Overview

"This interdisciplinary study of the Nuer prophets from the mid-19th century to the present day decribes their development of a new idiom of prophecy, and examines their role in maintaining peace between different peoples in the Southern Sudan and their continuing influence in the current Sudanese War. Prophets first emerged as significant figures among the Nuer in the 19th century. They fashioned the religious idiom of prophecy from a range of spiritual ideas, and enunciated the social principles which broadened and sustained a moral community across political and ethnic boundaries. Douglas Johnson argues that, contrary to the standard anthropological interpretation, the major prophets' lasting contribution was their vision of peace, not their role in war. This vision is particularly relevant today. The book concludes with a detailed discussion of events in the Sudan since independence in 1956, describing how modern Nuer and many other Southern Sudanese, still find the message of the 19th-century prophets relevant to their experiences in the current civil war. Douglas Johnson is the editor of ""The Ecology of Survival: Case Studies from Northeast African History"" (with D.M. Anderson), ""Vernacular Christianity: Essays on the Social Anthropology of Religion"" and ""Prophets and Prophecy in Eastern African History"" (with D.M. Anderson and James Currey)."

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9780198279075

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