Cheryl B. Anderson
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195305500
- eISBN:
- 9780199867028
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305500.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Theology
The books of Ruth and Esther feature protagonists who are outsiders in their contexts: female, foreign, and a widow and orphan respectively. Traditional readings offer these characters as models for ...
More
The books of Ruth and Esther feature protagonists who are outsiders in their contexts: female, foreign, and a widow and orphan respectively. Traditional readings offer these characters as models for behavior in adversity; and women, homosexuals, and racial/ethnic minorities have often found comfort and empowerment in these narratives. However, according to liberationist critiques (feminist, womanist, postcolonial, queer), readers in socially marginalized groups and their realities are excluded by the dominant interpretations. Members of those groups can sometimes identify with Orpah or Vashti instead of Ruth or Esther. Attending to “redemption” as a theme in both biblical texts, and in the readers' social contexts, the chapter argues that readers must reclaim their own historical memories, thereby creating the possibility of communities that foster mutuality rather than dominance and provide a liberating opportunity even to the dominant interpreters of these texts.Less
The books of Ruth and Esther feature protagonists who are outsiders in their contexts: female, foreign, and a widow and orphan respectively. Traditional readings offer these characters as models for behavior in adversity; and women, homosexuals, and racial/ethnic minorities have often found comfort and empowerment in these narratives. However, according to liberationist critiques (feminist, womanist, postcolonial, queer), readers in socially marginalized groups and their realities are excluded by the dominant interpretations. Members of those groups can sometimes identify with Orpah or Vashti instead of Ruth or Esther. Attending to “redemption” as a theme in both biblical texts, and in the readers' social contexts, the chapter argues that readers must reclaim their own historical memories, thereby creating the possibility of communities that foster mutuality rather than dominance and provide a liberating opportunity even to the dominant interpreters of these texts.
Cheryl B. Anderson
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195305500
- eISBN:
- 9780199867028
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305500.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Theology
Contrary to traditional belief, Protestant tradition offers precedent for the contextual readings of Scripture that liberationists encourage. In re‐interpreting the Bible, the Reformers read the ...
More
Contrary to traditional belief, Protestant tradition offers precedent for the contextual readings of Scripture that liberationists encourage. In re‐interpreting the Bible, the Reformers read the Bible theologically and contextually, taking into account the socio‐historical contexts of their respective faith communities. Each reformer thought the Word of God was something more dynamic than adherence to the literal words of the Bible, employing such critical interpretive norms as Christ's Incarnation or revelation (Luther and Wesley) or God's will for humanity (Wesley). For the Reformers, the Bible becomes the Word of God where the gospel is proclaimed in preaching and teaching (Luther and Calvin) and where the gospel demands and permits ever‐more‐exact moral fulfillment of the law (Wesley). Despite the Reformers' “mixed legacy” on women, the poor, and people of color, their ways of interpreting the Bible offer a basis for contextual readings today.Less
Contrary to traditional belief, Protestant tradition offers precedent for the contextual readings of Scripture that liberationists encourage. In re‐interpreting the Bible, the Reformers read the Bible theologically and contextually, taking into account the socio‐historical contexts of their respective faith communities. Each reformer thought the Word of God was something more dynamic than adherence to the literal words of the Bible, employing such critical interpretive norms as Christ's Incarnation or revelation (Luther and Wesley) or God's will for humanity (Wesley). For the Reformers, the Bible becomes the Word of God where the gospel is proclaimed in preaching and teaching (Luther and Calvin) and where the gospel demands and permits ever‐more‐exact moral fulfillment of the law (Wesley). Despite the Reformers' “mixed legacy” on women, the poor, and people of color, their ways of interpreting the Bible offer a basis for contextual readings today.
