The Boundary Indefinite: Schism and the Ethics of Christian Strategy in the Philippines.

Abstract

This dissertation examines the ethical uncertainties and strategies of distinction that arise from a growing denominational pluralism of Christianity in the Philippines. It is based on research primarily conducted in Occidental Mindoro in the Philippines. Through an ethnographic and archival study of the material and linguistic practices at the heart of Christian organization, the dissertation argues that the institutional and bureaucratic forms of the Christian church become the ground upon which Christian affiliation is semiotically contested. Although famously Catholic, the Philippines has experienced a proliferation of diverse and globally affiliated Christian denominations in the last two decades. This has produced new controversy over what it means to be Christian. In an increasingly fractious and competitive context, Christians in the Philippines are faced with the challenge of having to translate and justify their Christian identity across institutional and denominational lines. The dissertation emphasizes the centrality of the practices through which Christian groups seek to competitively distinguish themselves, while simultaneously maintaining a moral commitment to a shared sense of Christian community. The dissertation’s chapters are broken down into five specific and different engagements that Christian groups in Occidental Mindoro have with one another in their response to denominational pluralism, ranging from Bible translation, the legal ramifications of a church schism, to the missionary strategies and responses of competing churches. The dissertation examines a number of Christian denominations, including Catholic, Born Again Evangelical, Pentecostal, Methodist, and Jehovah’s Witness. These chapters are organized around four analytical themes: 1) how a growing Christian pluralism has produced a collective emphasis on the nature of church organization, 2) the Christian engagement with the ethical dilemmas of competitive strategies and the logistics of organizations, 3) how language and institutionality are seen to coalesce in the mediation of divine Christian presence, and 4) how matters of visibility and concealment of church organization are themselves taken to be morally ambiguous, and yet ultimately necessary to the success and viability of mediating a divine Christian presence.