Focusing on mobility, religion, and belonging, the volume contributes to transatlantic anthropology and history by bringing together religion, cultural heritage and placemaking in the Atlantic world. The entanglements of these domains are ethnographically scrutinized to perceive the connections and disconnections of specific places which, despite a common history, are today very different in terms of secular regimes and the presence of religion in the public sphere. Ideally suited to a variety of scholars and students in different fields, Atlantic Perspectives will lead to new debates and conversations throughout the fields of anthropology, religion and history.

This book deals with the perennial tensions between ethnic groups and the modern nation-state and does so from the perspective of a leading Mexican anthropologist with deep and long experience in these matters. As such, it is both a superb introduction to the basic issues and a presentation of the author's own original contributions. The appearance of this book in English gives North American readers access to these important and political currents in Latin American anthropology and political economy. It is required reading for anyone wishing to understand the current recrudescence of indigenous peoples at this moment in history?when conventional wisdom had predicted its demise.

The remarkable true story of how one Peruvian carpenter led hundreds of Christians to Judaism, sparking a pilgrimage from the Andes to Israel and inspiring a wave of emerging Latin American Jewish communities “If Gabriel García Márquez had written the Old Testament, it might read like Graciela Mochkofsky's staggering true account of a humble Peruvian carpenter's spiritual odyssey from a shack in the Andes, via the Amazon, to the Promised Land of Israel with a community of devoted followers." —Judith Thurman, award-winning author of Isak Dinesen Segundo Villanueva was born in 1927 in a tiny farming village perched in the Andes; when he was seventeen, his father was murdered and Segundo was left with little more than a Bible as his inheritance. This Bible launched Segundo on a lifelong obsession to find the true message of God contained in its pages. He found himself looking for answers outside the Catholic Church, whose hierarchy and colonial roots embodied the gaping social and racial inequities of Peruvian society. Over years of religious study, Segundo explored various Protestant sects and founded his own religious community in the Amazon jungle before discovering a version of Judaism he pieced together independently from his readings of the Old Testament. His makeshift synagogue began to draw in crowds of fervent believers, seeking a faith that truly served their needs. Then, in a series of extraordinary events, politically motivated Israeli rabbis converted the community to Orthodox Judaism and resettled them on the West Bank. Segundo’s incredible journey made him an unlikely pioneer for a new kind of Jewish faith, one that is now attracting masses of impoverished people across Latin America. Through detailed reporting and a deep understanding of religious and cultural history, Graciela Mochkofsky documents this unprecedented and momentous chapter in the history of modern religion. This is a moving and fascinating story of faith and the search for dignity and meaning.

Debe ser desconcertante para muchos cristianos que maestros y predicadores que usan la misma Biblia propongan tantas diferentes interpretaciones y, en especial, aplicaciones de la Palabra de Dios. Una de las principales razones para esta confusión es su manejo de la palabra “pacto”, que es tan fundamental en la Biblia. Las dos preguntas clave son: ¿cuántos pactos ha hecho Dios con los seres humanos? y ¿cuántos de estos se aplican a los cristianos hoy? Hay quienes dicen que hay un solo pacto (“el pacto de gracia”) que recorre toda la Biblia, aunque podrían agregar un segundo pacto (“un pacto de obras”) que se aplicó solo a Adán en el Edén. La mayoría piensa que hay dos (el “antiguo” y el “nuevo”), que corresponden al Antiguo y al Nuevo “Testamento” (un sinónimo de “pacto”). Otros afirman haber encontrado siete (aunque suelen llamarlos “dispensaciones”). Este autor cree que hay cinco que son básicos para la historia de nuestra redención: noético, abrahámico, mosaico, davídico y mesiánico. Solo uno de estos es “antiguo” y, por lo tanto, obsoleto; solo uno es “nuevo”, pero respalda los otros tres. Con esta perspectiva podemos “interpretar rectamente la palabra de verdad” (2 Timoteo 2:15). ¡Vea si está de acuerdo!David Pawson tiene un ministerio de enseñanza mundial, especialmente para líderes de iglesia. Muchos lo conocen a través de programas de radiodifusión cristianos, y es autor de una gran cantidad de libros.