What Should Influence Christians’ Political Priorities?

Question 4 of Christianity Today’s roundtable on the Brazil 2022 election.

Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source Image: Yuri Figueiredo / Unsplash

As evangelicals emerge as a politically strong constituency, what should influence their political priorities?

Guilherme De Carvalho: Above all, a solid Christian social doctrine based on the Bible and in dialogue with the theological tradition. Topics such as the biblical creational order, including its elevated view of the human person, family, and work, need to be understood and contextualized for today’s culture. Christians should grapple with several questions: the nature of political authority, the political meaning of the Exodus, the social ethics of Torah, the biblical prophetism and the economy of grace in the New Testament. These issues should structure our agendas.

Unfortunately, evangelicals have not proactively set a biblical agenda. Instead, in the desperation for relevance, we haven’t acted in a principled way and have become religious mirrors to the secular political debate.

I don’t see a problem with evangelicals electing people who represent their worldview—that’s part of democracy. But I believe that they should prioritize candidates with a vision focused on the “common good,” not just on the protection of their own group. A “Christian” policy that only thinks about how to protect the interests of the Christian community would be the very denial of the Christian mission.

Iza Vicente: It’s not a simple question, because evangelicals can have different positions on the complexity of issues that are in the public arena. Despite this, I believe that defending religious freedom, along with strengthening democratic institutions and protecting the vulnerable, should be priorities of any evangelical in politics.

Go back to the lead article.

Ziel Machado: A commitment to the justice and to the ethics of the kingdom of God as expressed in the Sermon on the Mount, especially in the Beatitudes. Furthermore, a hopeful realism that recognizes the reality of sin in history but also knows the power of love, the work of redemption, and the expectations of a new heaven and a new earth.

Jacira Monteiro: Social well-being and shalom (harmonious peace). Evangelicals must have, as God has, a special concern for justice and actions that benefit the most vulnerable. Evangelicals should especially be concerned about those that no one in the other spectra of society cares about.

Ricardo Barbosa: Commitment to the common good. It is not about the private good of each one but about what is common to all, such as education, health, safety, work, housing, food, or the environment. Some issues have become far more politically prominent in recent decades, especially those of a moral nature, like gender ideology, drugs, abortion, family.

Read our guests’ bio in the lead article.

Church Life

Is the Pulpit an Appropriate Place to Discuss Politics?

Question 9 of Christianity Today’s roundtable on the Brazil 2022 election.

Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source Image: Wagner Meier / Stringer / Getty

Is the pulpit an appropriate place to discuss politics?

Guilherme De Carvalho: The pulpit is an appropriate place for teaching biblical social doctrine and, where appropriate, the biblical foundations for a Christian political theology. But for party politics, no way! The believer needs to have the assurance that the Word of God will reign in the pulpit of his church. Pastors should not give the pulpit to candidates or politicians nor use the pulpit to declare their voting intentions or to recommend political parties.

Iza Vicente: The pulpit is a place to preach the gospel. That is not to say, however, that the church cannot foster spaces for discussion and reflection on politics, which is quite different from candidates receiving a blessing or prayer from the pulpit, which is often actually an endorsement. I’m a city council member. During the campaign, I never stepped into the pulpit of my church to present myself as the best option for evangelicals.

Go back to the lead article.

Ziel Machado: The pulpit is the place to feed the people of God and to teach them to live as God wants. So, at some point, politics will appear in the pulpit, as the Word of God relates to all of life.

The problem is not the politics itself but how politics appear in the pulpit. The pulpit is not an electoral platform. Therefore, every time the pulpit is used as a platform, it will be compromised. When that happens, God’s name is being taken in vain. In addition, it might be understood as a crime by the electoral justice system.

Jacira Monteiro: The church is a place to discuss politics, because Christians are in the polis and we are all political beings. However, on what the Bible is silent, we Christians must not speculate or invent. The Bible is neither left nor right, and its view of society is far superior to any human models. So, yes, we should talk about politics, but not by violating the conscience of our brothers and sisters.

Ricardo Barbosa: The pulpit of the church belongs to the Word of God.

Read our guests’ bio in the lead article.

Church Life

How Does Bolsonaro Approach Evangelicals Differently Compared to Previous Presidents?

Question 2 of Christianity Today’s roundtable on the Brazil 2022 election.

Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source Image: Fernando Frazão / Agencia Brasil

How does Bolsonaro approach evangelicals compared to previous presidents?

