Babala and the Bible: Israel and a 'Messianic Church' in Papua New Guinea. Issue 3 (15th October 2015)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Babala and the Bible: Israel and a 'Messianic Church' in Papua New Guinea. Issue 3 (15th October 2015)
- Main Title:
- Babala and the Bible: Israel and a 'Messianic Church' in Papua New Guinea
- Authors:
- Dundon, Alison
- Abstract:
- Abstract: In early 2000s, a large group of Gogodala‐speaking villagers in the Western Province (WP) of Papua New Guinea, led by a man I refer to as Henry, claimed to be members of the Lost Tribes of Israel. Henry and his supporters arranged for the visit of Tudor Parfitt, then Director of the Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of London, to WP. In this paper, I suggest that an ongoing local interest in 'origins' has been framed in light of biblical teachings, and this more recent claim of a connection between the Gogodala ancestors and the Lost Tribes of Israel. I explore the generation of such ideas and claims through an examination of the significance of babala ('rules' or 'laws') as practices vital to the maintenance of village‐based life, and biblical teachings on behaviour and practice focused on by the local Unevangelised Fields Mission. In this context, I explore the implications of the conjuncture of babala and the Bible, and the visits by Parfitt and his team, through the recent development of a 'Messianic Church' in Balimo with explicit forms of worship associated with Judaism.
- Is Part Of:
- Oceania. Volume 85:Issue 3(2015:Nov.)
- Journal:
- Oceania
- Issue:
- Volume 85:Issue 3(2015:Nov.)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 85, Issue 3 (2015)
- Year:
- 2015
- Volume:
- 85
- Issue:
- 3
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2015-0085-0003-0000
- Page Start:
- 327
- Page End:
- 341
- Publication Date:
- 2015-10-15
- Subjects:
- Christianity -- Israel -- Papua New Guinea -- Bible -- Lost Tribes
Ethnology -- Periodicals
Ethnology -- Oceania -- Periodicals
Oceania -- Civilization -- Periodicals
919 - Journal URLs:
- http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/1761006.html ↗
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1834-4461 ↗
http://www.jstor.org/journals/00298077.html ↗
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1002/ocea.5099 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0029-8077
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 6231.400000
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 454.xml