Religious Worlding: Christianity and the New Production of Space in the Philippines

Abstract

This chapter shows that a new mode of religious competition is now taking shape in the Philippines. It involves the production of space in the form of religious worlding. Religious worlding refers to the strategy of religious organizations to build physical constructions that demonstrate a clear global outlook underpinned by the desire for the superlative and the claim to be a religious center. In the Philippines, it involves the construction of religious spaces with an attempt for the grandiose and the repositioning of the country as a new center for new interpretations of Christianity. This chapter draws from the experience of four influential religious groups in the Philippines today: Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC), Every Nation, and El Shaddai.