dc.contributor.author | Bere, Anja | eng |
dc.date.accessioned | 2009-12-01T12:19:09Z | |
dc.date.available | 2009-12-01T12:19:09Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2009-06-22 | eng |
dc.date.submitted | 2009-06-22 | eng |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1956/3622 | |
dc.description.abstract | In this thesis I explore how evangelical Christians in two different churches in the US relate to the society they live in, which they regard as secular. I will give insight to their narratives on how they see their lives changed after converting to Christianity and also how they think that a Christian shall live in order to glorify God. The church as a collective has great impact on my informants' personal faith and how they approach the world outside of the church.I argue that their goal of being true believers" is a life-long project and that this transformation is not completed in this mortal life", which thereby places them in a constant liminal situation. By identifying as Christians in the US and trying to be in the world but not of it", they are moving across a border of the profane and the sacred; between the World and the Church which creates dilemmas and a tension that needs to be dealt with. In this thesis I identify mechanisms of dealing with this tension which keep themselves in the faith and therefore also within liminality.I also give a broader perspective on the evangelical spectrum in the US by bringing in a third church and thereby contrasting the churches within this spectrum. This third church has been infamous in the history of evangelicals, especially for their role in the so-called culture-war". The positioning within the evangelical spectrum is resulting from the different approaches the churches have to the secular and non-Christian discourses in the society they live in. I discuss their idea of a fallen culture" and if there is boundary that my informants maintain between themselves and non-Christians. The churches' different approaches to culture also affect how the churches try to make the world morally better, by using evangelism or politics as a tool. | en_US |
dc.format.extent | 1340298 bytes | eng |
dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | eng |
dc.language.iso | eng | eng |
dc.publisher | The University of Bergen | eng |
dc.subject | Christianity | eng |
dc.subject | The self | eng |
dc.subject | Culture | eng |
dc.subject | USA | eng |
dc.subject | Liminality | eng |
dc.subject | Boundaries | eng |
dc.title | To Be in the World But Not of It: American Evangelicals and the Dilemmas of Being Christian in a Secular World | nob |
dc.type | Master thesis | en_US |
dc.rights.holder | The author | en_US |
dc.rights.holder | Copyright the author. All rights reserved | en_US |
dc.description.degree | Master i Sosialantropologi | |
dc.description.localcode | SANT350 | |
dc.description.localcode | MASV-SANT | |
dc.subject.nus | 738106 | eng |
dc.subject.nsi | VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Sosialantropologi: 250 | nob |
fs.subjectcode | SANT350 | |