Présentation de la recherche
Cette étude a pour but de comprendre la manière de procéder de croyants charismatiques pour concilier l'inconciliable. A savoir, croire en un Dieu guérisseur et traverser une période de maladie ou de souffrance. Nous allons tenter de définir comment des chrétiens - croyant en un Dieu guérisseur - procèdent pour justifier leur statut au sein de la communauté tout en admettant vivre une période de souffrance. Le travail s'attachera à faire une analyse qualitative de récits pour dégager les diverses procédures qui permettent aux fidèles de se présenter comme souffrant, sans pour autant rompre avec le groupe d'appartenance et à la croyance.
Direction : Prof. Jörg Stolz
Chercheur : Christophe Monnot
English
From the pit to the pulpit
A Study on testimonies of suffering in an evangelical community
Abstract:
How can charismatic believers speak about their suffering to religious peers when charismatic groups are overly influenced by the idea that the righteous are blessed by well being and health? This study tries to understand this issue through the analysis of four testimonies given by sufferers during an evangelical worship service. The specificity of the research is its focus on the individuals' statements expressing themselves in a usual context. Interactions analysis concepts applied to each speaker have demonstrated that each of them, in the absence of healing, resorted to an explanatory word attributed to the divine being. Instead of healing, God gave an alternative miracle: a specific word explaining the situation. Not only did this message give meaning to their narrative but it also allowed them to reverse their position. By demonstrating the significance of their trials, the speakers were able to explain the reasons for the difficulties encountered by the gathering. From a stigmatised or discredited condition they arrived at an authoritative charismatic status, which allowed them to teach and explain the reasons of suffering to the congregation. This status improvement was complete when the pastor, in his authoritative position, asked them to pray for the sick at the end of the service. The movement of twenty people gathering in front of the church to receive prayer demonstrates that not only does the community agree with the meaning transmitted through the testimonies but it also attests to the recognition of the new charismatic status whereby each one can greet the healing anointing. For the first time, this study reveals the believers' performance behind the curtain of the well-known idea of "healing centrality" in Pentecostal theology. In this particular worship service, if the key features of testimonies and healing prayers are effective, they are led by people who do not normally have access to the pulpit usually devoted to charismatic figures such as pastors, evangelists or healing ministers.
