Abstract

ORELLANA URTUBIA, Luis; RUIZ PORTELA, Yinely  and  ORELLANA ROJAS, Zimri Bani. Pentecostals in Costa Rica: their religious and social identity in the 20th century. Universidad y Sociedad [online]. 2023, vol.15, n.6, pp. 541-551.  Epub Dec 10, 2023. ISSN 2218-3620.

This article aims to analyze from a socio-historical and religious perspective the identity of Pentecostalism in Costa Rica from the period 1950-1990. From a methodological and theoretical perspective, the most significant contributions published in the last 30 years on its religious legitimacy are analyzed. From the methodological point of view, we turn to two theoretical references of Latin American Pentecostalism, the theologians Bernardo Campos and Juan Sepúlveda, the Americans Donald Dayton and the historian Luisa Jeter de Walker. Specifically, five identity aspects of Pentecostalism in Costa Rica are examined: religious roots; thought; beliefs and practices; organization and administration; and the social ethics of the movement. It is concluded that Pentecostalism is located in Costa Rica as one of the plural versions and alternatives in the religious field since the second part of the 20th century, which has had an impact on culture or on the formation of new or old identities that are revitalized, but now demanding the right to existence and recognition as valid and legitimate forms of cultural expression.

Keywords : Thought; Beliefs; Costa Rica; Assemblies of God.