Decolonizing the treatment of the pharisees in john 7:53-8:11
International Journal of Development Research
Decolonizing the treatment of the pharisees in john 7:53-8:11
Received 22nd October, 2018; Received in revised form 10th November, 2018; Accepted 25th December, 2018; Published online 30th January, 2019
Copyright © 2019, Julius Kithinji. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Using a postcolonial hermeneutics, this reading overturns the popular readings of this narratives by revealing that the othering of the Pharisees in this text is part of the author’s broader intentions in the penning of his gospel. The reading resists John's propagation of his constructed society and the identities that he allocates the Pharisees. The ultimate goal of this reading is therefore, to contest by redeeming the identities of the Pharisees which are quite submerged in John’s gospel. This is also done as a deliberate invitation to deviations from the conventional and partisan ways of profiling people and othering that are sustained by uncritical usage of the Bible especially in societies that celebrate difference. The current reading therefore, considers the Pharisees as men who not only consult Jesus but also obey Jesus’ opinion concerning the whole matter. It is an invitation to decolonized dimensions of achieving peaceful coexistence.
