Gospel music

Jesus desires that we should be set apart to a holy way of life, and then “sent into the [evil] world [system in opposition to God established by Satan]”  to carry out God’s plan in spreading the good news of redemption to those who oppose and hate Him (John 17:17 - 18).

Christian performing artists are to communicate God’s Word amid opposition from the world’s sin, its values, and its goals e.g., “cash rules everything, get drunk, have random sex, and party till you drop."

Using qualitative research methods and social movement theory, I explored the significance of gospel music to the Forward Together Moral Movement in North Carolina and the meanings the singers who perform the music apply to their roles and contributions. Five themes emerged from interviews with three gospel singers, field observations, and document/media analyses concerning the role of gospel music in the moral movement: intentionality, collective identity, music as hope, music as strength, and music as education. The study makes several contributions to the field of cultural studies. First, the singers provide a firsthand perspective to the literature on social movements. First-person narratives of gospel singers are far less common in the literature than the first-person narratives of their secular musical counterparts. Second, this study gives music scholars additional insights into the importance of gospel music and social movements through the eyes of the people who perform it....

Os cultos da Brasa Church, ministério de jovens vinculado à Igreja Brasa, em Porto Alegre, RS, têm se destacado no cenário evangélico local pela implementação de uma tendência estético-musical denominada worship. A partir de uma abordagem material da religião, esta dissertação aborda as formas pelas quais o worship engaja sentidos e materialidades na produção de experiências religiosas cultuais. Tais experiências, dispostas em regimes de sensibilidade, promovem uma determinada “cultura” de adoração: uma “cultura do Reino”. Por essa disposição teológico-prática, os jovens são estimulados a transformar a “cultura” – instância que é situada no espaço do “mundo”, ou do secular. Os deslocamentos da “cultura” efetivados pela “cultura do Reino” evidenciam reconfigurações evangélicas quanto às relações entre sagrado e secular. Através de um trabalho etnográfico atento às mediações materiais da adoração, pretende-se demonstrar como o worship materializa a “cultura do Reino” e se constitui em uma estética da adoração estabelecida a partir de articulações materiais que fornecem um suporte para a transformação da “cultura” para o Reino.

The Sensational Nightengales were organized as a gospel quartet in 1942. Over the years—they were photographed giving a concert in Vienna in 2006—they have remained remarkably true to their evangelical mission, so much so as to be included in Tony Heilbut’s dedication of THE GOSPEL SOUND (1972) to “All the gospel singers who didn’t sell out.”

This post is the result of the sermon our pastor preached on the 4th Sunday of Advent this year in which he used the Nicodemus story to illuminate John 1:12-13. The Nightengales arrangement of “Nicodemus” makes use of the expedient, common to both bluegrass and gospel music, of beginning with the refrain or chorus before the first verse. The transcription of the lyrics was made directly from this recording:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UggdWTF-aiw

African American gospel music is a unique and distinctive idiom that has had a pervasive influence upon the development of contemporary popular music. While there are now many sources available on African American gospel music, the focus of the vast majority of these studies is on the sociological, historical and stylistic aspects of the genre, rather than on identifying and codifying specific musical characteristics and performance practices. This paper extends the discussion of gospel singing techniques in Andrew Legg's 2010 article ‘A taxonomy of musical gesture in African American gospel music’ (Popular Music, 29/1) by examining some of the key performance practices associated with rhythm and lyric treatment in African American gospel music, as well as common structures in gospel music improvisation and accompaniment. Through analysis of selected recordings, this research proposes a codified frame of reference for the definition and discussion of terminologies and performanc...

In addition to his long career as a choral director and publisher of African American sacred folk music, R. Nathaniel Dett was a concert pianist and a classical composer. THE CHARIOT JUBILEE was composed in 1919 and premiered  May 14, 1921 at Keith’s Theatre in Syracuse with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra and the Syracuse Festival Chorus. Interviewed in 1943, Dett stated that it was “the first attempt to develop the spiritual into an oratorio form” (cited by Dominique-René de Lerma in BLACK MUSIC IN THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE, ed. Samuel A. Floyd, Jr. (NY: Greenwood, 1990), p. 190. See also the article by Georgia A. Ryder, “Harlem Renaissance Ideals in the Music of Robert Nathaniel Dett,” op. cit., pp. 60-63.

