Earth? Pentecostalism has 600 million followers; if that trend continues then by 2050 they’ll be one in ten people worldwide. This is the religion of the Holy Spirit, with believers directly experiencing God and His blessings — success for the mind, body, spirit and wallet.
Pentecostalism is a social movement. It serves impoverished people in Africa and Latin America, and inspires anti-establishment leaders from Trump to Bolsonaro. In Australia, Europe and Korea, it throws itself into culture wars and social media, offering meaning and community to the rootless and marginalized in a fragmenting world.
Reporting this revolution from twelve countries and six US states, Elle Hardy weaves a timeless tale of miracles, money and power, set in our volatile age of extremes. By turns troubling and entertaining, Beyond Belief exposes the Pentecostal agenda: not just saving souls, but transforming societies and controlling politics. These modern prophets, embedded in our institutions, have the cash and the influence to wage their holy war.
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This episode was released on February 11, 2023.
