depth. As for me, I "accepted Christ"
at the age of five, and though my stay technically conforms to the
model (only in Thailand have I ever heard an evangelical question
the validity of my conversion), I later learned that in many religious
traditions (both Christian and non-Christian) I would have been
considered too young to be expected to make such a decision.
There is
therefore a great deal of empirical variation around the modal
evangelical story of a once-for-all life-changing experience ideally
modeled on the Acts Chapter 9 story of Jesus' sudden encounter
with Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus. Intriguingly, when I began
studying conversion as an academic pursuit, I found that the secular
authors made some of the same assumptions about conversion that
evangelical preachers did. The scholarly literature did not require
converts to name dates and times, and it did not voice the theology
of spiritual rebirth that underlies the evangelical model, but
it did, for the most part, assume that conversion was about personal
and cultural transformation. One of the leading scholars of conversion
defines it as "a total transformation of the person"
that strikes "to the root of the human predicament"
(Rambo 1993:xii). Others have defined it as "a radical reorganization
of identity, meaning, life" (Travisano 1970:594), "the
process of changing a sense of root reality" (Heirich 1977:674),
a "deliberate turning" (Nock 1933:7), and a process
"of self-transformation and commitment" (Stromberg 1993:ix).
Similar assumptions underlie the claim, couched in terms of different
language and issues, that "conversion is emphatically intransitive,
a one-way street" that functions as a "general trope
for both translation and appropriation, a sign of…epistemological
violence" (Dirks 1996:121) and Talal Asad’s remark
that Christian conversion is something that happens to "subjects"
who passively allow themselves to be subjected to Western religion
"as a consequence of forces beyond their control" (1996:263,
265). These latter statements would certainly be challenged by
most converts, as they are by many other scholars (for example,
Jolly 1996, Meyer 1996, Sanneh 2003). But the assumption of conversion
as psychologically transformative, as a radical turning point,
is an assumption that remains strong, despite the evidence of
socially and historically significant conversion movements that
were more calculated than they were emotionally or cognitively
transformative (for example, Kammerer 1990, Kipp 1995). Yet work
with archival materials has shown that even in Christianity the
norm of conversion as a personally transformative event to be
recounted in personal stories
19
is a relatively recent development (Pollman 1996). And work on new
religious movements in North America has brought to scholarly awareness
a phenomenon surely familiar to many who work with converts and
congregations, the fact that a large proportion of converts eventually
fall away (Balch 1985, Richardson 1980).
Clearly,
there is a variety of ways that people become Christians, and
I do not mean to imply that this variety has been entirely overlooked.
Whereas some students of Christianity and other converting movements
have focused on personally transformative crises (Allison 1969,
James 1985 [1902], Lofland and Stark 1965, Stromberg 1993), others
have explained the growth of religious movements in terms of interpersonal
networking effects (Lofland 1977, Lofland and Stark 1965) and
other factors. Indeed, so diverse has been the array of religious
options and movements in North America since the 1960s that some
scholars of this diversity have abandoned the very notion of a
modal type of conversion around which the other types must revolve.
One of the clearest presentations highlighting the diverse styles
of religious change is the set of six conversion "motifs"
suggested by Lofland and Skonovd (1981). A similar recognition,
though somewhat less explicit, can be found in Rambo’s (1993)
model of interactive webs of conversion processes (which he, unfortunately,
refers to as "stages").
Readers interested
in additional work on (non-Thai) conversion typologies are urged
to look up Lofland and Skonovd’s 1981 article on "conversion
motifs." Also useful is Richardson’s 1980 article on
"conversion careers." Though it does not deal directly
with typology, it presents, fairly directly, the notion that a
person’s personal and religious identity is constantly in
process, an idea that parallels parts of the following discussion.
As for readers who would like to study the broader literature
on religious conversion, they would do well to start with the
books written or edited by Buckser and Glazier (2003), Rambo (1993),
and (though some of the articles get a bit tendentious) van der
Veer (1996).
