Understanding 'new' Christianity in India: A Theoretical Exploration of Charismatic Authority in Independent Churches
The 20th century period has witnessed the emergence of modern forms of religion and religious expressions. This includes the rise of fundamentalist and evangelical movements within established religions, as well as the rise of new spiritualities and alternative religions. In recent years, there has been a notable rise in independent churches in India. These churches are often ministered and propagated by Charismatic pastors, who enjoy enormous reverence, popularity, trust and a certain amount of divinity among Church followers. Interestingly these pastors who predominantly preach the prosperity gospel are able to attract followers from different denominations as well as from other religions, especially Hinduism. According to Haynes (2013), The Prosperity Gospel, a core component of Pentecostalism, preaches that God's will is reflected on wealth, success and health for believers in exchange for faith and gift giving.
Max Weber’s charismatic authority, Edward Shil’s expanded work of Charismatic authority, T.K Oommen’s application of Charismatic authority and the literature on new religious movements is employed as a theoretical framework to explain the “cult” popularity (or, Charisma) that the pastors of these churches enjoy.
The growing global appeal for the pastors preaching prosperity theology has challenged traditional Christian denominations and many traditional Christian denominations have reportedly lost their membership with people migrating to these new churches. This paper, drawn from an empirical study conducted on an Independent church in Hyderabad, tries to understand and contextualize this phenomenon of rising popularity of the independent churches. The paper concludes that these prosperity churches are seemingly catering to the neoliberal anxieties , making them more appealing to the followers which has larger implications on how religion is altered.