DNA, Israel and the Ancestors—Substantiating Connections through Christianity in Papua New Guinea

Dundon, Alison

doi:10.1080/14442213.2010.540761

Cited by 16 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Such emergence of biblical imagery and geography marks the ways in which what began as missionary experiments has been turned to radical social and theological ends. Throughout Melanesia people tend to situate themselves in a wider space and time that includes relations with Israel (Dundon ; Timmer , 2012a). In Papua, amid an older tradition of anti‐colonial movements built largely around Christian imagery (see, for example, Kamma , Timmer , and Rutherford ), there is a growing number of Christian groups that actively develop connections with Israel.…”

Section: God's Nationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Threefold Logic of Papua‐Melanesia: Constitution‐writing in the Margins of the Indonesian Nation‐State

Timmer

2013

Oceania

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Clashes over the status of West Papua and the political future of the territory proliferated markedly following the end of Indonesia's New Order regime in 1998. Amid a wide variety of demands for justice and independence, and a series of demonstrations, mass gatherings and prayers, only a few Papuans mused on how Papua could become a state and what would constitute its nature as being distinctly Papuan and/or Melanesian. One exception is the work put into the Constitution for West Papua entitled Basic Guidelines, State of West Papua, a document edited by Don A.L. Flassy, a bureaucrat, writer and thinker, with a preface by late Theys H. Eluay, then chairman of the Papuan Council. In this article I analyse this Constitution to show how a combination of Christianity and local customs, and a mimicry of elements of Indonesian nation building and symbols of the Indonesian nation‐state are reshaped to oppose Indonesian nation‐building agendas. The Constitution shows that when Papuans imagine an independent state, forms of vernacular legality play a central role. ‘The state’ has journeyed to Papua and encouraged faith in ‘the law,’ and Basic Guidelines is partly the effect of this growing vernacular legality. My analysis shows that it is essential to see how legal mobilisations and imaginations of the state articulate with other normative systems and practices – in particular Christianity and custom (adat) – and how they mutually allow for and invite strategies.

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Section: God's Nationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Threefold Logic of Papua‐Melanesia: Constitution‐writing in the Margins of the Indonesian Nation‐State

Timmer

2013

Oceania

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“…Underlying this public dialogue of an embodied and seemingly ancient Christianity is a concern with a chronic lack of development in the area and Province more generally. Several prominent Gogodala argue that the claim for Jewish identity will result in the long anticipated development of the community but in Israel, with a settlement of homes, cars, televisions and telephones (Dundon, 2011).…”

Section: Good Christianity: Heaven Transformation and The Desires Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating the Horizon—Living Christianity in Melanesia

Dundon

2011

The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology

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“…For example, Annelin Eriksen illustrates how these churches enable people in Vanuatu to ‘break with the past’ as a meaningful act with political connotations (Eriksen :175). In contrast, groups with a strong identification with Judaism in Melanesia intertwine new religious ideas and practices with their tradition on the basis of what they see as a ‘genealogical’ connection with their ‘Jewish’ origins (ASAO :9; Dundon ; Kirsch ). In Solomon Islands, and particularly Malaita, religious groups make use of connections with Israelite ancestors to articulate various interpretations of kastom .…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Among other things, they claim to be descendants of biblical kings who arrived in the Pacific Islands on their Ark after the Universal Flood; they state that there is an ancient Lost Temple of Israel hidden in the deep bush of Malaita, where their ancestors originally worshipped God, and they interpret passages of the Bible as references to the destiny of Solomon Islands as a God‐chosen country ( cf . Dundon :41). The ways in which these characteristics relate to and connect within the broader religious situation in Solomon Islands require investigation within the context of their formation.…”

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confidence: 99%

Kingdom Tok: Legends and Prophecies in Honiara, Solomon Islands

Maggio

2015

Oceania

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Kingdom tok is an expression that is increasingly used in Honiara. It describes a set of ideas and practices related to what Solomon Islanders see as a recent ‘season’ in their history. Such a season is characterised by the reappropriation of particular meanings of their faith that they perceive as influenced by recent historical processes such as the colonial era, the introduction of Christianity, and the first few decades from independence. In terms of ‘Kingdom’, they envision the possibility to challenge political hierarchies, social stratification, and issues of governance, as well as to re‐define their identities in relation to a general state of empowerment. In Honiara, Pentecostal churches and groups with a strong identification with Judaism make use of Kingdom tok discourses. I claim that they experience the actualisation of Kingdom tok as concrete projects of social action and service provision, which they see as concrete alternatives to historical churches, the state, and the ‘way of the waitman’.

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DNA, Israel and the Ancestors—Substantiating Connections through Christianity in Papua New Guinea

Cited by 16 publications

References 13 publications

The Threefold Logic of Papua‐Melanesia: Constitution‐writing in the Margins of the Indonesian Nation‐State

The Threefold Logic of Papua‐Melanesia: Constitution‐writing in the Margins of the Indonesian Nation‐State

Negotiating the Horizon—Living Christianity in Melanesia

Kingdom Tok: Legends and Prophecies in Honiara, Solomon Islands

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