First-Century Christians in Twenty-First Century Africa

Between Law and Grace in Gabon and Madagascar

Nathan P. Devir (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

256 Seiten

2022
Brill (Verlag)
978-90-04-50769-2 (ISBN)

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The first-ever comparative ethnographic study of its kind, this monograph analyzes the syncretistic phenomenon of Messianic Judaism in Gabon and Madagascar, focusing on the motivations, geneses, settings, and contexts of one of global Christianity’s most overlooked iterations.

Millions of African Christians who consider themselves genealogical descendants of one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel—in other words, Jewish by ethnicity, but Christian in terms of faith—are increasingly choosing a religious affiliation that honors both of these identities. Their choice: Messianic Judaism. Messianic adherents emulate the Christians of the first century, observing the Jewish commandments while also affirming the salvational grace of Yeshua (Jesus). As the first comparative ethnography of such "fulfilled Jews" on the African continent, this book presents case studies that will enrich our understanding of one of global Christianity’s most overlooked iterations.

Nathan P. Devir, Ph.D. (2010), Pennsylvania State University, is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Utah. He has published widely on notions of religious belonging in Africa, including the monograph New Children of Israel: Emerging Jewish Communities in an Era of Globalization (University of Utah Press, 2017).

Contents

Acknowledgements

Note on Original Publication

Preface

1 Defining Messianic Judaism: Historical, Textual, and Metacontextual Considerations

1 Demarcatory Strategies

2 First-Century Models

3 Assimilation and Modernity

4 Summing Up: Modern-Day Practices and Perspectives

2 Contextualizing Messianic Identities in Current (Africanist) Academic Scholarship

1 Suspicious Minds

2 The Place of Messianic Adherents in African Jewish Studies

3 Reasons for This Book: A Personal Note

3 First-Century Christians in Gabon: History, Origins, and Motivations

1 Contexts and Foci

2 Perceptions of Jewish Metahistory

3 Fang and Jews: Intersections and Associations

4 Virtual Avatars

5 Community Demographics and Motivations

6 Informational Influences

4 First-Century Christians in Gabon, Continued: Community Structure, Observance, and Worldviews

1 Modes of Observance: Models and Perspectives

2 Polygamy: Another Precolonial “Jewish” Practice

3 Welcoming the Sabbath

4 The Spirit World

5 Conceptual Categories: Polemics and Their Others

5 First-Century Christians in Madagascar: History, Origins, and Motivations

1 Neither Here nor There: Madagascar on the Margins of Africa

2 Madagascar as a Recurring Jewish Topos

3 Sagas of Migration and Incorporation

4 Preaching to the Choir

5 Chasing a Community: Circuitous Beginnings

6 First-Century Christians in Madagascar, Continued: Community Structure, Observance, and Worldviews

1 Sympathetic and Not-So-Sympathetic Onlookers

2 The Rupture Begins

3 (Re-)Joining the Messianic Fold: Motivations and Perspectives

4 Modes of Ritual Observance

5 Cut from the Same Cloth, After All?

7 Conclusion

1 Recapping: Major Themes, Contexts, Frameworks, and Foci

2 Discursive, Epistemic, and Ontological Commonalities

3 Implications for Future Research

Bibliography

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	09.03.2022
Reihe/Serie	Studies of Religion in Africa ; 50
Verlagsort	Leiden
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 235 mm
Gewicht	554 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie
ISBN-10	90-04-50769-8 / 9004507698
ISBN-13	978-90-04-50769-2 / 9789004507692
Zustand	Neuware