The Road to Clarity: Seventh-Day Adventism in MadagascarIn recent years, millions of people have joined churches such as the Seventh-day Adventist which prosper enormously in different parts of the world. The Road to Clarity is one of the first ethnographic in-depth studies of this phenomenon. It is a vivid account based on almost two years of participation in ordinary church members' daily religious and non-religious lives. The book offers a fascinating inquiry into the nature of long-term commitment to Adventism among rural people in Madagascar. Eva Keller argues that the key attraction of the church lies in the excitement of study, argument and intellectual exploration. This is a novel approach which challenges utilitarian and cultural particularist explanations of the success of this kind of Christianity. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Part I The Setting | 13 |
Part II The Road to Clarity | 82 |
Part III Uncertainties | 190 |
Notes | 246 |
266 | |
280 | |
Common terms and phrases
activity Adventist doctrine Adventist practice Africa ancestors andafy Antananarivo area of Maroantsetra baptism baptized Beby’s Betsimisaraka Bible study biblical Bloch Catholic cattle sacrifice chapter Christianity church in Maroantsetra church members church services clarity Claude’s commitment concerned congregation context conversion discussion district of Maroantsetra ethnography example fact fady fahaizana fomban-drazana God’s havana important interpretation involved Jehovah’s Witnesses Kiki Kiki’s kinship knowledge land learning live local Adventists Loricà Madagascar Malagasy Adventists Maman Maman’i Maroantsetra and Sahameloka Maroantsetra town mazava Merina mianatra mino mpiara-mivavaka non-Adventist kin ôlo Ominò one’s Papan Papan’i Beby Papan’i Claude Papan’i Fredel Papua New Guinea participants particular pastor Pentecostal people’s Protestant relationship religion religious rice ritual Sabbath School Satan sense Seventh-day Adventism Seventh-day Adventist church slave descent social Study Guide studying the Bible taboos Tahina things tion Toamasina traditional truth Urapmin vazaha village Zafindrabay