“Well documented and written with empathy by an author who shared the life and religious culture of ordinary people. . . . A short review cannot do justice to Wiegele’s colorful and lively description. It is a book that reads like a novel and yet confronts the reader with challenging questions.” —Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies (spring 2006)

“This book makes a much-needed contribution to the growing literature on Filipino spirituality.” —Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (March 2006)

“A very engaging book, one that is as informative as it is readable.” —Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (161, 2005)

“A fine-grained description of Filipino working-class spirituality that is full of surprises. . . . Wiegele's book belongs in the library of every Philippine evangelical seminary and Bible college.” —Journal of Asian Mission (spring 2005)

"Katharine Wiegele has provided us with a much needed, first-rate work on religion and society in the Philippines. Theoretically sophisticated and engagingly written, Investing in Miracles makes a highly original contribution to the ethnography of contemporary Christianity. A welcome addition to the anthropology and social history of religion in Southeast Asia, the book will also interest students of comparative religion since the case it highlights speaks to processes of religious and political reformation at work in many parts of the world." —Robert Hefner, Boston University

"The beauty of this work is to be found in the details of the ethnography. Nowhere have I seen such a precise yet complex documentation of life in poor neighborhoods of the Philippine capital area. It is an excellent example of fieldwork in a fluid urban setting. But the author's greatest achievement results from her ability to document the seduction of a religious movement that offers to its followers the (imagined) ability of escaping their present poverty. She ventures into an exploration of religious seduction and interpretation, of the interface between religion and politics, in short of the very relevance of religion for the urban disenfranchised. An impressive piece of work." —Jean-Paul Dumont, George Mason University

Since the early 1980s, approximately ten million people have turned to charismatic businessman-turned-preacher "Brother Mike" and his Catholic "prosperity" movement, El Shaddai DWXI Prayer Partners Foundation International, Inc. Investing in Miracles offers an in-depth look at this unique indigenous movement, characterized by its effective use of mass media and its huge, emotion-filled outdoor rallies. The book investigates the sociocultural, political, and economic contexts of El Shaddai's popularity among the Filipino urban poor and aspiring middle classes and explores its significance for its followers, which reaches well beyond promises of appliances, salary raises, jobs abroad, and healing. Katharine Wiegele argues that Shaddai's theology directly engages and affirms desires for the material signs of modernity in ways that the mainstream Philippine Roman Catholic Church and Filipino leftist movements do not. At stake for its many adherents are their place and identity within the broader society; the meaning of their experiences of poverty, suffering, and oppression; and the relevance of their very notions of God, Christian community, and Christian life.

Wiegele evocatively captures the religious and everyday experiences of her informants' lives in poor squatter neighborhoods of Manila. She is particularly sensitive to El Shaddai's delicate and often contorted relationship with the Catholic Church, which accepts the movement reluctantly, fearful of losing the loyalty of millions of faithful Catholics. While anchored in the local realities of the Philippines, Investing in Miracles will be of great interest to readers elsewhere for its exploration of religious seduction and interpretation, the interface between religion and politics, and the relevance of religion for the urban disenfranchised.

Katharine L. Wiegele is adjunct assistant professor of anthropology at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois.

Read Chapter 1 (PDF).

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