Anybody who
listens carefully to the stories that people tell about their
conversions is sure to find a great variety of patterns and themes
in those stories. This is especially the case in Thailand concerning
conversions to Christianity from other religious backgrounds such
as Buddhism. Whereas North American evangelicals who
20
convert from less devoted commitments to more devoted ones can be
expected to conform more or less to the norm (though, as I noted
at the outset, even many North Americans conform more in their affirmations
than in their personal experience), such is less likely among Thai
who converted from Buddhism to Christianity. No matter how hard
they may try to make their stories conform to the evangelical ideal
(and many of them try very hard to do so), their actual experience
reveals a variety of paths and patterns on the journey into Christian
churches.
That is
what I found in 1990 when I interviewed several dozen students
in and near Bangkok who had been born in Buddhist families, converted
to Christianity, and were now training for lay or professional
Christian ministry. The process of collecting their conversion
stories was a simple one. I obtained the permission of school
administrators to interview these students, and in most cases
the administrators not only gave permission but also provided
the interview space and scheduled the order of interviews. In
the interview sessions I explained that I was studying conversion
and invited the students to tell their conversion stories however
they wanted to tell them, though I also conversed with them when
I heard something that I thought especially interesting or needing
clarification.
The interpretation
of these stories was influenced by my four years of prior experience
living and working in Thai evangelical churches. Readers interested
in the larger set of discussions arising from this material should
consult my Ph.D. thesis (Zehner 2003).[1]
The remainder of the present article shares a typology of conversions
that I derived from the stories and presented in the second half
of the third chapter of the dissertation. Readers are warned that
the typology is not meant to be comprehensive. I do not expect
that it can be tied explicitly to any broader ideological grid
or theory, nor should it be used as a means of classify converts
or their conversions, as most converts’ stories showed features
of more than one type. In generating the types, I simply parsed
out the patterns I noticed in the stories. Another writer working
with this or a different set of stories would likely notice different
patterns. I have no problem with that. The best use of this material
is not to pigeonhole people or their experiences but rather to
spark greater creativity in thinking about religious contact and
personal change.
21
In the following
typology I give special attention to the speed of movement into
Christianity, the sequence of communal participation versus inner
conviction (that is, which came first), the degree of experimentation
or quest in the conversions, and the role of factors interpersonal
processes. While the typology is meant to be descriptive rather
than explanatory, some of the categories also take overt motivations
into account. There are six main categories and a seventh combination
category.
1. Gradual Conversions
For some
converts, the process of exploration and conviction was so gradual
that it was impossible to point to any particular moment when
they became a Christian. These people tended to talk about the
results of the process rather than identifying a turning point
to belief. Several of these informants had attended church over
an extended period, asking questions about Christian faith and
practice. As one of them put it, she believed because in the end
she found answers to many of her questions. Another said that
she eventually found that she "could no longer deny God."
The tellers of these kinds of stories had trouble providing specifics,
and this difficulty suggests that much of their decision-making
process was subconscious. For these people, Christian commitment
emerged gradually out of the fog. These converts are usually much
better at describing the beginning of their exploration of Christianity
than they are at articulating how and why they switched from exploration
to commitment. This group might be called "seekers,"
people who attended church, got to know Christians, and asked
questions. These people typically used a combination of intellectual
and social modes of entry. Their conversions usually focused on
ideas and were mediated by relational ties, but, as I said, lacked
clearly marked points of commitment. Though most of these informants
probably prayed prayers of conversion, those prayers are not central
to their stories.
2. "Experimental" Conversions
A second,
more experiential kind of conversion might be called "experimental."
Through their contacts with Christians, these converts learned
of the Christian teachings about the power of God. They then tested
the Christians’ teachings by seeing if the power of God
would apply in their own cases. Some of
22
these experimenters tested by praying for things that they considered
unlikely. One individual prayed that two family members who never
spoke to each other would become reconciled. Another prayed for
help in his studies. Yet others prayed about financial problems.
