Abstract
The author of the introduction to this issue of Social Compass first shows concrete examples of how the Jesus People and the Catholic Pentecostals represent two distinct movements that should not be confused.
Nevertheless, he points out that such religious phenomena have a common origin in the recent secular and religious history of the United States. From 1950 to 1965 a triumphant society becomes an insecure society. The shaking of formerly accepted moral values and convictions causes considerable anxiety, especially among the younger generation. The " counter-culture " movement arises out of this context.
Both the Jesus People and the Catholic Pentecostals, each in their own way, will try to provide a religious answer to the problem.
The Jesus People, independent of any particular religious denomination, both carry on and oppose the counter-culture. They follow its lifestyle but reject anything considered im moral or destructive. By so doing, the Jesus movement is undeniably performing a social function of reintegration which, in the end, may lead to its demise.
Catholic Pentecostalism, on the other hand, also retains certain elements of the counter-culture " style," but submits the message of the Spirit which is its own to critical examination by the Catholic hierarchy.