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In Walking on the Pages of the Word of God Aron Engberg explores the religious language and identities of evangelical volunteer workers in contemporary Jerusalem. The volunteers are connected to Christian organizations which consider their work a natural consequence of the biblical promises to Israel and their responsibility to “bless the Jewish people”.
Relying on ethnographic data of the discursive practices of the volunteers, the book explores a central puzzle of Zionist Christianity: the narrative production of Israel’s religious significance and its relationship to broader Christian language traditions. By focusing on the volunteers’ stories about themselves, the land and the Bible, Aron Engberg offers a convincing account about how the State of Israel is finding its way into evangelical identities.
Relying on ethnographic data of the discursive practices of the volunteers, the book explores a central puzzle of Zionist Christianity: the narrative production of Israel’s religious significance and its relationship to broader Christian language traditions. By focusing on the volunteers’ stories about themselves, the land and the Bible, Aron Engberg offers a convincing account about how the State of Israel is finding its way into evangelical identities.
Price: $69.00
Pages: 213
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Publication Date:
17 October 2019
ISBN: 9789004409125
Format: Paperback
"Readers will discover a wealth of insight in Engberg’s new book, from the formation and functioning of global evangelical networks to religious language and the role Christian Zionists have played in shaping the lived landscape of contemporary Jerusalem. This is an indispensable ethnography, one that promises to make a lasting impact on the interdisciplinary study of Christianity and the social life of scriptures more broadly." — James S. Bielo, Miami University
"Based on intensive fieldwork, Aron Engberg provides a vivid portrait of Evangelical volunteers in Israel. For them, living in the Bible Land is not about venerating the past, but its restoration through the State of Israel. The contradictions between prophecy and current life in Israel are resolved through a postponement of understanding, which authenticates action as being a result of God’s agency. Engberg describes this process, fluctuating between the persuasiveness of narrative truth and the limits of human agency, with precision and coherence. In doing so, he provides an empathetic but not romanticized account of Christian Zionism that relates it to broader issues in contemporary Protestantism." — Jackie Feldman, Ben Gurion University of the Negev
"Aron Engberg provides a closely observed account of Israel as both contemporary place and complex object of aspiration for Protestant evangelical volunteers. Working through individual encounters and biographies, he brings into conversation two areas of research that have had strangely little to say to each other so far: Christian Zionism, and analysis of the forms and functions of Protestant language ideologies. The result is a hugely engaging text that tells us much about how Jerusalem is lived, imagined, and narrated by powerful advocates for the State of Israel as political and spiritual entity." — Simon Coleman, Chancellor Jackman Professor, University of Toronto
"Based on intensive fieldwork, Aron Engberg provides a vivid portrait of Evangelical volunteers in Israel. For them, living in the Bible Land is not about venerating the past, but its restoration through the State of Israel. The contradictions between prophecy and current life in Israel are resolved through a postponement of understanding, which authenticates action as being a result of God’s agency. Engberg describes this process, fluctuating between the persuasiveness of narrative truth and the limits of human agency, with precision and coherence. In doing so, he provides an empathetic but not romanticized account of Christian Zionism that relates it to broader issues in contemporary Protestantism." — Jackie Feldman, Ben Gurion University of the Negev
"Aron Engberg provides a closely observed account of Israel as both contemporary place and complex object of aspiration for Protestant evangelical volunteers. Working through individual encounters and biographies, he brings into conversation two areas of research that have had strangely little to say to each other so far: Christian Zionism, and analysis of the forms and functions of Protestant language ideologies. The result is a hugely engaging text that tells us much about how Jerusalem is lived, imagined, and narrated by powerful advocates for the State of Israel as political and spiritual entity." — Simon Coleman, Chancellor Jackman Professor, University of Toronto
Aron Engberg, Ph.D. (2016), Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University, Sweden. He has previously published several articles and book chapters on evangelical Christianity, pilgrimage and life stories. Walking on the Pages of the Word of God is his first monograph.