Guilherme De Carvalho: Bolsonaro has openly identified himself as a representative of evangelicals, making it the first time a presidency has not treated evangelicals as “others.” And he has managed to do this even without being evangelical. His success illuminates a problem that I have pointed out for some time: Our cultural elites have not yet granted Brazilian citizenship to the evangelical movement.

Iza Vicente: Bolsonaro has achieved what many religious leaders have never achieved: uniting various evangelical segments from the most diverse denominations and traditions. Such union happened not because of unity in Christ but because of the fear Bolsonarista propaganda fostered in the evangelical environment and because of the thirst for power and recognition of most evangelical leaders. Even as the evangelical community continues to grow numerically and the movement has begun to form its own voting bloc—both of these things happening without any kind of systematic persecution—Bolsonaro has used fallacies and vacuous speeches to indicate that societal changes involving the civil rights of minorities would hurt the values that evangelicals hold dear and that having a supposedly Christian president would mitigate these effects.

Ziel Machado: Bolsonaro has more ties to the evangelical community. His wife is evangelical, and an evangelical pastor officiated their marriage. Thus, his ties to evangelicals predate his political ties. They are bonds of friendship, of someone who sympathizes with and identifies with Christian values. So it’s not just a political strategy. It has become a political strategy, but these ties predate their political use.

Previous presidents did not have this same proximity to the evangelical world and have treated interactions with evangelicals like they were following a campaign strategy. By this I do not mean that this attitude is invalid or inappropriate. In fact, a straightforward political approach can be more ethical than an affective approach intertwined with murky values.

Go back to the lead article.

Jacira Monteiro: Bolsonaro has manipulated and co-opted Christians, offering himself as the only salvation against the Left, against the Worker’s Party (Partidos Trabalhistas or PT). He presented himself as a messiah. He took important issues for Christians, like abortion and the family, and made them the basis of his campaign. He also played (and continues to play) a two-sided game: “Either I am the president and I will free you from evil, from Satan—namely, from the PT and the Left—or Brazil returns to darkness.” All the while, his campaign employs aggressive and polarizing language.

Ricardo Barbosa: Ever since evangelicals’ numerical growth has made them a political force, politicians have sought to get closer to this group and win their votes, often visiting churches or participating in religious events.

According to data from anthropologist Juliano Spyer’s book O Povo de Deus (The Power of God), in the 1970s, evangelicals represented only 5 percent of Brazilians. Today they are a third of the adult population of the country, and they continue to grow. It seems to me that of the presidents from Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2002) to Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro has best identified himself with a significant portion of Christians (evangelicals and Catholics) through his language and by defending values like the traditional family and patriotism and opposing gender ideologies. A large part of the Brazilian Christian electorate care deeply about these same values.

Read our guests’ bio in the lead article.

Church Life

Does Bolsonaro Believe in His Own Campaign Slogan?

Question 1 of Christianity Today’s roundtable on the Brazil 2022 election.

Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source Image: Antonio Cruz / Agencia Brasil

Incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro’s campaign slogan is “Brazil above everything, God above everyone.” Do you see this as something he really believes in?

Guilherme de Carvalho: In my judgment and based on my conversations with people with access to the president, I believe he really believes in that slogan. He is not faking this—at least, not consciously. The issue is that he has no understanding of God and what such a slogan would actually imply for the nation. His reason for choosing this slogan is evident: to communicate with the practicing Catholic and evangelical populations whose values are ignored by our cultural elites.

Sadly, Bolsonaro has a distorted understanding of God and the gospel, and this causes him to take God’s name in vain, associating it with his personal project. But this is not new; we live in a country that practices a widespread and distorted cultural Christianity. The average Brazilian talks about God all the time, despite not knowing what he is talking about.

The Left also tries, at times, to use the name of God, but it is not very convincing, as everyone sees that it is a farce. In the case of Bolsonaro, it is more difficult to show the mistake, precisely because he believes what he says.

Iza Vicente: Although it is impossible to know the deepest beliefs of a person, including Bolsonaro, I understand that the slogan adopted by Bolsonarism is born not from a genuine conviction of the sovereignty and magnitude of God but as a marketing lure to capture the feeling of faith present in most Brazilians. It is also an authoritative and theocratic signal, because by emphasizing the “God [who is] above everyone” as an imperative of strength, Bolsonaro forgets the God who was also among us, being the servant of all.

Ziel Machado: Whoever turns God into a political canvasser is running a serious risk of taking God’s name in vain.

