“Cantarei com o espírito e com o entendimento”: a Harpa Cristã e a Declaração de Fé das Assembleias de Deus no Brasil

Abstract

The present research aims to conduct a historical, biblical and theological analysis of the Christian Harp and the Declaration of Faith of the Assemblies of God, which are the two official writings of the Assemblies of God Evangelical Church in Brazil. Each one of these documents has its own characteristics and purposes and also its specific time of use in the institutional environment. The first and oldest one, adopted in 1922, has fulfilled its liturgical role in the Brazilian Pentecostal scenario, becoming for several decades the only Pentecostal hymn collection officially sanctioned by the Assemblies of God and used both by this denomination and by other Brazilian Pentecostal churches in the most diversified ecclesiastical action fronts. On the other hand, the second and most recent one has found its place in the Assemblies environment since 2017, when it was recognized as the only ecclesiastical document – authorized by the Assemblies of God – that contains twenty-four articles of faith of Pentecostal biblical interpretation in its framework. And the present study is intended to analyze the doctrinal relationship between the Christian Harp and the confession of faith of the Assemblies and establish the historical milestones and institutional influence of these two documents of the Brazilian Assemblies of God.