A Phenomenological Study of the Gnostic Church of Brazil
Integrated increasingly within the globalizing system of late-modernity, Brazil is undergoing widespread transformation in every sphere of its economic-political, social-cultural and religiousspiritual life. Once a bastion of Roman Catholicism, Brazil is today home to some of the fastest growing non...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Equinox
[2006]
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In: |
Fieldwork in religion
Year: 2006, Volume: 2, Issue: 1, Pages: 27-48 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | Integrated increasingly within the globalizing system of late-modernity, Brazil is undergoing widespread transformation in every sphere of its economic-political, social-cultural and religiousspiritual life. Once a bastion of Roman Catholicism, Brazil is today home to some of the fastest growing non-Catholic religious movements, has greeted enthusiastically a number of homegrown and imported new religions and is witnessing the growth of alternative spiritualities and mystical practices. Together these new and alternative forms of late-modern religiosity are reshaping contemporary understandings of religion and what it means to be religious. This article builds upon fieldwork undertaken in Brazil in recent years to offer a phenomenological study of a neo-esoteric organization called the Gnostic Church of Brazil (Igreja Gnóstica do Brasil). After locating the Gnostic Church of Brazil within its surrounding neo-esoteric landscape, the article details its origins, discourse and practice. Concluding remarks signal the possibility of organizational transition within the Gnostic Church of Brazil from a more to a less traditional repertoire of action. |
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ISSN: | 1743-0623 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Fieldwork in religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/fiel2007v2i1.27 |