Login

Publications  •  Project Statistics

Glossary  •  Schools  •  Disciplines
People Search: 
   
Title/Abstract Search: 

Dissertation Information for J. Brett Sutton

NAME:
- J. Brett Sutton
- (Alias) Brett Sutton
- (Alias) Joel Brett Sutton

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Cultural Anthropology

SCHOOL:
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (USA) (1983)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Inspected

Title: SPIRIT AND POLITY IN A BLACK PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH

Abstract: "The black Primitive Baptists of this study are rural Southerners who differ from other American evangelical fundamentalists primarily in their commitment to the doctrine of predestination and limited atonement. Their attention is thus directed inwards, towards their own local communities of the elect, which members view as spiritual shelters from the natural or secular world. The first part of this study describes the doctrines and practices of the sacred community in terms of both the individual and the church. At both levels the essential element is not so much reflective understanding, moral self-control, or social activism, but ongoing direct communion with the spirit. For the individual, the gift of personal religious experience, particularly in the form of visions, is a sign of membership among the elect. The church, in turn, is the setting in which individuals experience and celebrate collectively that same spiritual gift. Primitive Baptists, who feel themselves personally powerless and unable to influence the flow of grace, cannot hope to attain a state of permanent communion with spirit; only the intermittent and unpredictable bestowing of grace unites the believer with God.

The second part of this work consists of a description of church government and an analysis of its ability to manage conflict. Primitive Baptist polity must be able to protect the basic doctrinal principles, preserve free individual access to spirit, and maintain a durable social union, all without sacrificing administrative simplicity and the principle of egalitarianism. When the peace of the church is disturbed, for whatever reason, church members appeal directly to divine authority and the biblical principles that reflect it. Since such principles are not subject to compromise, there can be no resolution of conflict that involves any sort of competition over power or adversarial argument. Such coflict undercuts the ecclesiastical unanimity of spirit that unites the community and must therefore either be suppressed or reduced to a more appropriate form. In general, the process of conflict resolution is not necessarily hazardous to church unity, but on the contrary can itself be a source of spiritual experience, a ritual affirmation of the power of spirit to transform humans and society."

MPACT Scores for J. Brett Sutton

A = 1
C = 8
A+C = 9
T = 1
G = 1
W = 1
TD = 1
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:17:24

Advisors and Advisees Graph