Preaching Jesus: Postcolonial Approaches
Ebook
How can postcolonial approaches make a difference in preaching Jesus? The many postcolonial approaches used in this book will help preachers reinterpret the stories, metaphors, and characters in the Bible and create new images of Jesus rooted in his historical identity as a colonized person. Preaching Jesus with new images that are totally different from the traditional colonial ones, not only challenges listeners to reconsider their individual and communal identities as followers of Jesus, but also provides them with theological and ethical guidance for living out those identities in daily life. Ultimately, preaching Jesus through postcolonial approaches is a prophetic ministry that awakens listeners and their communities to seek reconciliation between colonized and colonizers, and suggests a common ground of faith and hope for the life-enhancing future of all people living in the twenty-first century.
The five chapters of this book employ diverse postcolonial hermeneutical and homiletical methods across a broad disciplinary spectrum. This range includes intersectional and interdisciplinary studies with historical, literary, and cultural approaches, in dialogue with phenomenological philosophy, a postcolonial practical theological method, postcolonial feminist interpretation, postcolonial biblical hermeneutics, and postcolonial intertextuality. All these approaches invite the colonized and their descendants to be conversation partners and reflect their lived experiences in the reimagining the identity of Jesus. Moreover, the theological and homiletical insights gained through such postcolonial approaches will help preachers invite their listeners into a partnership with the triune God in order to participate in God’s reconciling work. The postcolonial approaches used in this book contest the dominance of traditional assumptions and practices of preaching Jesus, and propose a new homiletical paradigm that makes it possible for Christian preaching to contribute to the transformation of our present world into a life lived together in justice and peace, with the new images of Jesus as postcolonial self, postcolonial song, postcolonial child, postcolonial body, and postcolonial friend.
Preface
Chapter 1. Preaching Jesus as Postcolonial Self
Chapter 2. Preaching Jesus as Postcolonial Song
Chapter 3. Preaching Jesus as Postcolonial Child
Chapter 4. Preaching Jesus as Postcolonial Body
Chapter 5. Preaching Jesus as Postcolonial Friend
Sermon: “A Letter to Mary and Elizabeth”
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
"Don’t we all long for sermons that dismantle death-dealing logics and point us toward life? Eunjoo Mary Kim offers vital strategies that make this longing a reality. Preachers who seek to shake the old foundations and construct a new world will delight in this compelling book."
“This highly accessible and illuminating book adroitly incorporates empire-critical interpretation of Gospel texts, fresh Christological insights, critical analysis of postcolonial conditions, and practical homiletic strategies. It represents an excellent addition to postcolonial approaches to homiletics, which challenges the legacy of white preaching and decolonizes the pulpit.”
“As practical theologians engage the deeper challenges of our age, engaging the tectonics of empire, colonialism, and capitalism can throw new light on the contributions of faith. Kim’s proposal to “preach Jesus as an act of transforming the world” sets the stage, and her open invitation to produce more work along similar lines is most welcome.”
“Dr Kim gifts us an alternative lens with which to see Jesus - a postcolonial perspective that not only tells the truth about who Jesus is, but who we are as followers. As the 'offspring of a complex history,' preachers are invited to preach Jesus as a colonized person. Such preaching hopes to mend broken relationships that exist in the space between colonized and colonizers. By reinterpreting the radical grace found in Jesus Christ, this book speaks directly to our neo- and postcolonial world, and will lead to sermons that proclaim good news in relevant and creative ways.”
“This decolonizing feminist approach to Christology promises to be of signal importance for homiletics and pastoral theology. Kim’s intersectionally rich book invites us to imagine Jesus beyond the constraints and distortions of traditional Western theology. Key postcolonial concepts—the conflicts and complicities of the hybrid self, the violence of nativist rhetoric, and more—are illuminated in these pages. Kim urges preachers to craft a dialogical space in which subversive truth-telling and solidarity can honor those whose experience has been commodified or disfigured by colonizing practices. This fresh reframing of homiletical theology will spur lively conversations in homiletics classrooms for years to come.”
"Eunjoo Mary Kim's book stands as an eminent contribution to the fields of preaching theology and methodology, providing a postcolonial lens through which to explore Christology. This perspective serves as a supplement to the diverse portrayals of Christ found in the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John, and other New Testament Scriptures. Positioned within the rich context of literature on Postcolonial and Jesus-centered preaching, this invaluable study conducts a critical examination of past sermons on Christology within preaching arenas. Moreover, it meticulously scrutinizes current sermon discourses and presents insights for the future, introducing alternative and re-imagined approaches."
“Preaching Jesus is a wonderful addition to the recent efforts that have been made to bring homiletics and postcolonial studies into conversation with each other. It delves into Christological themes from postcolonial perspectives where Jesus is featured as boundary-breaker, boundary-connector, and boundary-transcender. Readers are invited to celebrate the liturgical season of Lent, Easter, Advent, and Christmas, while exploring through preaching particular texts of the Gospels of John, Luke, and Matthew.”
“Kim invites readers into a transformative vision, where the story of Jesus is reimagined through a postcolonial lens, challenging traditional interpretations and fostering a global dialogue for healing and unity.”
- Title: Preaching Jesus: Postcolonial Approaches
- Author: Eunjoo Mary Kim
- Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
- Print Publication Date: 2024
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781538192078, 9781538192054, 1538192055, 1538192071
- Resource ID: LLS:9781538192078
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-05-31T07:26:27Z