Zion City: Utopianism in Pentecostal Divine Healing

This paper argues for describing the Pentecostal doctrine of divine healing as inherently utopian. Beginning with the historical account of Zion City, a failed Pentecostal utopia, this paper traces an aesthetic representation of healing that sought racial equality and yet was vulnerable to white supremacy. This vulnerability culminated in the fatal exorcism of Letitia Greenhaulgh, a resident suffering from paralysis. An application of Fredric Jameson’s theory of utopia reveals Zion’s ambiguous relationship to race as ideological. After examining prominent anti-utopian political theory of the 20th century, the paper demonstrates the impossibility of completely affirming or negating Pentecostalism’s Utopianism. The conclusion urges future representations of Pentecostalism to recognize the presence of healing ideology in the movement to best account for its past and future relationship to democracy.