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Bodies in “Heathen” Places: Regulating Marriage without a State
Author(s) -
Faull Katherine M.,
Petterson Christina
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of religious history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.117
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1467-9809
pISSN - 0022-4227
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9809.12586
Subject(s) - state (computer science) , mindset , context (archaeology) , law , political science , sociology , statement (logic) , human sexuality , history , philosophy , epistemology , archaeology , mathematics , algorithm
In 1787 Bishop in the Moravian Church August Spangenberg drew up a set of Instructions and an official statement ( Gutachten ) on the problem of marriage within the “Heathen” congregations. Alarming reports from the missionaries revealed that lack of civic laws, a particular mindset cultivated by said laws, and a well‐organised state meant that the sexuality of non‐European congregants could not be regulated and ordered. The present article analyses the seemingly coherent European context, which Spangenberg uses as a contrast to the unruly native communities in the first part of the Gutachten and examines what he emphasises as the parameters within which proper marriage regulation can take place. Given the pre‐Revolution date, and the current state of the state at this point in history, the Gutachten could give us valuable insights into the process of the formation of the state and its fundamental institutions.