Beyond Interiority in Christian Conversion: Proximity to Jesus as Patron among Muslim-background “Isai” in Bangladesh
Though conversion studies have attempted to move beyond models that “privilege interior states and subjectivities” (Rambo and Farhadian 2014), this article argues, first, that such a step forward has proved difficult. Interiority persists within frequent divisions of intrinsic and extrinsic factors...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Brill
2022
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In: |
Exchange
Year: 2022, Volume: 51, Issue: 1, Pages: 22-38 |
RelBib Classification: | BJ Islam CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations CH Christianity and Society KBM Asia |
Further subjects: | B
Isai
B Bangladesh B Christian B Devotion B Conversion B Interiority B Patronage B Muslim |
Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Summary: | Though conversion studies have attempted to move beyond models that “privilege interior states and subjectivities” (Rambo and Farhadian 2014), this article argues, first, that such a step forward has proved difficult. Interiority persists within frequent divisions of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in Christian conversion or is only de-emphasized at the cost of marginalizing converts’ theological or spiritual convictions. Retaining an internal-external paradigm is especially problematic in non-western contexts, where converts may have quite differently-ordered configurations of self-understanding. Second, the article demonstrates the potential of suspending this duality, through an analysis of existing studies of Muslim-background “Isai” groups in Bangladesh. Isai conversion, involving a pivot from Muhammad to Jesus, is interpreted within a patron-client scheme in which intimacy is more fundamental than interiority, indicating that devotional “proximity” might be a way to refer to the transformative conversion experience without reverting to an interior-exterior dichotomy. |
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ISSN: | 1572-543X |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Exchange
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/1572543X-20221617 |