A realistic reading as a feminist tool: The Prodigal Son as a case study

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title A realistic reading as a feminist tool: The Prodigal Son as a case study
 
Creator du Toit, Charel D.
 
Subject Theology; New Testament Studies historical Jesus; first-century Mediterranean; feminism; social-scientific criticism; equality; realistic reading; early Jesus movement; parables; Prodigal Son; women
Description The parables of Jesus have historically been attributed with a plethora of interpretations. The first hearers of the parables of Jesus had native (emic) knowledge of the social realities embedded in the parables told by Jesus, that is, cultural scripts present in the parables that might not be apparent to modern readers. Because of this, the modern reader of a parable might not be aware of all the different cultural scripts in a given parable, especially if these scripts are not specifically mentioned or explained by the gospel narrators. Using the parable of the Prodigal Son as an example, this study argues that there are voices in the parable most probably heard by its first hearers that modern hearers might not be aware of. These ‘muted’ voices not heard by modern readers of the parables often include the voices of women and other minority figures. In this study, a case is made for the possible value that a ‘realistic reading’ of familial parables could bring to the interpretation of the parables.Contribution: It is suggested that this reading can contribute to feminist biblical scholarship’s deconstruction and reconstruction of gender paradigms of Christian theology if the voices of women are ‘exhumed’ from or ‘unhidden’ within, patriarchal and androcentric texts.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2022-06-14
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v78i4.7413
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 78, No 4 (2022); 7 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7413/22272 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7413/22273 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7413/22274 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7413/22275
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Charel D. du Toit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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