| Summary: | The article makes a synchronic and comparative analysis of the biographies and sermons
of Antônio Vicente Mendes Maciel (the so-called Conselheiro) and José Datrino (also
known as Gentileza, an urban prophet who lived in Rio de Janeiro and was a contemporary
of Conselheiro). It tries to identify the elements that are disruptive of the daily structure
in the biography of these two prophets and led to the configuration of their messianic
worldviews. On the basis of this analysis, it discusses the passage from the collective
assumptions to individualistic ideology, not only in the modern religious discourse but in
its social repercussions as well, describing these two prophets as examples of the
transformations that were underway. It also emphasizes the importance of the biographical
study of religious leaders for the discussion of the concept of messianism, which is crucial
for the issue of the urban context of religiosity in the present.
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