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28 - God

from Part IV - Intimate and Everyday Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2023

By
T. M. Luhrmann
Edited by
James Laidlaw
James Laidlaw
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

When we think about faith as a relationship with god, rather than a set of propositional beliefs, this changes the way we think about ethics. We think about ethics more as a set of practices and orientations than as rules. The chapter considers this claim through examining the way evangelical Christians come to understand their relationship with Jesus, and more briefly through Catholics who seek to understand what it is to be a modern Mexican, through Amazonian shamans who want to know their spirits, and modern magicians. When we focus on religion as something people do, rather than just what they believe, we must approach ethics as a series of incremental interpretations of how people make sense of who they have become in the world, rather than a carefully considered set of logical arguments.

Keywords

godfaithspiritrelational ethicsevangelical ChristiansshamanismCatholicsmagicians
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Ethics , pp. 706 - 728
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • God
  • Edited by James Laidlaw, University of Cambridge
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Ethics
  • Online publication: 11 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108591249.028
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  • God
  • Edited by James Laidlaw, University of Cambridge
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Ethics
  • Online publication: 11 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108591249.028
Available formats
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  • God
  • Edited by James Laidlaw, University of Cambridge
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Ethics
  • Online publication: 11 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108591249.028
Available formats
×