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On Christianity and ethics: Rupture as ethical practice in Ghanaian Pentecostalism

American Ethnologist

Published online on

Abstract

Rupture, a common principle of the Pentecostal Christian faith, can also give rise to ethical disputes among believers. The study of such disputes provides insight into the ways ethical practice shapes the institutional continuities and the personal inconsistencies of a Christian life. All believers learn what Pentecostal rupture is, but they have different opinions about how it is achieved, and, once born again, they differ on what constitutes good or right religious observance. I suggest that approaching rupture as ethical practice allows for a better understanding of the religious subject's response to an incommensurability of values and practices internal to Pentecostalism.