The political conditions and theological foundations of the new christian right in Brazil

Abstract

Jair Messias Bolsonaro won the 2018 presidential elections in Brazil with the support of nearly 70% of the Evangelicals and around 50% of the Catholics in the country. This article aims at exploring some of the politically influential theologies disseminated by some of Bolsonaro’s religious allies by constructing three theological typologies: Neoliberal supernaturalism, apocalyptic dualism and neoconservative Catholicism. These theological ideas gain relevance through an alliance between religious groups and the political right that based on the movement’s key issues and cultural conditions is comparable to the Christian Right in the United States. The rise of Bolsonaro and the turn to the right in Brazilian politics can partly be understood as an effect legitimated by this new political alliance of three politically conservative Christian forces and their theologies: traditional Pentecostalism, neo-Pentecostalism and neoconservative Catholicism. Although there are authoritarian traits within what can be labelled Brazil’s new Christian Right, this political phenomenon can also be said to contribute to Brazilian democracy.