A Comparative Study of Pentecostal Theological Anthropology in Nigeria and Brazil: Implications for Social Ethics

This doctoral study conducts an original comparative analysis of theological anthropology as operative within Nigerian and Brazilian Pentecostalism and derives implications for social ethics in both contexts. Nigeria and Brazil represent the world's two largest Pentecostal populations, and while their Pentecostalisms share a common twentieth-century heritage, they have developed in radically different sociopolitical and cultural contexts, producing divergent theological anthropologies with contrasting social ethical orientations. Employing a comparative systematic theology methodology, the study draws on published theological literature, denominational documents, and fieldwork data gathered from forty interviews with Pentecostal theologians and church leaders in Nigeria (Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt) and Brazil (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro). The study examines theological anthropological categories including the nature of the human person, the understanding of sin, soteriology, the role of the Spirit in human transformation, and the relationship between individual salvation and social responsibility. Findings indicate that Brazilian Pentecostalism has developed stronger structural accounts of human sinfulness and social transformation, partly under the influence of liberation theology and base community ecclesiology, while Nigerian Pentecostalism maintains a more individually-oriented soteriology with correspondingly weaker structural social ethics. An original comparative theological anthropology is proposed that draws on the strengths of both traditions. Keywords: theological anthropology, comparative Pentecostalism, social ethics, Nigeria, Brazil