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of major civilizations, or from the margin among ethnic groups which seek differentiation from the wider whole, and want to change inferior status for modernity\u2019 (2002: 26). This religious revival seems to be the revenge of religion against secularism that exiled it to a corner of private life. Cox underlines that secularist scholars were mistaken in affirming that religion should be confined to the intimacy of the home as a private element due to the advance of secularism (1996: 14-15).\u000AB. WORK HYPOTHESIS\u000AThe NPCs form part of the expansion of world-wide Christianity which has moved from North to South. Protestantism in two thirds of the countries of the Southern Hemisphere grows vigorously and forms in different ways the religious configuration and the institutions of these nations. Because of this some analysts of religious phenomena in Latin America centre their attention on Protestantism and its socio-political role in the region. Its accelerated growth and omnipresence in society are understood by some as the emergence of a movement of social transformation. This thesis is interested in analyzing if this phenomenon is happening among the Guatemalan Evangelicals, which kind of social change are they achieving, and how are they affecting the rest of the Evangelicals and society in general?\u000AFor the present research, the starting point will be David Stoll\u2019s hypothesis. He asserts that: \u2018If Evangelical reform is visible anywhere, it ought to be in Guatemala where the percentage of Evangelicals is the highest in Latin America and the elite churches have become more prominent than in other countries\u2019 (1994: 102). For Stoll the numerical presence of Evangelicals and the elite character of the NPCs are the key factors in achieving this reform. In his analysis he emphasizes that because of their connections with national institutions, their emergence within rich suburbs, and the special composition of their membership (businessmen, politicians, retired military personnel and professionals) the NPCs are important new social actors. Stoll says that added to the old Evangelical\u000A3\u000A


































































































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