Welcome to Current Affairs. My name is Nathan Robinson. I am the editor in chief of Current Affairs magazine. My guest today is El Hardy.

She is a journalist who's reported from all over the world, and she's written for

publications including GQ, Foreign Policy, Business Insider, and Current Affairs.

Her new book is beyond belief how Pentecostal Christianity is taking over the world.

Elle, nice to talk to you.

Thanks for having me.

So, Pentecostal Christianity is taking over the world.

Let's start with for our listeners and readers who may not be familiar with the

distinctiveness of the Pentecostal movement,

which you have now studied in many different countries, many different U.S. states.

What is Pentecostalism specifically, and how does it differ from the rest of Christianity?

Sure. So it's a branch of evangelical Christianity is the easiest way to think of it.

Or as I kind of call it born again plus. So first like any other evangelical, you are born again.

You know, you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Pentecostals tend to do,

you know, full immersion baptism. But then Pentecostals are also born again into the Holy Spirit.

So that means that they're filled with the Holy Spirit, often by praying and sort of hoping for it to

come on. And it's generally best known as speaking tongues. So Pentecostals are probably most famous for.

So Father, we just, all of us now, according to scripture, when we know not how to pray as we

ought, we pray for him in the spirit. We receive utterance in the Holy Ghost. We receive prayers of faith. We receive, sir. We receive words that

are not our own. Be'a this, Olemagne, my handilege, both of Fredin, on

kiddash, still a battle, in the name of Jesus, let every idol order, let every false order

that has been erected, let it come down, let it be burned by the fire of God.

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