During the pandemic, Bolsonaro mocked people for dying of COVID-19 and struggling to breathe. To me, these actions did not demonstrate a knowledge of or a relationship with the biblical God.

It is possible that Bolsonaro believes what he says, but comparing what he says with his acts of mercy—which don’t exist—amounts to taking God’s name in vain and portrays an unbiblical image of God. And a politician whose policies have repeatedly shown a lack of empathy for the pain of the people is not referring to the loving and compassionate God of Scripture.

Go back to the lead article.

Jacira Monteiro: This slogan is political propaganda, not a belief Bolsonaro holds. Evangelicals are targets of conquest by politicians, as they comprise a considerable portion of the national vote. Under the presumption of being a Christian (although his Christianity is certainly not the same as that of the Bible or Jesus Christ), Bolsonaro won over evangelical Christians, manipulating them with his “Christian” slogan.

However, God himself said that we must “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Matt. 22:21). The separation of state and church is a biblical principle. The Christian who seeks political power and manipulates Christians for that purpose has not understood the teachings of Jesus and is in sin.

Regarding the second part of the slogan, it is obvious that we, as Brazilians, must love Brazil and fight for the common good. But blind patriotism is not a Christian thing, for the Bible says our homeland is in heaven (1 Pet. 2:11; Phil. 3:20), not here on earth. Brazil must not be above all but must serve all. As Christians we are called to serve, not dominate, and a “Christian” president should know that.

Ricardo Barbosa: Generally, the slogan of a political campaign or a government works as a form of publicity, an affirmation of values and expectations. Bolsonaro’s slogan is this. I imagine he chose to affirm values such as faith, religion, homeland, or patriotism. But I have no way of answering the question of whether or not he believes in this slogan. It is a question that only he can answer.

Read our guests’ bio in the lead article.

Church Life

How Can Christians Hold Politicians Accountable on Corruption?

Question 6 of Christianity Today’s roundtable on the Brazil 2022 election.

Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source Image: Pearl / Lightstock

The last leftist government was deposed by an impeachment process based on allegations of corruption. Recently, the minister of education in the Bolsonaro government was arrested on the same type of charge. How can Christians hold politicians accountable on corruption?

Guilherme De Carvalho: Holding politicians accountable is the duty of Christians, without a doubt. But given the systemic problems in our country, it is clear that verbal demands against corruption by Christians are insufficient and “prophesying” on Twitter is useless. It is necessary to support candidates who introduce effective anti-corruption bills in the legislature.

A practical path would be to create an evangelical political oversight team that would hold politicians accountable on corruption and other issues. But something like that would need an anchor in Christian political theology, something few people have today. Many of the politicized believers are ideological copies of a secular militancy.

Iza Vicente: To demand transparent and ethical political practices, it is necessary that the support or vote of the evangelical is not based on unconditional devotion, idolatry, or on the idea that the elected candidate is inerrant, infallible, and “sent from God” to represent the evangelicals. However, demanding best practices in the fight against corruption and accountability, through a due legal process, is the duty and right of every citizen, and we evangelicals have to take a more active role in this regard.

Ziel Machado: Our public witness must be supported by a life of commitment to holiness.

I’m saddened by the instances of corruption in which Christians have been involved, although I also believe in forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration. More than regret, however, situations like these should make us ask, “How can we, as a church, prevent things like this from happening?”

Perhaps we should ask God to raise up, in the midst of the evangelical community, professional politicians who are prepared to act with integrity in the public square, who know the responsibility they have to their fellow Brazilians, and who are accountable for their political practice to the church. We know of only some isolated experiences of Christians in politics who make a practice of being accountable to their constituents.

The principle to be followed is outlined in 2 Corinthians 8: 21, where Paul writes that he is “taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man.” Integrity is an important value that the Christian cannot give up.

Go back to the lead article.

Jacira Monteiro: Christians, like all other citizens, must demand that the corrupt be removed from their positions and held accountable—either through impeachment or even imprisonment, depending on the seriousness of the act. As the Word of God says, “when the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong” (Ecc. 8:11). If there is no punishment for the wicked, there is an incentive, a free pass, for that sin to be repeated. It doesn’t help shalom; it doesn’t help society flourish.

Barbosa: I will disregard the initial comment and answer only the question “How can Christians hold politicians accountable?

There are laws and institutions to fight and prevent corruption. If they don’t work properly (and unfortunately they often haven’t), we should look for an institutional means to improve the system. This mainly involves choosing our representatives in the National Congress and in state and municipal chambers. They are the ones who can legislate in favor of changes in the judicial system.

