The Battle Among the Gods: From Liberation Theology to the New Religious Right in Brazil
暫譯: 神明之戰：從解放神學到巴西的新宗教右派

《神明之戰》探討了巴西宗教與國家認同之間不斷演變的關係，追溯其根源至安東尼奧·孔塞雷羅（Antônio Conselheiro）和卡努多斯（Canudos）社區的彌賽亞人物，經過解放神學的變革時代，直到當代福音派影響力和極右政治的興起。本書根植於兩個關鍵的知識傳統：巴西批判思想（安東尼奧·坎迪多（Antônio Candido）、羅伯托·施瓦茨（Roberto Schwarz）、保羅·阿蘭特斯（Paulo Arantes））和拉丁美洲解放神學（雨果·阿斯曼（Hugo Assmann）、巴布羅·理查德（Pablo Richard）、弗朗茲·辛克拉默特（Franz Hinkelammert）），提供了一個獨特的分析綜合體。它質疑文學、神學和政治形式如何塑造並反映在破碎社會中靈性衝突的經驗。隨著巴西成為信仰與威權主義交互作用的全球焦點，本書提供了對宗教運動如何幫助構建政治身份和議程的基本洞見。它揭示了進步與反動宗教政治之間的共同根源，並對全球以靈性為框架的極右意識形態的復甦提供了批判性的視角。本書是政治神學、拉丁美洲研究、宗教研究和當代政治學者的重要讀物，《神明之戰》重新框定了我們對宗教在現代政治想像中角色的理解，無論是在巴西還是其他地方。

André Castro was born in Petrolina, a city on the border between Pernambuco and Bahia in Brazil, and grew up within the world of evangelical Christianity. His upbringing was marked by the contrast between his Pentecostal mother's faith and his Reformed father's beliefs--two traditions that shaped how he came to understand religion, politics, and everyday life. This early exposure led him to study theology, in search of tools to make sense of the religious environment that had always surrounded him.

During his studies, Castro encountered the work of Rubem Alves, a central figure in Brazilian Liberation Theology. Inspired by Alves, he initially sought to continue in that tradition, even writing a book on the history of Protestant Liberation Theology in Brazil. Over time, however, he began to question whether this theology could still speak to the challenges of contemporary Brazilian society. This reflection marked a turning point in his academic path.

His perspective shifted further through engagement with the work of Paulo Arantes and the broader tradition of Brazilian critical thought. Arantes's writings led Castro to rethink the role of theology--not as a framework to apply to society, but as something shaped by historical and social experience. That shift forms the foundation of his book The Battle Among the Gods, which explores how the decline of Liberation Theology and the rise of far-right evangelical politics in Brazil are part of the same historical process.

Today, Castro's work focuses on the intersection of theology, literature, and politics in Latin America. He remains committed to understanding how religious beliefs shape, and are shaped by, political life and national identity.

安德烈·卡斯特羅（André Castro）出生於巴西的佩特羅利納（Petrolina），這是一個位於伯南布哥州（Pernambuco）和巴伊亞州（Bahia）邊界的城市，他在福音基督教的世界中長大。他的成長過程受到五旬節母親的信仰與改革宗父親的信念之間的對比影響，這兩種傳統塑造了他對宗教、政治和日常生活的理解。這種早期的接觸使他開始研究神學，以尋找理解一直圍繞著他的宗教環境的工具。

在學習期間，卡斯特羅接觸到了巴西解放神學的核心人物魯本·阿爾維斯（Rubem Alves）的作品。受到阿爾維斯的啟發，他最初希望繼續這一傳統，甚至撰寫了一本關於巴西新教解放神學歷史的書。然而，隨著時間的推移，他開始質疑這種神學是否仍能應對當代巴西社會的挑戰。這一反思標誌著他學術道路上的一個轉折點。

通過與保羅·阿蘭特斯（Paulo Arantes）及巴西批判思想更廣泛傳統的接觸，他的觀點進一步轉變。阿蘭特斯的著作使卡斯特羅重新思考神學的角色——不再是應用於社會的框架，而是由歷史和社會經驗所塑造的東西。這一轉變構成了他書籍《眾神之間的戰鬥》（The Battle Among the Gods）的基礎，該書探討了解放神學的衰退與巴西極右福音政治的興起如何是同一歷史過程的一部分。

如今，卡斯特羅的工作專注於拉丁美洲神學、文學和政治的交集。他仍然致力於理解宗教信仰如何塑造政治生活和國家身份，以及如何受到這些因素的影響。