The Cosmology of Conversion
April 20, 2018 DOI: 10.1525/california/9780520298033.003.0002 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that in Pentecostal cosmology power resides in spirits, not people, so freedom means liberation from evil spirits and submission of the will to the Holy Spirit. Converts' new relations with spirits, including Holy Spirit possession, disrupt their ties to people and drugs and unsettle the social order, while practices such as sleep deprivation, fasting, prayer, and incantation induce a less structured mental state in which ordinary hierarchy, class, and causality no longer apply. |
Abstract
This chapter discusses Pentecostal cosmology, which holds that power is located not in people, but in spirits. In this cosmos, freedom is not human autonomy but liberation from evil spirits, enabling individuals to submit their will to the Holy Spirit. Converts weave a new web of relations with spirits that disrupt their over-determined relations with people and with drugs. Holy Spirit possession, for instance, channels supernatural forces through discarded addicts, disrupting not only the intrapersonal, but also the social, order. Pentecostal converts disrupt routines through sleep deprivation, fasting, prayer, and drone-like incantation. They induce a state in which mental activity becomes less structured, and the normal rules of hierarchy, class, and causality cease to apply.