Other experimenters prayed for change in their own personalities,
for example praying that they would be able to overcome particular
vices or that they would start to care more for other people. Some
members of this second group were actively testing, while others
were not consciously praying for these changes but were impressed
when they noticed the changes occurring over time. One such passive
tester noted her addiction to sniffing paint thinner had gone away,
while another passive tester came to consider it the grace of God
that she had been able to continue pursuing her studies.
Like the
seekers, most experimenters were already in contact with Christian
communities, and most could say why they began their experiments.
While the passive experimenters were able to say what event grabbed
their attention, the active ones usually could not. The active
testers seemed instead to have experimented continually until
convinced, just as the seekers asked questions until convinced.
And both active and passive experimenters did their testing while
in regular contact with Christian communities. For active experimenters
it was important not to convert until they had tested Christianity’s
claims, and they spoke of this testing as thot laung,
a phrase often used when talking of scientific experiments done
in a lab or when trying out a sample of a new product. I had the
impression that this explicit "testing" attitude was
more common in Thailand than in the United States. It may be influenced
by the Buddha’s famous dictum to test all teachings, including
his own, instead of taking things on faith. Active experimenters
engaged in Christian practices specifically to see if they would
work as advertised, and only if the practices worked did the experimenters
become committed Christians. The formal ritual of rap chuea
(the prayer of "accepting Christ as Savior") could happen
at any point in this process, but subjectively it was not felt
to be the main event in the conversion, for, subjectively, the
testing was itself the conversion process. The results were not
necessarily psychologically transformative in themselves, but
they did provide the basis for a decision.
3. "Casual" or "Drifting" Conversions
23
A third conversion
type might be called "casual conversions" or "drifting
conversions," in that these converts had already been drifting
in and out of the Christian community over time, and consequently,
though they were fully committed at the time of interview, they
might be expected to drift away again in the future. Of course,
it is possible that any convert might someday drift away; impermanent
conversions are quite common. But in the cases of which I speak
the converts had already drifted in and out of churches at least
once. In some cases the earlier commitments were so real and their
participations in Christian community so intense that the earlier
commitment would have been considered a genuine conversion at
the time, and converts reporting these histories often struggled
to decide which conversion was genuine. Some treated their first
conversions as genuine, but others did not. Whatever the case,
convert claims that on the earlier occasions they had not "really
believed" need not be taken at face value. An experienced
missionary once told me he had noticed Thai young people rotating
among a series of Christian and non-Christian religious groups.
Each time they rejoined the Christian community, these young people
seemed to join at a new level of maturity. None of my Thai informants
fit this pattern exactly; when leaving the church they seemed
to drop out of organized religious practice entirely. But the
notion of rejoining at a new level of maturity may have validity,
as each reentry into the Christian community draws on earlier
life experiences. Nevertheless, this conversion type deviates
from the modal expectation of a once-for-all-time conversion even
more than do the first two (despite the informants’ attempts
to make their experience fit the punctiliar model). Participation
in the Christian community may bring psychological satisfactions
for a time, and for that period the individual may indeed seem
to have been transformed. But then the commitment passes until
the cycle is repeated later.
4. "Emotional" Conversions
A fourth
type might be called "emotional conversion." The convert
has an emotional experience, often unexpected, that gives a special
personal importance to the transition to Christianity. One person
unexpectedly broke down in tears as she was praying the conversion
prayer suggested in a correspondence course. Another said she
had "seen Jesus" (actually, she thought she had heard
Jesus calling her), and at that moment she felt a flood of emotional
experiences that convinced her that Jesus was alive and Christian
teaching was true. Several said they had unexpectedly spoken in
24
tongues at Christian revival meetings, events that are usually accompanied
by emotional excitement.
Not all
emotional experiences lead directly to conversion. For example,
several informants said they had spoken in tongues repeatedly
(always at Christian meetings) before formally deciding to convert.
