{"product_id":"a-problem-of-presence-by-matthew-engelke-9780520249042","title":"A Problem of Presence","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Friday Masowe apostolics of Zimbabwe refer to themselves as \"the Christians who don't read the Bible.\" They claim they do not need the Bible because they receive the Word of God \"live and direct\" from the Holy Spirit. In this insightful and sensitive historical ethnography, Matthew Engelke documents how this rejection of scripture speaks to longstanding concerns within Christianity over mediation and authority.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Bible, of course, has been a key medium through which Christians have recognised God's presence. But the apostolics perceive scripture as an unnecessary, even dangerous, mediator. For them, the materiality of the Bible marks a distance from the divine and prohibits the realisation of a live and direct faith.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSituating the Masowe case within a broad comparative framework, Engelke shows how their rejection of textual authority poses a problem of presence—which is to say, how the religious subject defines, and claims to construct, a relationship with the spiritual world through the semiotic potentials of language, actions, and objects. Written in a lively and accessible style, \u003cem\u003eA Problem of Presence\u003c\/em\u003e makes important contributions to the anthropology of Christianity, the history of religions in Africa, semiotics, and material culture studies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47470050738412,"sku":"9780520249042","price":66.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780520249042-a-problem-of-presence.jpg?v=1775209812","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/a-problem-of-presence-by-matthew-engelke-9780520249042","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}