Faith beyond Belief: Evangelical Protestant Conceptions of Faith and the Resonance of Anti-humanism

Abstract

This article explores the cultural significance of faith among US evangelical Protestants. It is argued that evangelical conceptions of faith provide an idiom for expressing religiosity that transcends conventional notions of belief, which alone do not account for the ideals of evangelical subjectivity. Through an analysis of group rituals in a Tennessee megachurch, along with a discussion of the historical roots of evangelical theology and the growing influence of charismatic Christianity, the article highlights an emphasis on radical intersubjectivity that calls upon the faithful to submit to the totalizing authority of divine agency. It is further argued that evangelical conceptions of faith feature a strand of anti-humanism that resonates with the increasingly authoritarian politics of the post-welfare era, which are explored in relation to the growing phenomenon of altruistic faith-based activism.

Belief, Deconversion, and Authenticity among U.S. Emerging Evangelicals

“…For emerging evangelicals, they understand authentic Christianity as a faith defined by relationships. However, unlike the relationality recognized by Elisha () and Street (), who stress human–divine connections, the relational commitment stressed by my consultants is with a local community of practice. This also places emerging evangelicals at odds with the Thai Christians Julia Cassaniti presents in this issue, who affirm the human–divine model of relationality depicted by Elisha and Street.…”

“…For emerging evangelicals, they understand authentic Christianity as a faith defined by relationships. However, unlike the relationality recognized by Elisha (2008) and Street (2010), who stress human-divine connections, the relational commitment stressed by my consultants is with a local community of practice. This also places emerging evangelicals at odds with the Thai Christians Julia Cassaniti presents in this issue, who affirm the humandivine model of relationality depicted by Elisha and Street. The difference between emerging evangelicals and these other Christianities is the cultural critique they developed toward the conservative Christian subculture that has thrived in the U.S, including a perceived overemphasis on individual religiosity, manifest in an obsession with personal salvation via right doctrine, and an underemphasis on everyday Christian community.…”

“…For his ethnographic subjects, the Urapmin of Papua New Guinea, it is this model of belief—trusting in God and acting accordingly—that organizes Christian identity. Omri Elisha, in his fieldwork with a U.S. evangelical megachurch, asks: “Is it possible that evangelical Protestants are not quite the believers that they appear to be?” (Elisha :57). He argues that the analytical vocabulary of anthropologists should prioritize faith , “the practice of performative rituals and religious disciplines” (Elisha :57) that assumes “radical intersubjectivity: an experience of continuous subjection to and reliance upon divine agency” (Elisha :58).…”

“…For example, Kirsch (), Howell (), and Robbins () argued that commitment is more accurate than belief for describing Christians’ sense of self. Elisha () and Street () argued that Christian commitment is grounded in cultural models of faith, which they both define as a relationship between humans and the divine. My ethnographic work affirms the general notion that relational commitment is more relevant than individualized belief for capturing how emerging evangelicals understand themselves and their desired faith.…”

MAGIC WITH A MESSAGE: The Poetics of Christian Conjuring

“…Simply put, tricks cannot enhance one's witness if they prevent the magician from personally “embodying ‘the Spirit’” (Elisha 2008:62). Laflin is intensely mindful of this imperative, cautioning gospel magicians that they must embody godliness on and off stage.…”