Spirits and Letters - by Thomas G Kirsch (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Studies of religion have a tendency to conceptualise 'the Spirit' and 'the Letter' as mutually exclusive and intrinsically antagonistic. However, the history of religions abounds in cases where charismatic leaders deliberately refer to and make use of writings. This book challenges prevailing scholarly notions of the relationship between 'charisma' and 'institution' by analysing reading and writing practices in contemporary Christianity. Taking up the continuing anthropological interest in Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity, and representing the first book-length treatment of literacy practices among African Christians, this volume explores how church leaders in Zambia refer to the Bible and other religious literature, and how they organise a church bureaucracy in the Pentecostal-charismatic mode. Thus, by examining social processes and conflicts that revolve around the conjunction of Pentecostal-charismatic and literacy practices in Africa, Spirits and Letters reconsiders influential conceptual dichotomies in the social sciences and the humanities and is therefore of interest not only to anthropologists but also to scholars working in the fields of African studies, religious studies, and the sociology of religion.

Review Quotes

"Kirsch is impressively well read in the history and anthropology of Christianity and the study of literacy, and uses a range of insightful comparative examples to draw out the significance of his research...As well as providing an important and fascinating account of reading practices within and beyond African Christianity, Kirsch's study also alerts us to how religious print moves across the globe via religious organizations and networks to create and reinforce religious identities." - Africa

"This book has opened the internal communication system of so-called Spirit-filled churches for academic scrutiny. We can now begin to ask how and why are the Holy Spirit and internal communication becoming the principal tools for control, domination, or democracy in them." - Pneuma

"For those interested in the social life of the bible and other written materials, this book is sure to surprise...The surprise value of Kirsch's work lies in the broad sweep from fine-grained descriptions of individuals' bibles to far-reaching theoretical critiques of the anthropology of literary practices and bureaucracy." - Social Anthropology/Anthropologie sociale

"From relative obscurity, the study of Christianity has grown into a major academic field, to which this book makes an important and timely contribution. It is the first book-length study of literacy practices among African Christians." - JRAI

"Developing new theoretical perspectives out of sensitive historical and ethnographic research on practices of reading and writing in the Spirit Apostolic Church, this well written and accessible study offers anthropology at its best. Cautioning against simplistic understandings of literacy and textuality that still underpin much work on Christianity, his work offers a substantial intervention into broader debates about religion, media and materiality." - Birgit Meyer, Faculty of Social Sciences, Vrije Universiteit

"the primary aim of the author lies...in challenging the presuppositions made in the study of African religion - and in this he has admirably succeeded" - H-Net Reviews

"...Kirsch...provides an excellent introduction, contextualizing his material and his aim of explaining the relationship between 'charisma' and 'institution' in the Spirit Apostolic Church." - Choice

"The examination of literacy practices presented in this book enables - and hopefully will engender - much thought in a variety of ethnographic domains." - Ethos

"[The author] demonstrates in this book an extraordinary command of several scholarly literatures and takes up questions that have vexed the social sciences since at least the time of Max Weber. In particular, Kirsch wishes to understand how something as fundamental to the 'religions of the Book' as literacy could be so often overlooked in current anthropological discussions of Christianity in favor of electronic and other media.. Kirsch has produced an impressive monograph here, one that ought to be read by Africanist anthropologists, religious studies scholars and by others interested in understanding the meaningful qualities of literacy for all 'peoples of the Book'." - Journal of Religion in Africa