Webinar Part 1, facilitated by Rev Sithembiso Zwane Director of Ujamaa Centre.
Contextual Bible Study (CBS) was presented ultimately as a way of creating agency: our acting upon the world and in our lives; making sense of our lives by looking at the past as it is presented in the Bible, invoking sacred texts of the Bible to move forward with deep understanding – interpreting texts for social justice within our life experiences. Rev Zwane presented a few frameworks by which we could view the practice of CBS.
The frameworks emphasised the key words: See, Judge/Discern, Act.
The chipati or sandwich picture of CBS:
The phrase “People’s Theology” was used to bring to the fore the reality, experience and resources of the community: using our community consciousness to begin throwing light on the sacred texts. This is the one outer part of the sandwich/chipati.
The tasty filling of the chipati can be thought of as the re-reading of the biblical text using our critical understanding: we look at the story as it is presented, we think through the social and historical conditions that prevailed at the time the text was written. Who were the characters? What was happening in that environment? What action took place? What were the outcomes? What were the implications? … As we would read a story with understanding, seeking insight.
Moving from this tasty understanding on to the other outer covering of the sandwich/chipati we can see that a prophetic theology can be developed: drawing on the experiences and community consciousness now looking ahead towards social change, renewed and re-invigorated value systems and organisations – changing the status quo.
The webinar workshop referred to the biblical text Ruth 1 Verses 1 to 7 and Ruth 2 Verses 2 to 10. In groups, the following questions were unpacked and responses were shared. Investigating and responding to the discussion questions gave us a chance to experience See, Judge/Discern, Act in real time – we could taste the chipati and its filling of feelings and experiences.
Ruth 1 and 2 are about people seeking refuge in another land and the way relationships unfold. Typical questions for CBS are:
- Listen to the reading. What is this part of the story about?
- Who are the characters in the story and what do you know about them?
- Ruth 1: 1 – 7: What are the realities that cause migration and what are the lived realities of women migrants?
- Ruth 2: 2 – 10. What is this part of the story about?
- Re-read Ruth 2: 2 – 10: What are the realities that cause migration and what are the lived realities of migrants, particularly women.
The responses from the group discussions were rich and insightful and clearly illustrated the CBS movement of See, Judge/Discern, Act. Here we present a few of the observations that were made.
Participants displayed community consciousness when they described what they could SEE: the situation presented in the biblical text of Ruth 1 and 2. Observations about the weight of women supporting the family, of despair and fear at bearing this responsibility to provide for the home. Commitment, faith, grief and courage were identified.
Participants brought their critical consciousness when they JUDGED/DISCERNED that there was the “othering” of Naomi and Ruth – they were identified and singled out as foreigners – which is the beginning of discrimination. Participants DISCERNED that migrant women face lack of support, loneliness, struggle to find a sense of belonging and in desperate efforts to find support and resources for livelihoods, they may turn to activities which are then frowned on by others. The relationship between Ruth and Boaz – a young woman without material resources taken in by an older, wealthier man suggests a parallel in the modern phenomenon of a “sugar daddy”.
Implicit in these observations, were the remedies – to ACT out of community consciousness. To engage compassionately, to work against unequal power relations, to avoid seeing people as “the other”, to avoid simplistic ideas of race, class and culture which reduce the humanity of people. To support systems which feed people and organise for resources.
Rev Zwane spoke of the fact that sometimes CBS is criticised as being simplistic. However, he pointed out that People’s Theology is a legitimate form of oral theory, an experiential theology, not academic nor highly structured but embodied through people’s understanding of their lives. This recognises that the Bible is a site of struggle. It offers life, which CBS affirms, and it offers death. It can be re-read, transforming texts of terror to be redemptive texts which can bring about agency.