What I found intriguing about the lyrics was Dett’s use of the chariot image as a metaphor for the gospel, which he ties to God’s covenant of grace and salvation through the work of Christ. Concluding lines, followed by hallelujah chorus:

Tenor:  Swing low, sweet chariot, sweet cov'nant of God’s grace!
Chorus:  Coming for to carry me home. O hallelujah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTGmL7eZaCc&ebc=ANyPxKpnTQuYnEv7QTVC0JlT1hXzkGv7kGLqrQujEtboI587WvdkXDOfs1tPZRgexw7kNT2vccegUxRVI7I07yAiE3_rzCqhgQ

For a video of the second half being performed in concert by the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, go here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmwviQIRhyw

Located in Mount Airy, North Carolina, WPAQ Radio aired its first broadcast in February 1948 and has since served its community by broadcasting the music of the region, specializing in old-time and bluegrass. By the late 1940s America had witnessed almost three decades of radio history, and many stations had become well known for their country barn dances. Radio helped to change the “hillbilly” music of the 1920s into mainstream country music, a lucrative industry since the 1940s controlled in large part by record companies and commercial advertisers. The music no longer retained its simple ensemble format, but rather evolved into a style dominated by stars.
However, not all stations welcomed the change in the music so clearly identified with rural America. Since WPAQ’s first broadcast, Ralph Epperson, the station’s sole proprietor, has been using a mass medium to fight mass media in efforts to protect the regional heritage. In this thesis I will seek to explain the apparent anomaly of WPAQ as one of the few radio stations in America that have continued to broadcast old-time and bluegrass music in the face of commercial pressures to air more mainstream music.
Though various articles have documented episodes within the extensive history of WPAQ, this research investigates and presents a more detailed and comprehensive account of the station. This will be achieved by combining documentation with interviews and archives. In addition, I will argue for WPAQ’s importance in 
ethnomusicology and American music as a preserver of one of America’s distinct musical cultures.

When the Saints Go Marching In – Herostratically famous, well-known to one and all, and the song some of us love to hate. The Saints began its existence as a serene African-American spiritual, presumably well spread in the American South. Initially it was recorded by jubilee singers, self-accompanied vocalists and country musicians in the 1920:ies. The tune later became the jazz standard, worn out to disgrace. It was eventually taken up by a plethora of rock singers, gospel artists, folk singers, comedians, dance orchestras and marching bands, and the song also made its way into children's music. The Saints has become emblematic of the city of New Orleans, LA and even provided the name to its American football team. All the time, however, the tune has maintained its role as a religious hymn, sung by individuals, in congregations and played at funerals.

It is certainly not easy to decipher why and how The Saints became what it did and a tune everybody almost everywhere is familiar with, but a good start is to look at the music itself in retrospect. The present book is thus the accompaniment to a 4-CD collection of 82 recordings of the song, comprising a chronological compilation of all extant recordings of The Saints from 1923 and through the 1930:s, including 'field recordings' from the US Library of Congress. After 1940, the collection is more selective, in that it encompasses versions of the tune that were deemed particularly interesting or representative for some reason or another. The waning of the 78 rpm era put a natural end to this cavalcade. The recordings can be obtained from the author in mp3 format.

In common parlance, a “Come-to-Jesus” moment is a metaphor for a life-changing epiphany about oneself. In the case of Ray Charles, it is literally true according to David Ritz, the Jewish co-author of Ray’s autobiography, and the inimitable Mable John, the leader of the Raylettes until 1973 when she felt called to devote herself fulltime to gospel music and ministry.

Link to previous article on "The Soul of America" on this webpage:
https://www.academia.edu/12508431/The_Soul_of_America_Ray_Charles_Sings_America_the_Beautiful_

R. Nathaniel Dett made his mark in the last century as a pianist, composer, and choral director. His complete piano works have been recently recorded and his oratorio, THE ORDERING OF MOSES was performed at Carnegie Hall in 2014. For these, and for his major contributions to the back choral tradition through his long association with Hampton Institute in Virginia, I thought it might be useful to give him some exposure during Black History Month.

