Entre o crer e o comprar: identidade cristã na sociedade de consumo

Abstract

This paper is configured as a reflection about the intersection between the profound social changes coming from the expansion of the consumption dynamic and the meaning of the Christian identity and experience in this same reality. The different aspects of this relation and the complexities of this encounter are the study object of this thesis. For this, therefore, the research is structured into three different axes. In the first chapter, entitled Society of consumers, an exposition is presented of the historical roots of consumerism with its transformations, as well as its characteristics which mark current times and catalyze consumerism, such as: individualism, narcissism, hedonism. Besides this, the religious aspect of such a process is presented. The second chapter, Christian identity: construction and foundations, aims at expounded the main elements of a Christian vision about the human being, in which the concept of the image and likeness of God is explored, as well as the condition of sinner, the importance of relationships, the commandment of love and citizenship of the Kingdom of God. The theme of the formation of the Christian identity is also explored based on its community dimension. Upon analyzing these two topics, the contrast between the formation processes of the consumer identity and the constituent elements of the Christian identity is evident. Aiming at deepening the analysis of this relationship, in the third chapter, entitled Between believing and buying: assimilation and transformation, two possibilities of this relation between a consumer society and the Christian faith are presented with their diverse manifestations: assimilation, in which the ethos of consumption subverts the main characteristics of the living experience of Christianity and transformation, in which through community living one is able to resist and subvert the elements of a consumerist society. Various characteristics of the community aspect are presented, together with a concrete example of this expression in the living experience of the author in a Christian ministry called L’Abri Fellowship.