In addition to demanding that politicians be held accountable, we must do our own homework. We must practice transparency in our churches. We need to be responsible citizens in our work and with the use of public resources. Corruption is present in the actions and decisions of all spheres of society.

Read our guests’ bio in the lead article.

Church Life

When It Comes to Politics, What Mistakes Should Evangelicals Avoid Making?

Question 5 of Christianity Today’s roundtable on the Brazil 2022 election.

Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source Image: Marcello Casal Jr / Agencia Brasil

When it comes to politics, what mistakes should evangelicals avoid making?

Guilherme De Carvalho: First, putting the interests of the denomination or the evangelical community above the common good. Christianity is precisely the faith that leads us to self-forgetfulness—that is, to an attitude of not thinking only about yourself and your personal interests.

Second, we need to avoid letting ourselves be fooled by the “apocalyptic packing” where, when faced with a threatened future, the believer “converts” to the agenda of a candidate of the Left or the Right. The candidate can then manipulate this believer through rhetoric such as “Otherwise the PT will come back!” or “Otherwise fascism wins!” When Christians give up building and developing a positive political agenda based on Christian principles of social doctrine and uncritically embrace the agenda of a savior warlord, they betray their faith.

Iza Vicente: One of the biggest mistakes is putting all your hope in authoritarian political agendas and endorsing figures who weaken the public witness of the church. Another is politicizing faith and sacralizing politics. This means instrumentalizing the faith for merely political ends, as well as thinking that the only way the church can contribute to the common good is through the dominion and control of the spaces of power and that there are envoys anointed for this messianic and heroic task. We should revisit these assumptions.

Ziel Machado: We cannot confuse numbers with representative capacity. Evangelicals have grown to a significant size, and the number of evangelical votes is quite significant. However, is the magnitude of evangelicals proportional to our ability to contribute as citizens? No, it is not.

The church trains people to evangelize and sing in the choir but not how to responsibly engage in politics. We need to train ourselves to have an adequate participation in civil society. Our calling is to be a blessing to all.

Go back to the lead article.

Jacira Monteiro: The mistake of exchanging our biblical values for political power. Evangelicals must especially avoid making indiscriminate use of the Word of God, through weak or distorted exegesis and hermeneutics, to support policies, especially those that go against the Word of God itself.

Ricardo Barbosa: Creating a religious state and making the church a political arm of any party or candidate are the biggest mistakes evangelicals can make. Although many try to justify the creation of a religious state, we do not find anything in the Bible that justifies this. As citizens and Christians, we can and should participate in public life and contribute to a more just society, but not create a religious government or allow the church to be used for political/ideological purposes. That doesn’t mean we can’t have religious politicians. Yes, we can, but let them be servants of the nation and promoters of the common good.

Read our guests’ bio in the lead article.

Church Life

Should Freedom of Speech Be an Important Issue for Evangelicals?

Question 8 of Christianity Today’s roundtable on the Brazil 2022 election.

Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source Image: Bob Thomas / Getty

Should freedom of speech be an important issue for evangelicals?

Guilherme De Carvalho: Freedom of speech is an absolute priority. It is necessary for the free preaching of the gospel. But the fact is that freedom of speech is under threat, not only because of abuse, mainly by right-wing extremists, but also by militant opposition from authoritarian left-wing movements interested in censoring criticism.

The church’s greatest contribution to the common good is the gospel, and fundamental civil liberties are necessary for the free spread of the Word of God. There are, of course, people who consider it selfish to make these freedoms a political priority. But they forget that, historically, social rights have only developed in the West on the basis of fundamental freedoms. In light of history and logic, our priority should be to first protect individual rights before moving on to protecting social rights.

Iza Vicente: Freedom of speech should indeed be an important issue for evangelicals. We need to defend it, but we also need to understand that this freedom has limits. Balancing freedom and discourses is challenging for everyone, including evangelicals.

Ziel Machado: Freedom of speech is an important value for any democratic society, and therefore, it is important for evangelicals and nonevangelicals.

Democracy is always unstable, always subject to risk. It demands participation, but conscious participation. To support this system of government, evangelicals need to educate themselves for democratic life.

Go back to the lead article.

Jacira Monteiro: Freedom of speech is indeed important for Christians. Those who care about the well-being of their neighbors should be concerned about the fact that everyone can express themselves freely.

