A problem of presence : beyond Scripture in an African church / Matthew Engelke.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Engelke, Matthew Eric.

Series:

Anthropology of Christianity ; 2.

The anthropology of Christianity ; 2

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Masowe, Johane.

Masowe weChishanu Church.

Religion.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (321 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Friday Masowe apostolics of Zimbabwe refer to themselves as "the Christians who don't read the Bible." They claim they do not need the Bible because they receive the Word of God "live and direct" from the Holy Spirit. In this insightful and sensitive historical ethnography, Matthew Engelke documents how this rejection of scripture speaks to longstanding concerns within Christianity over mediation and authority. The Bible, of course, has been a key medium through which Christians have recognized God's presence. But the apostolics perceive scripture as an unnecessary, even dangerous, mediator. For them, the materiality of the Bible marks a distance from the divine and prohibits the realization of a live and direct faith. Situating the Masowe case within a broad comparative framework, Engelke shows how their rejection of textual authority poses a problem of presence-which is to say, how the religious subject defines, and claims to construct, a relationship with the spiritual world through the semiotic potentials of language, actions, and objects. Written in a lively and accessible style, A Problem of Presence makes important contributions to the anthropology of Christianity, the history of religions in Africa, semiotics, and material culture studies.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Map of Zimbabwe

Introduction

1. Up in Smoke: Humility, Humiliation, and the Christian Book

2. The Early Days of Johane Masowe

3. The Question of Leadership: The Friday Message after Johane

4. Mutemo in Three Portraits

5. Listening for the True Bible: Live and Direct Language, Part I

6. Singing and the Metaphysics of Sound: Live and Direct Language, Part II

7. The Substance of Healing

Conclusion

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9786612358616

9781282358614

1282358618

9780520940048

0520940040

9781433708305

1433708302

OCLC:

476055674