Theology and Anthropology

Recently, Kat posted a message on Facebook that was proposal to have Father Gustavo Gutierrez come to UVU to speak on Liberation Theology (hereafter referred to as LT). Father Gutierrez played a central role in the genesis and development of LT in Latin America and its subsequent influence throughout the world. LT isn't necessarily something that does not concern anthropologists. Recently, there has been an influx of work by anthropologists that deals with the theoretical issues that are unearth when tackling with Christianity and christian peoples (many of whom are traditionally the subjects of ethnographies). Regardless of wither or not Father Gutierrez is able to come to UVU or Dr. Minch is able to teach a course on LT this year I thought it may be useful to post some links to some material that may be of interest to some of you.

The most prominent books that cover the intersection of theology and social sciences, or anthropology more specifically are: Douglas Davies' Anthropology and Theology and John Milbank's Theology and Social Theory. David Martin's Reflections on Sociology and Theology is also a good collection of essays. Davies is a social anthropologist and theologian from the University of Durham in the UK who has done extensive work on the Anglican Church and Mormons. He also happens to be the advisor for Jason Singh, who taught at sociology UVU several years ago. Milbank is one of the most respected and controversial theologians today. His call for "radical orthodoxy" has profoundly influence the trajectory of a great deal of contemporary theology and social science's perspective on theology. Much of this is do to his virtual assault on the social sciences. Martin was one of the first sociologist to take theorizing about theology seriously and is an incredibly influential figure in both Latin American studies and in the sociology of religion.

Probably the most prominent figure in the anthropological world that deals with theology is Joel Robbins. He is an incredibly talented writer and his work on Christianity is foundational to the discipline today. His article "Anthropology and Theology: An Awkward Relationship" is kind of a rallying cry for anthropologists to pay more attention to not only Christianity, but also to the theological underpinnings of the many of the tenets of Christianity.

John Comaroff has also written an interesting article that is worth looking at. Its called "Reflections on the Rise of Legal Theology." Its not necessarily about LT but it does discuss the development of a kind of theology that LT has butted against throughout the years.

One particularly promising scholar to come on the scene recently is Jon Bialecki. Bialecki's work on the California church of the Vineyard provides a good discussion of the confluence of theology, charisma, and politics. His article "Disjuncture, Continental philosophy's new 'political Paul,' and the question of progressive Christianity in a Southern California Third Wave church"is probably the most poignant for the discussion of LT, although LT isn't really the focus of the article. Instead it is a particular reading of Badiou's interpretation of St. Paul that drives the story behind the ethnographic vignette of the article.

Although it is not really particular to anthropology I thought that because of the surrounding environment of UVU and the demographics of many of its students some of you may appreciate some resources on the discussion of LT within the Mormon community. Currently the most prominent group within the Mormon Community that explores LT is The Mormon Worker, a zine and blog devoted to Mormonism and Anarchism. Dennis Potter, of the philosophy department at UVU, has written a draft for a larger work on LT and the Book of Mormon. However, it is not meant for citation. I'll post it here, just because I can no longer find it on his website. Lastly, Robert McAfee Brown and Warner Woodworth have an interesting dialogue on LT in Mormonism in Dialogue With Contemporary Christian Theologies.