Hittin' the Prayer Bones

Materiality of Spirit in the Pentecostal South

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Denominations, Pentecostalism, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Hittin' the Prayer Bones by Anderson Blanton, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Anderson Blanton ISBN: 9781469623986
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: July 29, 2015
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Anderson Blanton
ISBN: 9781469623986
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: July 29, 2015
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

In this work, Anderson Blanton illuminates how prayer, faith, and healing are intertwined with technologies of sound reproduction and material culture in the charismatic Christian worship of southern Appalachia. From the radios used to broadcast prayer to the curative faith cloths circulated through the postal system, material objects known as spirit-matter have become essential since the 1940s, Blanton argues, to the Pentecostal community's understanding and performances of faith.

Hittin' the Prayer Bones draws on Blanton's extensive site visits with church congregations, radio preachers and their listeners inside and outside the broadcasting studios, and more than thirty years of recorded charismatic worship made available to him by a small Christian radio station. In documenting the transformation and consecration of everyday objects through performances of communal worship, healing prayer, and chanted preaching, Blanton frames his ethnographic research in the historiography of faith healing and prayer, as well as theoretical models of materiality and transcendence. At the same time, his work affectingly conveys the feelings of horror, healing, and humor that are unleashed in practitioners as they experience, in their own words, the sacred, healing presence of the Holy Ghost.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this work, Anderson Blanton illuminates how prayer, faith, and healing are intertwined with technologies of sound reproduction and material culture in the charismatic Christian worship of southern Appalachia. From the radios used to broadcast prayer to the curative faith cloths circulated through the postal system, material objects known as spirit-matter have become essential since the 1940s, Blanton argues, to the Pentecostal community's understanding and performances of faith.

Hittin' the Prayer Bones draws on Blanton's extensive site visits with church congregations, radio preachers and their listeners inside and outside the broadcasting studios, and more than thirty years of recorded charismatic worship made available to him by a small Christian radio station. In documenting the transformation and consecration of everyday objects through performances of communal worship, healing prayer, and chanted preaching, Blanton frames his ethnographic research in the historiography of faith healing and prayer, as well as theoretical models of materiality and transcendence. At the same time, his work affectingly conveys the feelings of horror, healing, and humor that are unleashed in practitioners as they experience, in their own words, the sacred, healing presence of the Holy Ghost.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Citizens in Arms by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book Bringing God to Men by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book The Cruel Radiance of the Obvious by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book Stories of Civil War in El Salvador by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book The Kennedy Crises by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book The Puerto Rican Nation on the Move by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book Caught in the Middle East by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book Poquosin by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book Cicero's Philippics and Their Demosthenic Model by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book Integrating Schools in a Changing Society by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book Veiled Visions by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book Help Me to Find My People by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book Nuclear Apartheid by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book Contested Culture by Anderson Blanton
Cover of the book Reluctant Rebels by Anderson Blanton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy