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Palgrave Macmillan

The Road to Clarity

Seventh-Day Adventism in Madagascar

  • Book
  • © 2005

Overview

Authors:
  1. Eva Keller
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Part of the book series: Contemporary Anthropology of Religion (CAR)

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
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  2. Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 1-12

  3. The Setting

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 13-13
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    2. People in Search of a Living

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 15-36

    3. Christianity and Seventh-Day Adventism in Madagascar

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 37-57

    4. International and Local Structure of the Adventist Church

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 58-67

    5. Profiles

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 68-81

  4. The Road to Clarity

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 83-83
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    2. Bible Study

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 85-116

    3. Knowledge of the Bible and Scientific Inquiry

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 117-135

    4. Text and Learning

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 136-156

    5. The Great Controversy

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 157-168

    6. The Construction and Rejection of Ancestral Religion

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 169-178

    7. Clarity

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 179-189

  5. Uncertainties

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 191-191
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    2. Making Choices

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 193-206

    3. Kinship

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 207-232

    4. Conclusions

      • Eva Keller
      Pages 233-245

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 246-286
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Keywords

About this book

In 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.

Reviews

"This finely observed and gracefully written ethnography is focused on the intellectual life of Seventh-Day Adventists in Madagascar. In its emphasis on the role of Bible study, Socratic discussion and the search for intellectual satisfaction in grounding the religious commitment of Malagasy Adventists, the book stands out as absolutely unique- I have never read anything like it. Social scientists have far too long ignored the intellectual side of the Christian life, leaving us, among other things, flat-footed in the currently raging debate over the relationship between science and religion. Keller's important book fills the gap splendidly and stands as a landmark in the anthropological study of Christianity and religion more generally." - Joel Robbins, University of California, San Diego

About the author

EVA KELLER is a Research Fellow at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. She received her PhD in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, in 2002. She is currently carrying out research on a national park in Madagascar.

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