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- ENGBERG, ARON, et al.
(author)
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'A Fool for Christ' : Sense-Making and Negotiation of Identity in the Life Story of a Christian Soldier
- 2014
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In: Comprehending Christian Zionism : Perspectives in Comparison - Perspectives in Comparison. - Minneapolis : Fortress Press. - 9781451489644 - 9781451472264 ; , s. 33-59
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This chapter presents a narrative analysis of the life story of a Swedish Pentecostal who decided to join the Israeli Defense Forces out of his conviction that God wanted him to protect the chosen people. His story is treated as an example of lived Christian Zionism; as one of many manifestations that contemporary Christian affection for Israel can take. The analysis focuses on the central narrative pattern of calling-test of faith-confirmation, 'Jacob's' sense-making of his life choices, and the negotiation of his identity in relation to larger religious and cultural narratives.
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- ENGBERG, ARON, et al.
(author)
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Evangelical Volunteers in Israel as Long-Term Pilgrims : Ambassadors for the Kingdom
- 2016
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In: Pilgrimage and Tourism to Holy Cities : Ideological and Management Perspectives - Ideological and Management Perspectives. - Wallingford : CABI Publishing. - 9781780647388 ; , s. 161-174
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Drawing from several years of field work and about 30 life story interviews,this chapter presents a case of contemporary evangelical mobility that cannotbe squarely placed within any of the related academic debates about ‘(religious)tourism’, ‘pilgrimage’, ‘short-term missions’, ‘international volunteering’ or ‘migration’ simply because it is intrinsically related to all these phenomena at the same time. Pro-Zionist Evangelical Christians come to Jerusalem from all parts of the world; some of them as part of biblical tours, some for Christian conferences or for Hebrew courses and yet others come as volunteers.This latter group is engaged in what often looks like secular humanitarian work, or sometimes even political activism, but explains these activities almost exclusively in religious terms. Initially, they come for a short period of time but often end up staying in Jerusalem for 10 years or more. What looks like a temporary adventure often turns out to be something more akin to a ‘way of life’. Thus, I will explore this phenomenon as a case of ‘long-term pilgrimage’ in order to discuss the religious meanings that the volunteers attach to their time in Israel, the practices that they are involved in and to the place itself. Apart from providing more data on contemporary religiously motivated travel patterns I hope that this case will prove useful in reconsidering the traditional boundaries between ‘tourism’, ‘volunteer work’ and ‘pilgrimage’, and perhaps also illuminate something of the underlying theoretical quagmires about the relationship between ‘the secular’ and ‘the religious’.
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- ENGBERG, ARON
(author)
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Evangelicalism in the Interspaces : The Construction of Judeo-Christian Identity in a Messianic Community in Jerusalem
- 2012
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In: Swedish Missiological Themes. - : Swedish Institute of Mission Research. - 0346-217X. ; 100:3, s. 263-263
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper is based on ethnographic field work in an evangelical/Messianic community in contemporary Jerusalem. In the paper I interpret the pro-Israeli strand of Evangelicalism’s fascination with Judaica and Jewish ritual in relation to the movement’s location in a temporal-spatial interspace. I argue that the Christian Zionist impulse to experiment with Jewish tradition needs to be understood as an attempt to navigate the religious interspaces which are formed by its strong identification with the Jewish people and the State of Israel, its integration of the national movement of Zionism into a specific Protestant eschatology and its concrete presence in the context of Israeli society.
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- Engberg, Aron, et al.
(author)
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Life Stories and Christian Zionist Ideology : A Theoretical Outline of How to Capture the Interplay between Individual and Ideology
- 2011
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In: Working with Stories : Narrative as a Meeting Place for Theory, Analysis and Practice. Proceedings from the 2nd ENN Conference, Kolding 2011 - Narrative as a Meeting Place for Theory, Analysis and Practice. Proceedings from the 2nd ENN Conference, Kolding 2011. - 9788799464401 ; , s. 68-77, s. 68-77
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Christian Zionism is usually characterized as a theological and political movement grounded in literalist bible hermeneutics and End-time speculations that dedicate unwavering support to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The prophetic element in Christian Zionism has in later years been downplayed for a more down-to-earth focus on social and political commitment to the well-being of the state of Israel. This shift in emphasis leaves the floor open to new investigations into the identification with Israel that is central to many western evangelicals’ understanding of their Christian faith. In my research I use narrative methods to investigate contemporary Christian volunteer workers in Israel. I want to investigate how individual life-stories relate to the grand narrative of Christian Zionism in order to answer the question of the symbolical value that Israel bears to these believers. In the present paper I discuss theoretical and methodological questions in relation to my research project. As the interplay between individual biographies and ideology is the particular focus of my research I use James A. Holstein and Jaber F. Gubrium’s theoretical approach combined with ethnographic methods.
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