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THE ROAD TO CLARITY
CONTEMPORARY ANTHROPOLOGY OF RELIGION A series published with the Society for the Anthropology of Religion Robert Hefner, Series Editor Boston University Published by Palgrave Macmillan Body / Meaning / Healing By Thomas J. Csordas The Weight of the Past: Living with History in Mahajanga, Madagascar By Michael Lambek After the Rescue: Jewish Identity and Community in Contemporary Denmark By Andrew Buckser Empowering the Past, Confronting the Future By Andrew Strathern and Pamela J. Stewart Islam Obscured: The Rhetoric of Anthropological Representation Daniel Martin Varisco Islam, Memory, and Morality in Yemen: Ruling Families in Transition Gabrielle Vom Bruck A Peaceful Jihad: Negotiating Identity and Modernity in Muslim Java Ronald Lukens-Bull The Road to Clarity: Seventh-Day Adventism in Madagascar Eva Keller
The Road to Clarity Seventh-Day Adventism in Madagascar
Eva Keller
THE ROAD TO CLARITY
© Eva Keller, 2005. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 1–4039–7075–0 ISBN 1–4039–7076–9 (pbk.) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Keller, Eva. The road to clarity : Seventh-Day Adventism in Madagascar / Eva Keller. p. cm.—(Contemporary anthropology of religion) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 1–4039–7075–0—ISBN 1–4039–7076–9 (pbk.) 1. Seventh Day Adventists—Madagascar. 2. Madagascar—Church history. I. Title. II. Series. BX6153.4.M34K45 2005 286.7⬘691—dc22
2005048820
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: November 2005 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America.
In Memory of Bodo
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Contents
Note on the Pronunciation of Malagasy Words
ix
Glossary
x
Acknowledgments
xi
Foreword by Maurice Bloch
xiv
Introduction
1 Part I
The Setting
Chapter 1 People in Search of a Living
15
Chapter 2 Christianity and Seventh-Day Adventism in Madagascar
37
Chapter 3 International and Local Structure of the Adventist Church
58
Chapter 4 Profiles
68 Part II
The Road to Clarity
Chapter 5 Bible Study
85
Chapter 6 Knowledge of the Bible and Scientific Inquiry
117
Chapter 7 Text and Learning
136
viii
CONTENTS
Chapter 8 The Great Controversy
157
Chapter 9 The Construction and Rejection of Ancestral Religion
169
Chapter 10 Clarity
179 Part III
Uncertainties
Chapter 11 Making Choices
193
Chapter 12 Kinship
207
Conclusions
233
Notes
246
Bibliography
266
Index
280
Note on the Pronunciation of Malagasy Words
T
he dialect spoken in Maroantsetra and Sahameloka contains numerous velar nasals. Following other studies of coastal populations of Madagascar, among whom this sound is common,