I have previously posted his biographical timeline online and have updated it to correspond to the timeline included in this document as Appendix One. I have transcribed the lyrics to THE CHARIOT JUBILEE here.
https://www.academia.edu/22527580/R._Nathaniel_Dett_THE_CHARIOT_JUBILEE_lyrics_

The following are YouTube links to works referred to in the paper.

“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” by The Fisk Jubilee Quartet, 1909
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUvBGZnL9rE

"Juba: Dance" from the suite IN THE BOTTOMS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq834hTosEw

Oratorio, THE ORDERING OF MOSES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y3nKJt6FHg

“Listen to the Lambs” by the Nathaniel Dett Chorale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhjJo3zsixk

"Chariot Jubilee" from the album SAINT LOUIS BLUES: CLASSICAL MUSIC IN THE JAZZ AGE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTGmL7eZaCc&ebc=ANyPxKpnTQuYnEv7QTVC0JlT1hXzkGv7kGLqrQujEtboI587WvdkXDOfs1tPZRgexw7kNT2vccegUxRVI7I07yAiE3_rzCqhgQ

For a video of the second half performed by the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, go here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmwviQIRhyw

This short piece introduces the book _Christian Congregational Music: Performance, Identity, and Experience_. Collected from presentations during the first biennial Christian Congregational Music conference (congregationalmusic.org), this book explores the role of congregational music in Christian religious experience, examining how musicians and worshippers perform, identify with and experience belief through musical praxis. Contributors from a broad range of fields, including music studies, theology, literature, and cultural anthropology, present interdisciplinary perspectives on a variety of congregational musical styles - from African American gospel music, to evangelical praise and worship music, to Mennonite hymnody - within contemporary Europe and North America.

In addressing the interconnected themes of performance, identity and experience, the volume explores several topics of interest to a broader humanities and social sciences readership, including the influence of globalization and mass mediation on congregational music style and performance; the use of congregational music to shape multifaceted identities; the role of mass mediated congregational music in shaping transnational communities; and the function of music in embodying and imparting religious belief and knowledge.

The Ammanuel Montreal Evangelical Church (amec) is composed of over 150 members of Ethiopian and Eritrean origin. Through the examination of their musical practices, this article analyzes how music is involved in the construction and expression of religious identities in the context of migration. It appears that in borrowing worship music widespread in Ethiopia and in its diaspora, the faithful highlight the “Ethiopianness” of the group, at the expense of the minority Eritrean identity. The author then reveals that each musical parameter conveys different identity facets. If the universality of the Gospel message is expressed through dance and lyrics, the repertoire and its instrumentarium convey the “Ethiopianness” of the congregation, while the rhythms refer to a multi-ethnic Ethiopian imaginary. As for the local identity (Montreal) of the congregation, it is represented by the combination of several hymns borrowed from the stars of Ethiopian Gospel music. Finally, the paper highlights some musical ambivalences of the faithful who, in the context of migration, feel torn between several cultures.

From the 1930s to the present, women have played instrumental and visible leadership roles in the remarkable growth of African American gospel music. Through both creative and entrepreneurial activities, these women paved the way for the expansion of an emotive sacred music expression from the worship practices of southern migrants to audiences around the world. This dissertation focuses on the work of three cultural trailblazers, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, and Karen Clark Sheard, who stand out in the development of gospel music as virtuosic vocalists and pivotal figures whose sonic imprints can be heard both in sacred songs performed in churches and in American popular music. By deploying exceptional musicality, a deep understanding of African American Christianity, and an embrace of commercialism, the three singers have conserved and reworked musical elements derived from an African American heritage into a powerful performance rhetoric. By using musical mastery, they have ...

Bob Dylan, as an iconic North American figure, continues to reinvent himself culturally in ways that puzzle and sometimes deeply frustrate his numerous followers.  This article looks at his song Hey Mr Tambourine Man as an expression of the musical genius and mystery of Bob Dylan.

This article deals with the dynamics of gendered space in Muziki wa Injili (lit. Gospel Music) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It argues that there has been an increased prominence of women musicians in Muziki wa Injili in the last two decades and that this increase has an influence on the increased focus on women’s issues in the lyrics of the songs. Using the theory of spatial trialectics, it discusses factors that led to this increase and it analyzes the construction of gender in selected songs. The analysis shows that individuals’ experiences of various gender problems are shaped by the gendered mental space which is informed by religious and other cultural norms.

