Includes bibliographical references and index.

Meaning, anthropology, Christianity / Matt Tomlinson and Matthew Engelke -- When silence isn't golden : charismatic speech and the limits of literalism / Simon Coleman -- Clarity and charisma : on the uses of ambiguity in ritual life / Matthew Engelke -- Rituals without final acts : prayer and success in World Vision Zimbabwe's humanitarian work / Erica Bornstein -- Nationalism and millenarianism in West Papua : institutional power, interpretive practice, and the pursuit of Christian truth / Danilyn Rutherford -- The limits of meaning in Fijian Methodist sermons / Matt Tomlinson -- Converting meanings and the meanings of conversion in Samoan moral economies / Ilana Gershon -- Dusty signs and roots of faith : the limits of Christian meaning in highland Bolivia / Andrew Orta -- Paranomics : on the semiotics of sacral action / James Faubion -- Afterword : on limits, ruptures, meaning, and meaninglessness / Joel Robbins.