Christianity, Presence, and the Problem of History

on two forms of Christian temporality in the Faroe Islands

Authors

• Jan Jensen Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30676/jfas.v45i2.90016

Abstract

In this article, I compare two forms of Christian temproality in the Faroe Islands. In so doing, I problematize some of the ways in which the idea of history has been applied theoretically to studies of churches and congregations in the country. As a remedy to what I see as the shortcomings of social theory when applied to Pentecostal temporality, I propose seeing the latter as a form of extended present. This is set in contrast to dispensationalism, which sees historical and theological time as occuring in a sequential manner. Dispensationalism in this context refers more than anything to the Plymouth Brethren, who make up the biggest group of non-Lutheran Christians in the Faroe Islands. Finally, I reflect on how temporality is shaped by operational goals that differ between similar, yet subtly different Christian practitioners.

Keywords: Faroe Islands, Pentecostalism, temporality, history, theology, presence, dispensationalism, orthodoxy