Matthew Michael

The Tower of Babel and Yahweh’s Heavenly Staircase

The people of ancient societies and modern times have continually had an unusual fascination for tall structures. In the Hebrew Bible, however, gigantic structures rarely feature in the plotting of its stories. In contrast to this literary norm, the narrator of Genesis places two elevated structures at the center of his story, namely the tower of Babel (Gen 11) and the heavenly staircase at Bethel (Gen 28). In these two locations, the narrator appears to have situated the two structures above all the characters and the architectural landmarks of Genesis. Consequently, the paper engages the theological elevation of these two high-level spots in the creative mapping of Genesis’ subtle representations of human-divine tensions. While past studies have diachronically described the individual significance of these two vertical representations in Genesis, the present paper underscores the intertextual/theological importance of these two elevated structures in the narrative space of Genesis.

Secret Talk and Eavesdropping Scenes: Its Literary Effects and Significance in Biblical Narrative

Eavesdropping scenes are common features of ancient and modern literary creations. However, in spite of the contemporary interest in the literary and artistic character of biblical narratives, eavesdropping scenes in biblical narratives have received little scholarly treatment. This paper engages the presence, use and functions of eavesdropping scenes in biblical narrative. In particular, eavesdropping scenes aid characterization, trigger the plots of stories, introduce turning points, and increase the mimetic qualities of the story. On the other hand, eavesdropping scenes breach the borderlines between the private and public spaces by taking readers into the private world of biblical characters. On this discourse level, the reader also becomes an eavesdropper by overhearing/ reading the conversations situated in these eavesdropping scenes. In the same way, the narrator also shares the posture of the eavesdropper in the hearing/retelling of the story to the intended readers.

Jürgen Moltmann and the theology of the cross in the Johannine priestly prayer

Based on the cross-centred ecumenism of Moltmann, this article describes the problems of ecumenism among the churches of the global south. While acknowledging the paradigmatic shift in the centre of Christianity to these regions, it notes the problematic character of this shift for ecumenism especially in Africa. Situating Moltmann in discourse to the Johannine priestly prayer, it explicates some defining aspects of Moltmann’s cross-defined ecumenism for the African church. In this regard, the paper describes the problems as well as prospects that this christocentric mapping of Moltmann’s thought provides for the unity of the churches in Africa.

Anger Management and Biblical Characters: A Study of "Angry Exchange" among Characters of Hebrew Narrative*

The study of Hebrew narratives has generally shown in modern scholarship the intriguing artistry of the biblical stories. However, the apparent simplicity of the angry scenes has not generated significant engagement of its representations. Against this backdrop, the present study describes the consistent literary patterns in the representation of angry scenes in Hebrew narrative, and particularly identifies the different stages in biblical angry exchange scenes. These discerned stages include the description of provocation, the presence of anger-designated markers, the expression of questioning/conversation, and the consummation of the angry scene by a reference to an action plan, the pacification of the angry character or the resolution of the angry process. In this emotionally-heightened space, the study also underscores the stylistic features of the biblical angry exchange scenes as directly seen in the intentional quest to exploit, manipulate, and manage anger by biblical characters in the angry exchange scenes.

The Two Prostitutes or the Two Kingdoms? A Critical Reading of King Solomon’s Wise Ruling (1 Kgs 3:16-28)

The familiar story of King Solomon and the two prostitutes is often assumed to showcase the wise arbitration of King Solomon through the help of the divinely—endowed wisdom of Yahweh. In this standard reading of the passage, there is a quick intellectual fixation to show the relationship between the passage and the preceding divine encounter at Gibeon. Against the limitations of these traditional readings, the paper resituates the ideological/theological importance of the two prostitutes beyond its immediate literary landscape to encompass the entirety of the Deuteronomistic History (DtrH). Through verbal resonance and symbolic connections to the rest of the DtrH, the work underscores that the presence of these two prostitutes, at the opening of the book of Kings, is a significant prelude to the Dtr’s narratives on the subsequent demise of the two kingdoms.

African Theology and the Paradox of Missions: Three Intellectual Responses to the Modern Missions Crisis of the African Church

In modern times, Christian theology has increasingly become a ‘mission field’ itself because its ‘intellectual space’ has largely marginalized the missions mandate of the local church. On this conceptual mapping, the present work engages three intellectual responses of the African theological discourse to the modern missions’ crisis of the African church. Reading the writings of Bediako, Katongole, and de Gruchy as missions’ texts, the work seeks to show the paradox of missions in Africa particularly in its eternal preoccupation with issues arising from missions, and yet its inability to provide practical and helpful insights for the missionaries on the African missions fields. Importantly, the article notes the dialectical distance between the ‘intellectual space’ of these Christian theologies and the actual missions practices of the African church.