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"God's Agents is beautifully written, subtle, smart, and evocative of a mood. This is a wonderfully engaging ethnography, filled with characters and stories that stay with the reader and provoke new ways of thinking about religion in modern life."—Courtney Bender, author of The New Metaphysicals: Spirituality and the American Religious Imagination
"A beautifully written book. Engelke creates a new ethnographic field, that of biblical publicity, by following its ambitions in the high street, in politics, and in a Christian think tank. He forces us—subtly but firmly—to rethink the location of religion in post-secular England and beyond."—Simon Coleman, Chancellor Jackman Professor, University of Toronto
"God's Agents is a major accomplishment in the anthropology of Christianity. With great ethnographic sensitivity and theoretical sophistication, Engelke shows how an organization seeking to promote Christianity in England today engages, negotiates, and ambivalently finds its place within the structures of politics and publicity in market society. Essential reading for anyone interested in the career of Chirstianity in the age of media culture."—Charles Hirschkind, author of The Ethical Soundscape: Cassette Sermons and Islamic Counterpublics
"With gentle humour and narrative skill, Matthew Engelke leads us into the world of a Bible Society intent on bringing Jesus to 21st century Britain. The small dramas that unfold tell us more about what’s really at stake in bringing religion into public life than any number of more abstract discussions."—Linda Woodhead, Professor of Sociology of Religion, Lancaster University
List of contents
A NOTE TO THE READER
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE. Angels in Swindon: On the Production of Ambient Faith
CHAPTER TWO. The Semiotics of Relevance: Campaigning to Culture
CHAPTER THREE. Kingdom and Christendom
CHAPTER FOUR. Doing God: Theos and Public Theology
CHAPTER FIVE. Good Trouble and Good Timing: The Theology of Publicity
CHAPTER SIX. Reasonable Religion
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
About the author
Matthew Engelke is a Reader in the Department of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of A Problem of Presence: Beyond Scripture in an African Church.
Summary
The British and Foreign Bible Society is one of the most illustrious Christian charities in the United Kingdom. This title offers a study of how religion goes public in today's world. It traces how a small group of socially committed Christians tackle the challenge of publicity within (what they understand to be) a largely secular culture.
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"Excellent. . . . God's Agents can be read as something of a sequel to Engelke's first book, no matter how different contemporary England may seem to be in comparison with Zimbabwe."