The Dixie Hummingbirds are a gospel music group formed in Greenville, S.C. in 1928 whose work now spans eight decades. I looked up their classic version of “Rasslin’ Jacob” (or "Wrestlin' Jacob" as it is sometimes listed in the Hummingbirds' discography) after hearing a couple of sermons on Jacob’s getting prepared to meet his alienated and hostile brother Esau (Gen 32).

To listen, go to http://sonichits.com/video/The_Dixie_Hummingbirds/Rasslin'_Jacob. This site includes extensive biographical notes. Since I could not find the lyrics online, I transcribed them for myself and any others who might be interested in a graphic illustration of how they capture the heart of the text.

The original version of “Wrestling Jacob” was published in J. B. T. Marsh, THE STORY OF THE JUBILEE SINGERS WITH THEIR SONGS, rev. ed. (Boston: Houghton, 1880), No. 62, 181-82. A version of "‘Raslin’ Jacob" is one of the "Hymns on Biblical Themes" included in R. Nathaniel Dett, RELIGIOUS FOLK SONGS OF THE NEGRO AS SUNG AT HAMPTON INSTITUTE  (Hampton, Va.: Hampton Institute Press, 1927), p. 72.

The Dixie Hummingbirds originally recorded "Wrestlin' Jacob" in 1947 on the Apollo label. The flip side was an R&B arrangement of "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_Y0Wt9uAgg

For more information on the Dixie Hummingbirds, check my article on American popular sacred music, Part D: "Thermon Ruth and the Caravan of Gospel Quartets."
https://www.academia.edu/28538219/Gospel_Harmony_American_Popular_Sacred_Music_1871-1969

This essay analyzes the character of Mrs. Turpin in Flannery O'Connor's short story "Revelation". Author, Diane Tolomeo argues that "Revelation" traces the redemption of Mrs. Turpin after egotism has overshadowed her relationship with God, in contrast, alternate evidence seems to suggest that Mrs. Turpin wasn't saved in the first place but, like the New Testament Pharisees, is under the false assumption that she is righteous. Rather than tracing Mrs. Turpin's salvation, this story "reveals" Mrs. Turpin's misplaced beliefs and sets her on a path of contemplation that will eventually enable her reach genuine salvation.

Popular church music is one of the newer musical genres in Tanzania. It is characterized by incorporating improvisation, by the use of electric guitars, keyboards and drum machines, and by the body movements which accompany its performance. This paper shows that composition processes in this style are collaborative, and take place in multiple stages.

The Soul Stirrers, a durable gospel quartet dating back to the 1930s, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. “As exponents of the modern gospel quartet sound back in the Forties and Fifties, they took gospel out of local churches and found a national audience for it” (R&R Hall of Fame biography). In March of 1951, not long after Sam Cooke joined the group, they recorded some tracks for Specialty Records, among them “Jesus Gave Me Water.” The song, composed by the legendary Lucie E. Campbell, who served an entire generation as music director of the National Baptist Convention, was a gospel hit at the time, crossing over in due course to be performed by the premier bluegrass gospel group Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.

This is an edited version of the lyrics as heard on the original Specialty release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slFSzUzI8c8

I investigate the politics of paradises in the 1920s African-American gospel blues of Blind Willie Johnson. His recordings are apocalyptic vignettes which juxtapose and conflate paradises, using many different voices. I describe the theological and political paradises in Johnson’s songs: the Old Testament journey to Canaan; the post-death heaven in the New Testament; Christ’s kingdom on earth in Revelation; freedom in Northern cities or Canada; and a utopian dream of political emancipation of African-Americans and transformation of society in the South.
I outline the various voices present in Johnson’s recordings: vocal styles; accompanying singers; the guitar; grammatical, textual and lexical voices; and the silent voices of technology and time. I suggest traces of a subtle political activism in these voices and paradises, and explore uses of these voices in linking paradises, arguing that the complex transitions enhance the force of signification and frustrate attempts to finalise meanings.
Many interpretations of Johnson’s recordings, however, seek to determine final meaning, and I discuss the limitations of such attempts, limitations which not only underestimate the richness of the recordings but deny Johnson any political awareness or agency. In cautioning against this kind of project, I call for a hearing open to plural interpretations, and suggest political potential not only in coded messages, but in radical indeterminacy itself.

