The relationship between conversion narratives to the self and to the community: a case study of a born again group in the Philippines

ABSTRACTReligious conversion from Catholicism to a Born Again denomination is an increasingly common phenomenon in the Philippines. Such conversions inspire personal narratives. Using various forms of testimony, new converts use autobiographical methods to narrate both an individual and universal story. The probative and transmissive dimensions of testimony are also affected by power figures, as these narrative forms are produced before the pastors in the new religion. What then of the reflexivity of the author of the testimony? Even if the conversion narrative contributes to the plausibility of the new social structure joined by the conversion, the latter can also be a source of reflexivity since it contains an internal dialogue with oneself.KEYWORDS: Born Againalternationtestimonyreligious feeling Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. Website: https://pcec.org.ph.2. This phrase, often used by the pastors, is surely drawn from the gospel of St John.3. Mark, interview, July 2020.4. Excerpt from an interview conducted on 16 February 2021 in Manila, in Tagalog, translated by us.5. Excerpt from an interview conducted on 20 April 2022 February 2021 in Iligan City, via Zoom, in English.6. Excerpt from a preacher given on 12 October 2021 in Quezon City, Philippines, in Tagalog, translated by us.7. Excerpt from a preach given on 7 December 2022, in Quezon City, Philippines, in Tagalog, translated by us.8. Source: https://pcec.org.ph/leadership-development-2/.9. Ibid.Additional informationNotes on contributorsJérémy IanniJérémy Ianni have been a contractual doctoral student since September 2022. He had previously studied online at the University of Paris 8. He worked for six years in a people’s education organization in France and in the Philippines, after which he had obtained a diploma of socio-cultural animator in 2017. He had been member of the editorial board of the journal Pratiques de Formation/Analyses [PFA] and currently co-coordinating a publication on lifelong sentimental education for an upcoming issue. He works on manifestations of evangelical power in the Philippines with a multi-referential approach, giving central importance to empirical experience. He study the transformations of self- including ethical orientation - that arise from conversion to a new Christian conservatism. He is interested in phenomenology, and the investment of the body by power-knowledge relations. He is interested in the theme of cross-cultural translation and so-called Southern epistemologies as he conduct his research in Tagalog, with a background in English and French. His field of scientific activities are ethnography and participant observation, intercultural translation, conversion and self-education, and alienation.