Original Research
Dancing with Jesus as the incarnate male ‘missionary’ conversant: A homeless group’s reading of John 4 in dealing with gender-based violence
Submitted: 06 July 2018 | Published: 27 February 2019
About the author(s)
Eugene Baron, Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology, University of South Africa, South AfricaAbstract
In this article, the metaphor of dancing is used to discuss the skewed gender relations in society as a result of the various interpretations available in terms of the narrative of Jesus and the Samaritan woman (Jn 4). The question explored is the following: how scholarly interpreters of the Bible and the homeless people describe this ‘dancing’, that is, the human movements between the male and female conversation partners? The author uses the ‘woman-friendly’ interpretations of various theologians on the John 4:1–42 narrative and juxtaposes it against other theologians’ interpretations. Furthermore, the author discusses how a homeless group in the City of Tshwane reflects on and interprets the text. The article builds on the premise that biblical texts like John 4:1–42 – which are interpreted in a way that sustains patriarchy – serve as the cause for gender-based violence. Therefore, although the article does not refer directly to the issue of gender-based violence, it is contributing to ‘woman-friendly’ interpretations of Biblical texts to counter patriarchal tendencies in society.
Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This is interdisciplinary study as it integrates gender-based violence in the field of sociology, public theology, feminist ethics with missiology. It is also integrating the field of biblical hermeneutics with missiology in terms of a specific biblical text namely Jn. 4 that is analysed.
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Crossref Citations
1. A postcolonial reading of the early life of Sara Baartman and the Samaritan Woman in John 4
Dewald E. Jacobs
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies vol: 80 issue: 2 year: 2024
doi: 10.4102/hts.v80i2.9095