Law and Religion
A Feminist Biblical-Theological Critique
Keywords:
Sabbath, pericope, EnslavingAbstract
Jesus of Nazareth was teaching in a synagogue on a Sabbath day. There came a crippled woman, who was bent over for 18 years. When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, placed his hands on her and healed her saying, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." Instantly she stood up straight and began praising God (Lk, 13:10-13). The law-abiding synagogue official was angry that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath. He expressed his contention with all his religious fervour: "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day" (v. 14). Struck by his fanatic belief, the Master responded: "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not his woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?" (vv. 15-16).
References
Sebastian Kappen, Jesus and Freedom, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1977, 124.
Elisabeth S. Fiorenza, In Memory 0/ Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins, New York: SCM Press Ltd., 1983, 124.
J. C. Pallares, A Poor Man Called Jesus: Reflections on the Gospel of Mark,
Indore: Satprakashan Sanchar Kendra, 1986, 51.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, ed., The Original Feminist Attack on the Bible: The
Women's Bible, New York: Arno Press, 1974,7.
See the scholarly article of Ravi Tiwari, "Women in Manu," in Prasanna Kumari, ed., Feminist Theology: Perspectives and Praxis, Chennai: Gurukul, 1999, 118-119.
J. C. Pallares, A Poor Man Called Jesus: Reflections on the Gospel of Mark, Indore: Satprakashan Sanchar Kendra, 1986, 51.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, ed., The Original Feminist Attack on the Bible: The Women's Bible, New York: Arno Press, 1974,7.
See the scholarly article of Ravi Tiwari, "Women in Manu," in Prasanna Kumari, ed., Feminist Theology: Perspectives and Praxis, Chennai: Gurukul, 1999, 118-119.
Gabriel, "Property Rights: Women's Rights Too!" 76.
See for example the attitude of Church Fathers and Reformers in R. B. Edwards, The Casefor Women's Ministry, London: SPCK, 1989.
Gnana Robinson, "Purity and Pollution: A Theological Perspective," in Prasanna Kumari, ed., Feminist Theology: Perspectives and Praxis, 316-330.
J.Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus, translated by F. H. & C. H. Cave, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, 374/384.
E. Wyschogrod, "Women in Judaism ... ," in Regina Coli, ed., Women and Religion, New York: Paulist Press, 1982, 84.
Phyllis Trible, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality, Philadelphia: SCM, 1978.
N. P. Bratsiotis, "Ish" in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 1:226- 227.
Evelyn and Frank Stagg, Woman in the World of Jesus, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1978,20.