However, every Christian knows that freedom of speech must be used responsibly and with love for others. Any freedom of speech that is used irresponsibly generates sin. Because we live in society, everything we do spills over onto others. Therefore, we must always be open to dialogue, not demonizing others who think differently from us, and make room for plurality to flourish. Responsible freedom of speech is important for Christians.

Ricardo Barbosa: Freedom of speech is an important issue for everyone, not just for evangelicals. We don’t need to agree with everything or everyone, but it is important that everyone has the space to express their thoughts, ideas, and values without, however, wanting to impose them. Freedom of speech combined with prioritizing the common good and good arguments are the best raw materials for building a mature society.

The problem is that there are many ways to limit this kind of freedom. Public authorities can put restrictions on speech, but so can we through contempt, intolerance, and the inability to recognize the simple fact that we are different. We need to preserve values such as respect, tolerance, and diversity.

Read our guests’ bio in the lead article.

Theology

How Should the Church Respond to Political Polarization?

Question 10 of Christianity Today’s roundtable on the Brazil 2022 election.

Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source Image: Marcos Martinez Sanchez / Getty

We’re currently living through a moment of significant political polarization. How should the church respond?

Guilherme De Carvalho: With or without polarization, the church’s task is always the same: to give apostolic witness to the gospel and its implications for the world. Evangelical churches need to rediscover Christian social doctrine and the witness of the gospel. This is the only true cure for our fractured world.

Iza Vicente: In times of polarization and political violence, the church must be a pacifying entity, spreading peace and cultivating cordial relations, in a communion that goes beyond political differences. How can we be salt and light if we are only reproducing the political violence that society is already experiencing? What difference will we make in this polarized world?

Ziel Machado: We must first pray and discern. We’re not only dealing with political forces but spiritual forces as well. Thus, it is important to discern evil disguised as good. Just because something is quoting the Bible doesn’t make it biblical. The devil tempted Jesus using Scripture, and he continues to use Scripture to tempt us to this day, except the church has the Word and the Spirit of God that enable us to discern beyond appearances. In moments of intense polarization, this insight helps us understand a lot.

Christians also need to look at the cross of Christ. Our theology of the Cross helps us to flee the false gods of our time and embrace the power of the Cross—power that surrenders and serves. Thus, God’s people should never be divided over ideological issues or compromise their unity won on the cross by Christ. Even if we don’t always agree, this shouldn’t mean division in the church.

When politics foments division among Christians, it is none other than Satan using Scripture and religious sayings to divide the church. Therefore, the church needs to recover discernment. This starts with asking both that God forgives us and that, in his infinite mercy, he allows us to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd again.

Go back to the lead article.

Jacira Monteiro: Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matt. 5:9). The church should be talking about politics to point out solutions on how to be agents of peace in a polarized world.

As the world increasingly displays the works of the flesh through strife, enmity, dissension, and political idolatry (Gal. 5:19–21), the church must further demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit—namely, love, peace, gentleness, and self-control (vv. 22–23). The church must be an agent of love and reconciliation in the midst of such an aggressive, polarized, and extremist world.

Ricardo Barbosa: Let’s persevere in prayer and instruct God’s people to recognize that it is Jesus Christ, the Lord, who governs all things and is the only one to whom we owe, above everything and everyone, obedience. Whenever some other power—be it governments, powers, ideologies—tries to take over our lives, we deny the rule of the only Sovereign in history.

Read our guests’ bio in the lead article.

Church Life

Should the Environment Be an Important Issue for Christians?

Question 7 of Christianity Today’s roundtable on the Brazil 2022 election.

Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source Image: Mauro Lima / Unsplash

As our weather grows more extreme and deadly, should the environment be an important political issue for Christians in the upcoming presidential race?

Guilherme De Carvalho: Environmental issues should figure among the priority agendas of contemporary Christianity, alongside the anti-abortion agenda, the fight against corruption, fundamental civil liberties, and employment. For me, it’s one of the tiebreakers.

Iza Vicente: Topics such as climate change, disaster prevention, forest preservation, alternative energy, and climate justice must be fundamental in the environmental debate. Considering our role in caring for creation, environmental degradation violates the life we are called to care for and deepens the precariousness of humanity’s existence.

Ziel Machado: The Bible does not begin with Genesis 3 but with Genesis 1. God has put us in charge of creation; we have a creation mandate. The truth is that there is a fragile theology of creation in the evangelical world. We cannot forget that the salvific mandate did not cancel out the cultural mandate. We still have the responsibility to take care of creation, to watch over it as stewards of that creation.