I suspect this happened not only because the experience was too
new for them to commit to Christianity or even be aware of the
meanings that Christians read into tongues-speaking, but also
because the experiences were open to multiple interpretations
and reinterpretations. Consequently, emotional experiences leading
directly to conversion almost always happened when the convert
was already in a relationship with one or more Christian friends
with whom he or she was discussing Christianity. In several cases
the emotion seemed to be an expression of the excitement of appropriating
Christian teaching at a new level, while at the same time it justified
that decision subjectively.
5. Social Conversions
A fifth type
might be called "social conversion." These social conversions
were consciously sparked by relationships with Christians, and
were often motivated by respect for them or for the way they acted.
Several of my informants reported converting after moving to live
with older siblings who were Christians. Others told me of Christian
families who gave them shelter from conflicted home situations.
These close relations with Christian social superiors playing
a parental role appeared more frequently than I expected. Similar
dynamics happened within biological families, however. When a
series of family members entered the church successively, it was
usually by a process of the younger ones following their elders.
This was not exclusively the case, though, as there were reports
of parents converting several years after their children had done
so. Even so, younger following older was the most common pattern.
5.1.
Krengjai Conversions
Two subtypes
of social conversion merit special attention. One was the krengjai
conversion. Krengjai is a quintessentially Thai term
meaning to have consideration for the other person’s feelings.
In krengjai conversions people pray conversion prayers
out of respect for the feelings of the people who are trying to
25
convert them. One informant referred to this phenomenon as "acting
to encourage the speaker." Most of these
krengjai
conversions are conversions in name only. But occasionally they
lead to more serious commitment.
For one of
my informants, the krengjai conversion was truly an act
of respect, but it was also more than lip service. This informant
had been performing for several months in a Christian musical
troupe. When the missionary who had organized the troupe encouraged
him to convert, the informant did so after just a few minutes’
discussion, acting, he said, mostly out of krengjai for
the missionary who was witnessing to him. However, the informant
had also decided to be serious about the conversion. He stopped
paying respects to the supernatural powers his family had once
respected, and he decided to act in every way as a Christian.
The informant felt that God honored his conversion by answering
his prayers, and he solidified his commitment in the course of
his practice.
5.2.
Quasi-adoption Effects
Another type
of social conversion was conversion as a counterpart of quasi-adoption
arrangements. In Thailand it is common for children to move back
and forth among families. Some may live with a nanny while the
parents work. Some may stay with a relative when attending school.
In still other cases, a child may stay with another family because
the biological family can’t or won’t provide proper
care. (These quasi-adoptions are almost never formalized legally.)
And sometimes an older sibling will take in a younger sibling
in hopes of correcting the sibling’s behavior or with the
intent of providing a warmer family environment. Sometimes these
new living situations provided relationships that were deeply
meaningful to the person taken in, especially if the new host
(or hostess) was respected and was providing safety. Several informants
reported converting only a few weeks or months after starting
to live with such people who were Christians. In some cases these
older Christians were the informants’ brothers or sisters.
In another case a student who was suffering at home was invited
to live with her Christian schoolteacher. In yet another case,
a young woman was given shelter by a Christian woman after an
older sister had kicked her out of the house in the middle of
the night. This last example helps illustrate the potential effect
of these relationships. The informant said the Christian woman
was phikan, meaning she was handicapped or physically
deformed.
26
At that time, handicaps tended to evoke pity, and they could seriously
reduce social respect. Consequently, the informant initially had
little regard for her hostess. Yet over time she became impressed
that this woman, whom she did not love, continued to show love to
her, and that realization opened her heart to considering Christianity.
6. Observation of Christians
A sixth
and widely cited type, closely related to social conversion, centered
on observation of Christians, usually over time. This type divides
into several subtypes.
6.1.
General Attraction
Several
converts spoke highly of the personality or behavior of Christians
they had known. One of them spoke fondly of a Christian evangelist
who had been a family friend for many years. Eventually the informant
began desiring a life like his, as the evangelist’s life
seemed to be full of peace and happiness. Another informant was
moved by the attention shown her by a couple of young female missionaries.
