Discernment of Spirits in Christian peripheries: pacts, harm and joy among evangelical Indians from Argentinian Chaco

Abstract

The discernment of spirits has been throughout history a key mechanism to control the access to charisma. Its development has been closely linked to the changes in the social structure of churches. That is why, we will seek to provide new perspectives on this device, analyzing it in the context of Christian peripheries. Specifically, we will focus our analysis on mocoví aboriginal evangelical churches from the Southwest of Chaco province in Argentina. We will approach these topics by analyzing the social structure of these churches; their ideas about the relationship with non-human powers of the sacred; the management of health and disease and their cult’s experience.