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...
| Published in: | Exchange |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| 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 |