Can There Be Conversion Without Cultural Change?

This article takes a sociocultural anthropological approach to conversion. It asks not about the causes of conversion, but about the kinds of cultural changes conversion produces and the mechanisms by which it brings about such changes. Drawing on the author’s research among a recently converted gro...

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主要作者: Robbins, Joel 1961- (Author)
格式: 电子 文件
语言:English
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出版: Brill 2017
In: Mission studies
Year: 2017, 卷: 34, 发布: 1, Pages: 29-52
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Papua-Neuguinea / 基督教化 / 文化认同
IxTheo Classification:CB Christian life; spirituality
CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations
KBS Australia; Oceania
Further subjects:B Conversion culture cultural change anthropology of Christianity values Christianity and culture secondarity duplex cultural formations
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总结:This article takes a sociocultural anthropological approach to conversion. It asks not about the causes of conversion, but about the kinds of cultural changes conversion produces and the mechanisms by which it brings about such changes. Drawing on the author’s research among a recently converted group in Papua New Guinea and on other work produced by scholars working in the anthropology of Christianity, the article argues that Christianity is a culture of secondarity, designed to come after another culture that previously guided its converts. Moreover, Christian converts tend to engage their prior cultures not by completely rejecting them, but by evaluating their components critically in relation to new Christian values. This produces a duplex cultural formation that regularly fosters critical reflection and ongoing cultural change. This model of change is briefly distinguished from more common models of syncretism, suggesting a new understanding of the relationship between conversion and cultural change.
ISSN:1573-3831
Contains:In: Mission studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15733831-12341482