Spiritual Mapping: The Turbulent Career of a Contested American Missionary Paradigm, 1989-2005

Abstract

Spiritual Mapping was an international Evangelical and Neo-Pentecostal movement which specialized in the use of religious techniques to wage a territorial spiritual war against unseen non-human beings. These techniques were considered to be of divine origin and their intended function was primarily missionary. This study describes the history of Spiritual Mapping as a movement and as a concept, which overlapped for some time. As a movement, Spiritual Mapping developed at the end of te 1980s and in the first half of the 1990s in the United States. It developed activities in the form of conferences, seminars, publications, missionary activities, interactive websites and other activities. The movement originated within US Evangelicalism and developed into a part of Neo-Pentecostalism. After its decline as an independent movement its techniques were absorbed by other new religious movements. As a concept, Spiritual Mapping originated - somewhat earlier than the movement - in US Evangelicalism in the second half of the 1980s. The Evangelical missionary urge to win the world led to the integration of theological and sociological models to enhance the effectiveness of missionary work. However, in the view of adherents of Spiritual Mapping, sociological models dealt only with the 'natural' side of reality and thus adherents developed a 'map' for the 'supernatural' dimension. Reality is believed to have both a natural and a supernatural dimension, which closely interact. Missionary work without the awareness of the supernatural dimension was considered a blind folded act. Knowledge of the supernatural was considered to be indispensable for missionary work. The natural was viewed as being under the dominion of non-human evil beings under the leadership of Satan and as opposing divine purposes. This dominion was organized territorially and someties according to social groupings. These beings, the 'territorial spirits', acted in the framework of a hierarchy with different functions and responsibilities. They were put on a 'spiritual' map. Knowledge about these beings concerned their names and their functions per territory. Models and techniques were developed in order to acquire this information. In the end the information was used to end the dominion over the given territory. Adherents expected social, political and economic transformation. It would result into the speedy dissemination of the Christian faith. A first model was tested in 1989 in Argentina. This study investigates in an historical-descriptive way both the history of the modern concept and the movement. It indicates aspects of the theological and cultural contexts in which Spiritual Mapping was born and in which it developed. Both the movement as the concept are found to be expressions of Americanism and its socio-political concept of Manifest Destiny. It is found to be an expression of popular American folk religion and a product of the American competitive market as well.