Others said they were impressed when they noticed Christians having
fun together, especially since they did so without resorting to
alcohol, and without using rough language among themselves. Yet
another was impressed by the mother of a Christian roommate he
had in college. When visiting her home on school break, he was
impressed that she avoided harsh words when speaking with her
children. In all these cases, the informants claimed that the
attitudes they observed in Christians were different from what
they had observed elsewhere.
6.2.
Observing the Effects of Conversion
When a close
relative converts, the change in behavior sometimes has especially
striking effects. One informant said he was stunned when visiting
an older brother who had become a Christian; not only had the
brother given up his vices, but in general he had also acquired
a more settled character. The informant could see that his brother’s
life was good, and he wanted some of that. Another informant was
impressed simply by the stubbornness with which her older sister
remained committed to her new faith despite opposition from her
family. The sister spoke of peace, and it showed in her. Yet another
informant said his older sister had begun treating other family
members better. Whereas the sister used to get angry easily, she
was now much easier to get along with. Another person noted that
her mother had
27
taken the breakup of her marriage very hard, but she seemed to
become more settled after she became a Christian. Observations
such as these were most salient for informants who were in their
teens or older. Conversions that happened when the informants
where younger than this were less likely to have a deep impact.
In such cases, the children might follow their parents’
lead in converting, but upon reflection did not consider it deeply
meaningful. Informants called this form of Christianity chuea
tam, that is, following the parents’ lead without truly
appropriating the faith for themselves. It was not until they
were young adults that these informants made conversion decisions
that they considered truly their own.
6.3.
Appreciating Treatment by Christians
Several informants
said that they converted because they were simply happy with the
way they were treated by Christians. Often these feelings came
most to the fore when the informant was making a first visit to
a Christian meeting. One informant, who had attended a Christian
house meeting, said he was impressed that the other participants
went out of their way to look after him, bringing him fruit and
drinking water. I had considered this kind of hospitality to be
general Thai custom, but the informant said he was surprised that
they would do this for a stranger, and he felt warmed in his heart.
Another informant was impressed by a Thai pastor who persisted
in offering to take the informant to a Christian institution that
would help him to overcome his heroin addiction. The informant
had essentially been abandoned to his own devices when he was
aged thirteen, losing contact even with his brothers and sisters.
Though he was not sure he could or even wanted to abandon his
heroin addiction, he was impressed simply that this stranger showed
interest. Others spoke of the "love and warmth" and
the smiles bestowed on them by Christians, especially at Christian
meetings. Many spoke of Christians being nice (di) toward
them. Many also spoke of the "love" of Christians. It
was often not clear what they meant by "love," but in
general they seemed to be praising Christians for showing personal
interest in themselves. Some also praised the approachability
of older Christians, along with their availability for counseling
and for answering questions. Several individuals mentioned feeling
accepted in Christian settings, a consideration that was especially
important for young people who had recently arrived from the provinces
or who held low-status jobs.
28
6.4.
Christians’ Approachability for Counseling
Christians’
availability for personal counseling was a major issue in several
of the conversion stories I collected. Several people praised
the approachability of older Christians, especially pastors, pastors’
wives, and elders who made themselves available for advice and
emotional comfort. [2] In a
way, these individuals were merely acting out the normal expectations
entailed for a person in their position, playing a benevolent,
nurturing role toward their social inferiors. The informants found
these people’s behavior impressive and comforting nonetheless,
and seemed to find the treatment unexpected. Sometimes informants
were impressed at the persistence with which peers injected God
into conversations. While many nonconverts might be repelled by
such persistence, the people who eventually converted gave these
people credit, first, for caring enough to listen and, second,
for offering a means of hope.
