The expansive present: A new model of Christian time

One of the most productive lines of inquiry in the anthropology of Christianity has explored how Christian adherence structures time. The organizing idea here has been rupture, whether the break with the pagan past at conversion or the expected break of the apocalyptic future. In contrast to this “punctuated” view of time, this article examines a Christian temporality focused not on a past or future break, but rather on an expansive present. For Pentecostals on the Zambian Copperbelt, this expansive present is structured by the narrative of the past in the form of scripture, which is perpetually relived. The Pentecostal future is also brought near to the present by the expectations of the prosperity gospel. By expanding the present along these lines, believers reject the logic of submission that structures many forms of both Christian and capitalist time. An analysis of the expansive present therefore moves us beyond the language of rupture that has been central to the anthropology of Christianity. It also speaks to concerns beyond the study of religion by exploring the experience of—and critical engagement with—capitalist time.