Conclusion

The conclusion considers what the limits to transformative dialogue set by different theological and anthropological understandings of human and divine agency suggest for the future of the relationship between the two disciplines. Examining recent anthropological and wider discussions of the secular with an eye to this issue, and considering current anthropological attempts to rethink the role of divine agency in its theoretical agenda and ethnographic practice, the chapter explores some fundamental differences that remain between anthropology and theology in order to specify the ways in which dialogue between them may be fruitful even if, or perhaps precisely because, it cannot take as its goal a move toward disciplinary identity in relation to this key issue.

Passivity, Agency, the Gift, and God

This chapter argues that theological claims about humanity can open up a new realm of thought for anthropology. This point is illustrated by considering Lutheran theological discussions of the role of passivity in shaping the gift relationship and indicating ways in which they could enrich anthropological debates around this classic disciplinary topic. In particular, I suggest that theological ideas of passivity profoundly challenge standard anthropological accounts of the role of the obligation to receive in the theory of the gift. The final part of the chapter uses the notion of passivity to initiate a consideration of some ways the disciplines of anthropology and theology are likely destined not to reach agreement through interdisciplinary dialogue: most notably on the issue of the distribution of passivity and agency between the human and the divine. Arguments about the nature of the gift are developed through discussion of materials from Papua New Guinea.

From Discontinuity to Interruption

Some influential theologians argue that God’s presence in the world, and in the life of believers, takes place as an interruption. Central to the work of both the Lutheran theologian Eberhard Jüngel and the Catholics Lieven Boeve and Christian Metz, the concept of interruption resonates with but is not the same as the ideas of rupture and discontinuity that anthropologists of Christianity have rendered important for anthropological debates about the nature of conversion and Christian understandings of time. This chapter examines what it would mean for these anthropological debates about the nature of cultural change and Christian temporality to shift toward a discussion of interruption understood in theological terms. The discussion is illustrated by materials drawn from the author’s fieldwork among the Urapmin of Papua New Guinea.

Sin, Atonement, and Christian Ways of Life

The topics of sin and salvation have played important roles in anthropological work on Christianity. But surprisingly, theological debates about atonement have not. From an anthropologist’s perspective, theological discussions of this topic are particularly rich because they are diverse and unsettled. Correlating the range of cross-cultural ethnographic data on approaches to issues of sin and salvation with the range of positions on atonement found in theological debate, this chapter argues that drawing concepts from the theological literature can not only help anthropologists recognize patterns of ethnographic variation in this area, but can also help them to make some important contributions to the currently developing anthropology of ethics. And for theologians, this chapter provides an opportunity to consider with fresh data the different kinds of social lives diverse theologies of atonement support. These arguments are developed through ethnographic materials from Papua New Guinea and sub-Saharan Africa.

On Lived Eschatology

Millenarianism has a long pedigree as a phenomenon of anthropological concern. In the form of eschatology and apocalypticism, it has also had a fitful but sometimes important presence in theology. This chapter lays out some of what anthropologists have learned about the ways in which people live in millennial time, and it considers how their studies can be enhanced by a grasp of influential theological work on eschatology produced by theologians such as Wolfhart Pannenberg and Jürgen Moltmann. It also demonstrates how anthropological work on this topic can suggest a new interpretation of the theme of early Christian millenarian disappointment that has been important over the course of the history of modern theology. Ethnographic materials are drawn from the author’s fieldwork in Papua New Guinea and a contemporary ethnography of Scottish Christians.

The Prosperity Gospel, Humanity, and the Problem of Judgement

The prosperity gospel is a type of Christianity that is currently popular in many parts of the world, but it is also a form of the faith that is difficult for anthropologists to accept on its own terms, since it often seems so obviously to be captive to globally dominant economic ideologies. It is also a kind of Christianity that many theologians find difficult to embrace. This chapter brings anthropology and theology together by looking at the contrasting ways in which the two disciplines reckon with their discomfort with a form of Christianity that is compelling to millions of people. It argues that anthropologists can learn new things about their own fundamental theoretical commitments by examining this contrast from the point of view of theological anthropology and the principled ways that theologians make judgements about the lives of others such as prosperity gospel Christians.

Introduction

This chapter argues that the time is right for an interdisciplinary dialogue between anthropology and theology that does not merely aid each discipline in achieving its traditional goals, but that seeks to transform their approaches to key issues around the nature of human experience and social life. The time is right because a rapid recent growth in interest in Christianity on the anthropological side has coincided with a burgeoning interest in world Christianity from the theological side. The chapter traces the development of these trends. It then shows that recent anthropological arguments in favour of ‘ethnographic theory’—the practice of using concepts drawn from the social life of others to create general theories—offers a foundation from which anthropologists can make productive theoretical use of theological concepts. It concludes by laying out the prospects for a transformative engagement between anthropology and theology that sets out from this starting point.