Making Christ Present in China: Actor-Network Theory and the Anthropology of Christianity

ISBN-13: 9783030556075 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 306 str.

Michel Chambon

Recenzje

"Making Christ Present in China takes a valiant step in that direction by bringing new theoretical models to account for the full complexity of one slice of Chinese Christianity." (Yucheng Bai, Review of Religion and Chinese Society, Vol. 9 (1), 2022)
"This study can help us gain insight into contemporary Chinese Christian faith processes and social practices." (Wei Xiong, Religious Studies Review, Vol. 47 (3), September, 2021)

Spis treści

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Building Churches on Chinese Soil

Chapter 3: Chanting and Listening Together in the Face of the Lord

Chapter 4: Revealing the Church through Elderly Care

Chapter 5: Giving Thanks to God: Thanksgiving in the Gospel Church

Chapter 6: The Bloody Business of Christian Conversion

Chapter 7: Conclusion – The Tree of Life

O autorze

Michel Chambon is Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Hanover College, USA. He completed a Master’s in Theology at the Catholic University of Paris, France and a Ph.D. in Anthropology at Boston University, USA. He has also been a visiting researcher at the University of Notre Dame, USA. 

Blurb

An anthropological theorization of the unity and diversity of Christianity, this book focuses on Christian communities in Nanping, a small city in China. It applies methodological insights from Actor-Network Theory to investigate how the Christian God is made part of local social networks. The study examines how Christians interact with and re-define material objects, such as buildings, pews, offerings, and blood, in order to identify the kind of networks and non-human actors that they collectively design. By comparing local Christian traditions with other practices informing the Nanping religious landscape, the study points out potential cohesion via the centralizing presence of the Christian God, the governing nature of the pastoral clergy, and the semi-transcendent being of the Church.