Conclusions

This concluding chapter examines how spirit possession appears in early Christian texts, drawing on anthropological insights. It argues that the spirits involved in possession should be taken seriously as real entities, not merely as mythical or metaphorical representations, as earlier studies often did. This approach raises complex questions about ontology and agency, because attributing agency to nonhuman entities conflicts with the modern paradigm that only autonomous human individuals possess agency.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This concluding chapter illustrates some of the major ways in which a critical aspect of spirit possession can emerge in texts of the early Christ movement. It does so with the help of appropriate insights drawn from anthropological literature. A starting point here is the effort to treat the “spirits” involved in cases of possession seriously and not merely as mythical and metaphorical representations, as several earlier studies have done. Such a move naturally raises a host of complex questions concerning notions of ontology and agency. After all, the latter's allocation to nonhuman entities does collide with the established modern paradigm of the autonomous human individual as the only rightful possessor of agency.