7. Combinations of Types
The several
conversion types I have just outlined rarely appear alone in the
conversion stories. For example, an informant’s story may
show the importance of a relationship with a particular person
while claiming that the conversion was motivated entirely by intellectual
arguments. Or a person’s initial interest in Christianity
may have been sparked by observing a change in a family member,
while in the course of conversion the person also attended church
and raised cognitive and theological questions. Or a person may
have had a sudden, emotional conversion that was preceded by extended
discussion with Christian friends. The main purpose of detailing
the conversion types at this point has been not to separate my
informants into logical pigeonholes, but simply to draw attention
to the fact that they experienced a variety of styles of conversion,
while also indicating some additional points of attraction.
Asking people
how they converted is a lot like asking people how they fell in
love or how they developed their political perspective. They can
tell stories, sometimes with great detail, conviction, and relish.
But as for being able to name the precise moment when
they, in their innermost being, went from "out of love"
to "in
29
love" (or Republican to Democrat, or Buddhist to Christian),
well, that’s pretty rare. For evangelicals, this mismatch
between experience and the theologically rooted ideal may always
create tensions. One way around those tensions is to develop a more
ambiguous, less late-twentieth-century model for understanding the
relevant scriptures. Instead of understanding conversion in the
black-and-white, is-or-is-not, ones-versus-zeros model of a computer
program or legal proceeding or citizenship application, evangelicals
might draw on earlier Christian (indeed, proto-evangelical) models
such as a journey (consider Bunyan’s
Pilgrim’s Progress)
or of developing a mystic’s concern for the "practice
of the presence of God" (to pick a metaphor favored among evangelicals)
or a concern focused more on where one is going than on where one
is or on how or when one got there.
In practice,
many evangelicals think in precisely the ways I have just suggested.
But they are also concerned with points of initiation into the
faith, with stories of spiritual "birth" (or "adoption,"
to use another biblical term), with the personal assurance of
knowing how and when one "truly believed" and truly
became part of the family of God. Though I do not have the space
to detail my reasons here, I suspect this enduring evangelical
concern about precise thresholds of belief is rooted not only
in theology but also in psychological needs for tangible assurances
of belongingness, a need that we all share to some extent.
As for outreach
strategies and research programs, the implication of the highly
variegated typology I have outlined is to avoid putting all your
conceptual or institutional eggs in the same basket. This article
has dealt just with patterns of conversion, and only peripherally
with motives. But suffice it to say that the motives are as diverse
as the patterns. People enter Christianity (and Islam and Buddhism)
via a variety of routes, and many of those routes are difficult
to program by direct applications of resources (how, after all,
can an "experimental" Christian be induced to speed
the experimentation process?). As with any other kind of appeal,
people are typically drawn to a particular new religion or church
by a variety of contacts. A tract here (perhaps rejected as "ridiculous"),
a Bible passage there, a friendship there, an experimental church
membership somewhere else, here an argument, there a long-term
friendship – the journey is hardly a straightforward path.
An inexplicable desire to start searching, perhaps even (as one
convert reported) a never-quite-understood
30
fascination with the shape of the cross seen on churches she
never bothered to enter – these too have been reported as
contributing to the journey. The best an outreach-minded congregation
can do is to have the welcome mat out, and, at a minimum, be actively
responsive as people express their curiosity about Christianity
and their desire for contact with caring people – though,
of course, it hardly hurts to advertise as well.
Readers
interested in learning more about scholarship on conversion can
consult the books and articles listed in the references. Particularly
good places to start include Rambo’s (1993) review of the
sociological and psychological literature (a review focused mostly
on North America), Buckser and Glazier’s (2003) collection
of articles by anthropologists, and van der Veer’s (1996)
collection of articles by anthropologists and other scholars oriented
to the concerns of postcolonial scholarship. Not only do these
three sources provide a range of perspectives, but the literature
cited in their bibliographies will lead readers still deeper into
the scholarly discussions to date.
[1]
Copies of the dissertation should be available (for a fee) from
University Microfilms, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan,
USA, 48106 (800-521-0600, www.umi.com).
Copies have also been placed in Thailand at Payap University’s
archives and at the library of Bangkok Bible College.
[2]
Elders are lay people who were part of the church’s formal
leadership corps. Some of them also acted as de facto pastors.
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| 196 |
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31
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