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Article
"Jesus Is Not a Foreign God":Christian Music-Making in Burma/Myanmar
Yale Journal of Music and Religion
  • Heather MacLachlan, University of Dayton
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2021
Abstract

Christians in the Southeast Asian country of Burma, also known as Myanmar, make up approximately five percent of the national population. The Christian community of Burma includes both Catholics and Protestants, and the Protestants are divided into many denominations. Baptist Christians are predominant among this group, and they provided most of the ethnographic information upon which this article is based. In the article I argue that twenty-first century Baptists in Burma fulfill both aspects of a “twofold legacy” bequeathed to them by Adoniram Judson, the first Baptist missionary to Burma, and that their fulfillment of this legacy is manifest in their musical practices. I further argue that it has been, and continues to be, to Burmese Baptists’ advantage to emphasize both aspects of this religious legacy, because at various times both aspects have highlighted their affiliation with more powerful groups inside Burma.

ISBN/ISSN
2377-231X
Document Version
Postprint
Comments

The document available for download is the author's accepted manuscript, provided in compliance with the journal's open-access policy. The published version will be available in 2021. Browse the journal.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Publisher
Yale Institute of Sacred Music
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Disciplines
Citation Information
Heather MacLachlan. ""Jesus Is Not a Foreign God":Christian Music-Making in Burma/Myanmar" Yale Journal of Music and Religion Vol. 7 Iss. 1 (2021)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/heather_maclachlan/2/