The Thomas Souls Ministry – Onto‐praxis, Dividualism, and Charismatic Catholicism at Lake Chambri, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

The Thomas Souls Ministry is a prayer group founded by Catholics from the middle Sepik. It is led by a spirit of the dead called Thomas who takes possession of a Nyaura (West Iatmul) woman to preach, prophesy, counsel, and heal. While a prominent debate within the Anthropology of Christianity argues for radical change and rupture with the pre‐Christian self and society, I suggest that continuity within change is found in the way my interlocutors have made Christianity their own. I argue that the local concept of the person defined by aspects of dividualism and reflecting ontological premises of people's lifeworld has strongly influenced the way Christianity was appropriated. In current religious practices people put these premises into action and reinforce them in intersubjective encounters with the divine other. Analysing people's ‘onto‐praxis’, I argue that the Thomas Souls Ministry can be understood as part of a re‐empowerment process that re‐appropriates local meanings, spirits, and practices despite, and in fact against, the influence of the Catholic mission proselytizing in the region.

Positioning Culture within Pacific Christianities

“…While the authorities of the Catholic Church understand their decisions as binding, villagers may not always agree with official Church directives and teachings and may even challenge them (e.g., Falck, 2018; 2019; Lattas, 1998; Smith, 1980). Falck’s and Hermkens’ contributions show the political dimension of the emergence of ethno‐theologies that differ, often significantly, from official Catholic doctrine.…”

‘You have to call the right name' – Operation Joshua meets Cosmology and Catholicism at Lake Chambri in Papua New Guinea

“…It is important to note that the merging of traditional symbolic and expressive cultural forms with Christianity had already been promoted by the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). That the Catholic Church took measures to accommodate local culture within Christianity likely influenced the Nyaura's approach towards Christianity and how they have positioned it within their culture (Falck, 2019c, p. 304; see also Gewertz and Errington, 1991, p. 157 for the Chambri). How much the Catholic community has merged Christian theology with Nyaura cosmology and ontology is well expressed by Christian personae being claimed by different clans: while the nyame (mother) moiety identifies Mother Mary as one of their ancestral figures, the nyoui (child) moiety claims Jesus for themselves.…”

“…[…]. Because we believe that to get something—like the Catholics, and other churches and groups, sub‐groups, like Thomas [Thomas Souls Ministry, see Falck, 2019c], this ministry of theirs, they believe they will receive something from the dead. But we, we do not really believe that we will receive blessings from the dead.…”

“…Once one had reached the Garden of Eden, Yeshua would come together with the dead. However, in Timbunmeli people believe that the dead had already started to return—in the bodies of white people, as spirits possessing the bodies of community members, in visions and dreams (see Falck, 2016; 2018c; 2019b; 2019c).…”

Beyond rupture: Christian culture in the Pacific

“…Barker’s focus is the so‐called Robbins‐Mosko debate, which centres on whether Pacific Christians are dividuals or individuals, and whether the relationship between cultural and Christianity is one of rupture or of continuity. He offers a particularly withering critique of Mosko’s work (on Robbins, see McDougall, 2009b), but his essay shows how this debate is more about an insular world of anthropological theory than it is about contemporary Melanesian life (but see Falck, 2019). Barker acknowledges that many anthropologists do not continue to treat Melanesians as converts, but instead understand Christianity to be an integral part of Melanesian life, not an external imposition.…”