To Whom am I a Neighbour in the Midst of Tribal Prejudices An Exegesis of Luke 10:25-37, and its Application to Religious Communities in Africa
Date
2005
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Tangaza University College
Abstract
I have been reflecting on the aspect of neighbourliness in religious
communities since 1995. I was in the novitiate by then and I lost my father. I felt so
lonely, though in a community, and it seemed nobody cared for me. I felt that I bore
the pain of loss all alone. And one day a certain man was briefing us on the effects of
the genocide in Rwanda and he kept referring to those who cared for their enemies as
"Good Samaritans". The man concluded by saying: "blood is thicker than the water
of baptism." From that time! have been observing some aspects of community life,
and how the parable of the Good Samaritan challenges us everyday. I am happy that
finally I can write something on this topic.
In this essay, I follow the biblical methodology of writing. This essay has
three chapters, and each chapter has an introduction and a conclusion. In the first
chapter, I have set limits on the text, and how it has been exposed over the centuries
from the manuscripts. Again in order to get the message of the text, and how it can
be applied in our contemporary world, context we are going to see the remote and
immediate contexts. There are also structures within the text that are important for
better understanding of the message.
In the second chapter, I am treating the text exegetically. Although I am not
doing a detailed word by word exegesis, I have tried to identify a few words which
look to be key words to unveil the message for our purpose. This episode of the Good
Samaritan, by having a context, must also have a historical setting especially the
community or communities to whom the author was writing. It is after considering
these that we can find a theological message of that time and ours today.
In the final chapter we venture into application of the message into today's
life especially in religious communities in some parts of Africa. I must admit that
this research has not been easy especially on how to quantify the attitudes of people.
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But all the same I believe that there is some truth in what has been observed. As
Jesus was challenging the religious authorities of his time, he is doing the same today.
There are historical events, cultural circumstances and many other things that prevent
us from imitating the compassionate love of God. To be a religious is not an end in
itself, but a means to something higher. Therefore to attain it, African religious are
challenged to be for each other as children of one family.