American performance traditions and music industry trends have historically denigrated religious practices and spaces that African descended people considered sacred or worthy of regard. This legacy of sacrilege is an extension of colonialism wherein the cultural traditions of those conquered are marked primitive, strange, or laughable. Mahalia Jackson resisted such colonial systems of meaning through her discursive song and narratives incorporating both sacred and vernacular Black American traditions across the United States of America and Europe. It was her European success in the early 1950s that boosted her domestic career and distinguished her from peers with equal or greater talent. This critical hearing of her performance, together with a brief archeology of the term gospel,^ reveals how Jackson’s decolonial song labor disrupted structures that had previously excluded the African descended practices and people, and Negro women in particular, from the realm of the sacred.

Através de uma canção específica, Caia Babilônia, reggae de poética evangélica da Bola de Neve Church, proponho alguns parâmetros de análise de canção a partir de cinco aspectos: performance, silêncio, contexto, música e poética. Esta reflexão foi realizada através de observação participante, anotações de diário de campo, leitura bibliográfica e investigação audiovisual. Inicialmente, apresento algumas características da Bola de Neve Church, sinalizo a inconveniência do termo “música gospel” e faço um breve histórico da canção gospel contemporânea brasileira. Depois, proponho a análise de Caia Babilônia aplicando os cinco referenciais citados. Tal canção é exemplo de estratégia de marketing religioso que chamei marketing de guerrilha santa, e tem como referente discursivo principal a teologia da batalha espiritual. É também símbolo de uma agência religiosa marcada por expressões identitárias e discursos derretidos, inseridos num contexto de espetacularização e midiatização da fé.

Singing and understanding Zulu traditional hymns among charismatic churches and gospel groups have become a fundamental worship tool. Zulu traditional hymns are at the centre of Christian lives in South Africa. Singing Zulu traditional hymns (iCilongo Levangeli) is predominant for many South African musicians and gospel groups using modern musical styles. However, contemporary churches, musicians and gospel groups tend not to understand the authenticity of these hymns. The issue of Zulu traditional hymns in the modern gospel industry is a matter of great concern. Therefore, this article addresses and discusses the importance of understanding and making sense of Zulu traditional hymns as a symbol of expressing worship. Data were collected for a research practice using a hermeneutic phenomenology paradigm to obtain a precise understanding and the original meaning of the prominent Zulu traditional hymns. The study reveals that there are Zulu traditional hymns that were misinterpreted and misunderstood. The misinterpretation of Zulu traditional hymns is partly attributable to the ignorance of the underlying true meaning, emotions, state and purpose of the original composer.

Contribution: This study recommends that contemporary gospel musicians sing Zulu traditional hymns in the original text to ensure that they do not misinterpret the hymns.

A field recording of this song was made in Sumter County, Alabama between 1937 and 1940 by Ruby Pickens Tartt and John Avery Lomax for the Archive of American Folk Songs at the Library of Congress. Lomax reproduced the Sumter County recordings in his 10-volume collection The Ballad Hunter. Tartt transcribed the lyrics for a BBC production of American folksongs in the 1950s. The lyrics presented here were transcribed from its commercial debut in the early 1940s on Decca Records by the Selah Jubilee Singers. The signature walking bass line is not included in the transcription but is clearly distinguishable on the a cappella recording. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYEk8mHtJmg

