In 2006 the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life published a widely discussed survey, Spirit and Power: A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals, assessing the beliefs and practices of pentecostals and charismatics in ten countries spread across four different continents. While scholars prior to the publication of the survey commented on the importance of divine healing for the growth of pentecostalism worldwide, the survey nonetheless highlighted just how central divine healing has been within the pentecostal and charismatic movement when compared with other distinguishing traits, including believers' emphasis on speaking in tongues or on God's provision of material prosperity to the faithful. In eight of the ten countries more than seven-in-ten pentecostals indicated that they had “experienced or witnessed a divine healing of an illness or injury” (the numbers dipped slightly in the U.S. and South Korea to 62% and 56%, respectively).

By drawing attention to the clear import of divine healing for the global spread of pentecostal and charismatic forms of Christianity, the Pew survey simultaneously underscored the need for increased scholarly attention to the diverse incarnations of divine healing around the globe. As such, Candy Gunther Brown's edited volume represents a very welcome effort to address the lacunae in scholarship regarding global forms of pentecostal and charismatic healing. Brown divides the seventeen essays in the book into four sections, three of which correspond to various regions of the world (Europe and North America; Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Borderlands; and Africa and Asia), with a fourth and final section dedicated to addressing “global crossings” between specific countries.

Reflective of their diverse training backgrounds, the contributors approach the topic of divine healing from a variety of angles and with varying degrees of theoretical sophistication. The opening chapter by Heather Curtis looks at the International Conference on Divine Healing and True Holiness held in London in 1885, clearly establishing the global character of the divine healing movement from its inception. Most of the other authors emphasize much more recent developments during the late twentieth, and early twenty-first centuries. Several focus on specific congregations or on the experience of representative individuals in the pews. Andrew Chesnut, for example, outlines the significance of healing in the typical Brazilian adherents' journey into the pentecostal fold, while Gotthard Oblau draws on anecdotal evidence to describe highly democratized healing practices in China and their impact on the growth of Protestant churches there. By way of contrast, a handful of essays stress the careers of influential healers, including Carlos Annacondia in Argentina, the Nigerian David Oyedepo, and the “Mexican Billy Sunday” Francisco Olazábal. Although many of the contributors focus on physical forms of healing, others branch out to consider healing as racial reconciliation, emotional healing, or as a salve for economic deprivation.

Brown provides a superb introduction and afterward, identifying seven themes interwoven throughout as well as potential areas for further research. She quite helpfully calls attention, for instance, to the different ways that essays in the volume complicate simplistic appraisals of the relationship between healing and the so-called “prosperity gospel.” I would add another theme of my own to Brown's list: several chapters illuminate an important spillover effect whereby pentecostal and charismatic forms of healing exert a significant influence on the practices of Christians who often would not be counted within the ranks of the movement. In addition to Oblau's essay on healing in China, others similarly stress the influence of figures such as Annacondia on non-pentecostal evangelicals in Argentina, the suffusion of the prosperity gospel throughout popular forms of African American religion, or the embrace of healing and deliverance within mainline churches in Ghana.

As is to be expected with any work trying to cover a topic as wide-ranging and complex as pentecostal healing, noticeable gaps remain. To cite just one example, after reading the various essays those unfamiliar with the tradition would remain unaware of prominent North American adherents' creative appropriation of scientific medicine and holistic remedies, as seen in Oral Roberts's efforts to merge divine healing with modern medicine. Brown readily acknowledges the limitations associated with a collection of essays focused on the “uniqueness of each local situation” (373), and has planned three additional books that will cover in greater depth global divine healing networks, healing practices in the U.S., and the interplay between pentecostal and metaphysical forms of healing (for discussion of the latter trend, see Brown's article, “Chiropractic and Christianity: The Power of Pain to Adjust Cultural Alignments,” Church History 79, no. 1 [2010]: 144–81).

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the volume given its focus on global forms of healing involves the sparse engagement with prominent theories of globalization. There are exceptions, in particular Brown's contributions as well as Thomas Csordas's essay on Catholic Charismatics in India, Brazil, and Nigeria. It also should be noted that in emphasizing the contextualization of pentecostal healing within particular locales such as Germany, South India, and South Korea, the arguments put forward by several authors mirror discussions of hybridization and “glocalization” that often appear in studies assessing the intersection of the global and the local. By and large, however, most of the authors only indirectly address core concepts associated with the scholarly literature surrounding globalization. To be fair, Brown anticipates such criticisms, explicitly highlighting the nascent state of the field, which she says necessitated emphasizing “thick descriptions before large theoretical claims” (372).

As Brown suggests, Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Healing will serve as a very valuable resource for scholars wishing to build more comprehensive explanations of pentecostal healing as a global phenomenon. Anyone interested in better understanding the explosive growth of pentecostalism during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries will benefit from the essays' rich insights into the diverse manifestations of pentecostal healing across five continents.