A religious paradigm shift for adult Spaniards in the conversion process to evangelical Christianity

This dissertation examines how historical/political, cultural, social, religious, and personal factors impact conversion to Protestant Christianity in the traditionally Roman Catholic country of Spain. Based on 21 years of experience working in Madrid, the author interviews 21 adult Spaniards that converted to Protestant Christianity, collecting their common experiences. From this research, he built a survey instrument that he administered to a random sampling of the adult Protestant population in the Province of Madrid. The author describes an emic perspective of conversion for this minority religious group in a culture that has historically viewed Protestants as outsiders.; Religious conversion is a multifaceted human experience in any setting, one that a low percentage of people anywhere chooses. It becomes more complex when potential converts live in a pluralistic society, and even more so when vestiges of hostility exist toward conversion. The investigation addresses what is involved for converts as they reject a dominant paradigm concerning religious belief to embrace a new one. Aside from the spiritual factors involved, there are historical, political, cultural, social, and/or personal factors that affect the individual. In turn, conversion impacts these same factors. This research examines those factors.; When we think of societies that are hostile toward conversion, we normally think of homogeneous cultures in which one predominant religion exists, and it is either illegal or socially and culturally unacceptable to convert, especially to a drastically different religion. This investigation takes place in a heterogeneous society with laws promising religious freedom. The research demonstrates how, in a period of political, religious, and cultural transitions, historical and societal prejudices against Protestant Christianity exerted pressure upon Spaniards, exacting great personal and social cost for those who converted. The research relates to other multicultural, pluralistic, socio-cultural contexts and to socio-cultural contexts where hostility against conversion to Christianity exists.; Of missiological significance is an alternative response to McGavran's (1955; 1970) classic question: "How do people become Christians?" For conversion in complex and multicultural socio-cultural groups, especially those that harbor hostility against conversion to Christianity, the data supports an emerging theory of congruence as opposed to McGavran's Homogeneous Unit Principle.