Often the issue of archives and repatriation is discussed in terms of dichotomous and unequal exchanges between members of a ‘collecting culture’ and ‘collected culture’. As archiving approaches expand, however, a collected culture or, more specifically, groups from within a ‘cultural heritage community’ can themselves be considered community archivists. While not afforded access to modern audiovisual archiving facilities, there are some groups whose responsibility to a community's music culture extends beyond performance and includes various forms of preservation (e.g., collecting audio and visual recordings and storing sheet music). After decades of functioning as ad hoc community archives, privately held collections of amassed recordings and ephemeral materials run the risk of being lost to poor storage and environmental conditions. Founded in 1981 by composer and educator Dr Margaret Pleasant Douroux, the Heritage Music Foundation (HMF) is an example of a performance and outreach organisation within a heritage community that engages in the preservation of audiovisual materials but does not have access to long-term archival facilities. In an effort to promote proactive and communal archiving, the University of California Los Angeles Ethnomusicology Archive acquired a UCLA Community Partnership grant in 2004 for a year-long collaboration with the HMF in a joint archiving and ethnographic video documentation project called Gospel Archiving in Los Angeles (GALA). While serving as the fieldwork project manager for GALA, I experienced the archiving process from several perspectives including as a member of the heritage community. This paper will describe how institutionally supported community archiving programmes can empower cultural heritage communities by assisting their preservation activities as well as increase community awareness and use of institutional archives by the heritage communities themselves.

The introduction of indigenous Black music—namely, Negro Spirituals, Black gospel, and jazz—into Catholic liturgy has largely been described as a phenomenon emerging in the late 1960s and a few decades thereafter. This paper seeks to explain how the change came about, tracing back to the early years of the US Catholic Church and the varying factors which eventually led to Black Catholic inculturation.

The essays in this book explore the Nobel laureate’s masks, collectively reflecting upon their meaning through time, change, movement, and age. They are written by wonderful and diverse set of contributors, all here for his 80th birthday bash: celebrated Dylanologists like Michael Gray and Laura Tenschert; recording artists such as Robyn Hitchcock, Barb Jungr, Amy Rigby, and Emma Swift; and 'the professors’ who all like his looks: David Boucher, Anne Margaret Daniel, Ray Monk, Galen Strawson, and more. Read it on your toaster!

Foreword by Nana Mouskouri!

O consumo de produtos gospel desperta a atenção recente das ciências sociais. A expressão “explosão gospel”, de Magali Nascimento Cunha (2007), parece bem descrever a intensidade desse processo e, de certo modo, a surpresa que ele causa nos analistas. Dessa forma, encontramos na bibliografia explicações para esse fenômeno, desde as ligadas a questões demográficas (o aumento do número de evangélicos no país), até as que apontam para questões mais propriamente culturais (um impulso propriamente religioso ao consumo) ou econômicas (uma suposta mercantilização da religião). Este artigo se insere neste debate. Observando aquilo que entendemos serem os limites dos argumentos até agora apresentados, buscamos contribuir com explicações de caráter mais ligados aos processos propriamente típicos desse mercado. Em outras palavras, buscamos mostrar que há razões internas que apontam para explicações mais abrangentes em relação a esse fenômeno.
Para proceder nossa investigação, é preciso anotar de que perspectiva estamos empregando o termo gospel. Esse termo possui muitos sentidos que variam de acordo com o que se descreve e com as intenções daquele que descreve. Alguns desses sentidos surgirão neste artigo pelos trabalhos de autores com os quais nos interessa dialogar, mas o sentido que nós adotamos propriamente advém da atribuição a ele dado por agentes ligados ao mercado musical denominado de gospel, sendo o consumo musical nosso tema de pesquisa. O termo música gospel é aqui, portanto, uma categoria nativa que se refere a um gênero musical que, como define Simon Frith (1996, p. 76), é “uma maneira de se definir a música em seu mercado ou, alternativamente, o mercado em sua música”.
Dessa forma, podemos propor que o objeto aqui pesquisado deve ser compreendido de duas formas. De um lado, como um fenômeno próprio de um mercado que, portanto, é produzido em relação a outros tantos fenômenos desse mesmo mercado. Ou seja, ao mesmo tempo em que o gospel se insere em uma racionalidade do mercado de música, nele também se diferencia, concorre com outros gêneros, cria seus próprios circuitos, etc. De outro lado, a música gospel está também inserida em uma sociedade mais ampla, na qual os agentes que com o gospel se relacionam estão produzindo sentido, se relacionando socialmente. Essa perspectiva nos leva a observar a dimensão do consumo do gospel para notar como ele se relaciona com a produção de subjetividades, tanto quanto com a unificação e classificação dos agentes no campo religioso. Os itens do artigo se dividem em razão dessas duas argumentações que, como se verá, se complementam.