The environmental agenda is a priority for any serious government project that is concerned with issues of the future, of the next generations. A government proposal that disregards the environment is not the proposal of a public servant but of someone who is concerned only with getting elected. Without concern for the environment, what future can we expect for the nation?

Go back to the lead article.

Jacira Monteiro: Of course environmental issues should be an important issue for Christians when choosing a candidate! The cultural mandate (Gen. 1:28) stipulates harmonious care for your creation. As I write in O Estigma da Cor (The Stigma of Color), “every government and management that is not concerned with sustainability, with the environment, is going against what the Lord has instructed in his Word of diligent care for created nature.”

We are living through an environmental crisis, and as agents of the Lord, we are called to care for his creation. Thus, we need to encourage public servants to share this concern.

Ricardo Barbosa: Yes, this is one of the important issues. The environment, however, is equally as important as the other issues. We as Christians need to better develop our theology of creation and understand our role in relation to the cultural mandate. But the environment has become a complex, ideological agenda with confusing narratives that often deify nature and demonize human beings. This is a problem.

We also need to seek reliable information and data consistent with reality in order not to be swallowed by the inconsistent narratives of groups of environmental activists.

Read our guests’ bio in the lead article.

Church Life

Beyond Bolsonaro and Lula: How Brazil’s Evangelicals Should Vote

Interviews by Marisa Lopes and Igor Sabino

Five Christian leaders weigh the factors they hope are guiding the church as it prepares for the October presidential election.

Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source Image: Nadine Marfurt / Unsplash

Since the start of Brazil’s 2022 presidential election, national and international electoral news has focused on the role that faith will play in next month’s race—and for good reason: Religious concerns have dominated the talking points of both Jair Bolsonaro’s and Luiz Inácio (“Lula”) da Silva’s campaigns. Whether it’s discussing COVID-19 church closures or the spiritual fight between good and evil, the candidates have seemingly preferred to prioritize these issues at the expense of others such as unemployment, inflation, climate change, or foreign policy.

According to political analysts, the candidates are betting, especially Bolsonaro, that the most-responsive electorate are evangelicals — which in Brazil means "protestants" and encompasses both classic evangelical and Pentecostal denominations as well as neo-Pentecostals. The data backs him up. Nearly half of evangelicals (48%) say they’ll vote for Bolsonaro, compared to only a quarter (26%) for Lula, according to a late-August poll from the Inteligência em Pesquisa e Consultoria (IPEC). A Datafolha poll from mid-September shows similar numbers: 49 percent of evangelicals say they’ll vote for Bolsonaro compared to 32 percent for Lula. Evangelicals make up about 25–30 percent of the country’s total electorate.

While the evangelical universe in Brazil is multifaceted, evangelical pastors hold significant sway over their congregations. Roughly speaking, it is possible to say that a group of pastors who have no problem offering political opinions from the pulpit have strongly influenced a significant portion of evangelical voters. The media has picked up on this as well, to the point of modifying the catch phrase voto de cabresto (“voting by halter”), where leaders guide people’s political decisions, to voto de rebanho (“voting as a herd”)—a play on the Portuguese meaning of pastor as “shepherd.”

Given this environment, Christianity Today interviewed five Christian leaders from Brazil about the church’s witness in this election year, seeking to highlight voices that promote dialogue and listen thoughtfully to other believers’ perspectives. We hope their biblically informed perspectives on these important issues help guide citizens of Brazil and the kingdom of God.

Guilherme de Carvalho President of the Brazilian Association of Christians in Science (ABC2). Follow him @guilhermevrc.

Iza Vicente Lawyer, human rights specialist, city council member of Macaé in Rio de Janiero. Follow her @IzaVicent.

Ziel Machado Vice chancellor of Servos de Cristo Theological Seminary, pastor of the Free Methodist Church in São Paulo, and theologian at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. Follow him @ZielMachado.

Jacira Monteiro Author of The Stigma of Color and graduate student in biblical theology and New Testament exegetics. Follow her @jacirapvm.

Ricardo Barbosa Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Planalto, author of Janelas para a vida (Windows for Life) and O Caminho do Coração (The Path of the Heart), and coordinator of the Christian Studies Center in Brasília

Marisa Lopes is editorial director of Christianity Today em português.

Igor Sabino has a PhD in political science from the Federal University of Pernambuco (PFPE) and works with the Philos Project Brazil.

- More from Interviews by Marisa Lopes and Igor Sabino

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