When evangelical attorney Jorge Martinez resigned his position in El Salvador’s cabinet in January to prepare to run for president, he did so in the belief that his candidacy would benefit from—if not hinge on—the emergence of evangelicals as a highly visible and increasingly influential minority in his predominantly Catholic country.
Church-growth consultant John Kessler says evangelicals compose about 18 percent of the population in El Salvador, while some evangelical leaders put the figure closer to 25 percent. According to Martinez, the number of evangelicals has grown from 98,000 at the start of the eighties to 1.5 million today. He believes the number is underestimated, saying many people keep their faith a secret because of the threat of persecution.
But evangelicals are having a powerful impact on Salvadoran culture, family life, and politics, all of which have been heavily influenced by the country’s matriarchal family structure, extreme poverty, and dominant Catholic faith. Until recently, the power elite in El Salvador has been exclusively Catholic. Salvadoran evangelicals are largely uneducated, making them unlikely candidates for political office. And evangelicals themselves have traditionally eschewed positions of power, viewing them as the place for “sons of the Devil,” not sons of God.
Perhaps the most dramatic impact of evangelicals on society has been seen in the family structure of converts. In an attempt to counter the Marian emphasis of Latin American Catholicism, many evangelical leaders teach that God is masculine. Alcohol is strictly shunned, while monogamy, male headship, and paternal responsibility are held up as essential Christian virtues.
“The evangelical ...
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