'The mind of Christ': financial success, born-again personhood, and the anthropology of Christianity

In this article, I contribute to the emerging project of the anthropology of Christianity by exploring the subject of born-again personhood. As a nascent field of inquiry, the anthropology of Christianity must delimit what theoretical opportunities exist for comparative research. I argue that a focu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bielo, James S. (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge 2007
In: Ethnos
Year: 2007, Volume: 72, Issue: 3, Pages: 316-338
Further subjects:B Usa
B Cultural anthropology
B Protestantism
B Christianity
B Vereinigte Staaten Christianity Protestantism Cultural anthropology
Description
Summary:In this article, I contribute to the emerging project of the anthropology of Christianity by exploring the subject of born-again personhood. As a nascent field of inquiry, the anthropology of Christianity must delimit what theoretical opportunities exist for comparative research. I argue that a focus on personhood offers a promising series of questions toward this end. To illustrate this claim, I use the case study of one Evangelical Sunday school teacher - Rick Betcher - and his life as a 'Christian businessman.' Anthropologists and other scholars have shown great interest in how matters of money figure in the culture of Protestantism. Using Rick's self-designed Sunday school class, The Mind of Christ, I argue that conceptions of personal financial success among born-again Christians are structured by the prevailing model of born-again personhood - the New Mind. (Ethnos/NIAS)
ISSN:0014-1844
Contains:In: Ethnos