“Brothers in Christ”, “mother in faith”, and “spiritual father”: God’s paternity and human kinship

Abstract:

This article discusses the decisive character of the divine presence for the creation of new brotherhoods, motherhoods and fatherhoods in a group of Christians in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The description of the covenant constituted with God, Creator of everything, is the guiding thread of analysis, which problematizes its reverberations in human kinship. This leads to discuss how religion and kinship are usually analytically juxtaposed, that is, through individual, autonomous choice, taken as a general aspect of both “spiritual life” and kinship relations in our world. I will argue, in contrast, that the covenant, in addition to fostering other bonds, is the prime mover of what is generally termed “deliverance”.

Keywords:
religion; kinship; deliverance; autonomy; covenant.