Strangers in a Familiar Land
A Phenomenological Study on Marginal Christian Identity
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2020
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Publisher's Description
Throughout history, many Christians have existed on the margins of society; deviants and strangers in lands they call home. To survive, they have had to construct alternate identities that not only make sense of their religious experiences and beliefs but also equip them to successfully negotiate their social worlds. In Thailand, a nation where social identities are thoroughly intertwined with Buddhist religious adherence, Christians must come to terms with such a marginalized existence. By leaving Buddhism and adopting what is considered a foreign faith, Christian converts become deviants to "normal" Thai identity and belonging. In response, they have discovered creative solutions for traversing this complex terrain of marginalization. This book presents a deep exploration of the phenomenon of marginalization as experienced by Thai Christian converts. In it, readers will follow participants through the heights of transformative religious experience, the lows of severe social displacement, the tensions of managing two disparate lifeworlds and two conflicting selves, and the comfort and joy of finding a new place to call home. In the end, the reader will gain deep insight into what it is like to successfully navigate a minority religious identity on the margins of society.
Endorsements (4)
“In this volume of welcome substance, the pantheon of theorists of phenomenology is related with clarity to Christian identity formation amongst Thai converts. With a widely international scope in theoretical reflection and with localized Thai application in great qualitative depth, this study deserves warm appreciation in that context as much as in global missiological circles.”
“This volume is a major contribution to the growing field of conversion studies in a non-Western world, where religious conversion is considered an act of disloyalty to the family, betrayal of one’s community, and anti-national. Dr. Blumenstock shows that conversion is not just spiritual, but a social-psychological process triggered by a vertical experience with the divine.”
“In the new mission context, the Global South is Christianizing and the West is paganizing. Amid the complexity, we need missiological eyes to observe the Spirit’s movements. Blumenstock’s Strangers in a Familiar Land tracks what mission looks like from the inside, by examining how Thai Buddhist converts to the Christian faith renegotiate their identity to sustain their new faith in their old context.”
“A fascinating invitation to understand the lived experience of Thai Buddhists when they navigate a religious change to Christianity. . . . The result is an ‘expansive journey’ offering invaluable missiological and pastoral implications for Christian workers in Thailand and elsewhere.”
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