A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book

“They Are Very Different from Us”: Institutional Form, Leadership, and Inter-denominational Relations in Amazonia




AuthorsOpas Minna

EditorsCapredon Élise , Ceriani Cernadas César, Opas Minna

Publishing placeCham

Publication year2023

Book title Indigenous Churches Anthropology of Christianity in Lowland South America

Series titleContemporary Anthropology of Religion

First page 59

Last page84

ISBN978-3-031-14493-6

eISBN978-3-031-14494-3

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14494-3_3

Web address https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-14494-3_3


Abstract

This chapter investigates the role of institutional form and leadership in informing inter-denominational relations in the context of the Amazonian Yine people living in southeastern Peru. Approaching denominations as institutions provides a view on inter-denominationalism that pays attention to the role of materiality without excluding theological and sociocultural factors. The examination focuses on one Yine community counting with three different Christian churches: Evangelicals, Catholics, and Pentecostals. In the community, understandings of different churches as institutions worked as a platform for Christians to express their views on what constitutes legitimate kind of Christianity, and on the ways in which they considered themselves differing from other groups self-identifying as Christian. They therefore also served as grip surfaces for inter-denominational disputes. The spheres revealed central for these disputes and the negotiation of denominational boundaries were economics, education, and leadership.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 20:28