WTS 45th Annual Meeting at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California
March 4-6, 2010
“The Future of Scripture”
Keynote speaker: Richard Hays, author of The Faith of Jesus Christ and The Moral Vision of the New Testament
Session: Ethnic Studies Session
PRESENTER’S FULL NAME: Rodney A. Thomas Jr.
PRESENTER’S TITLE: Student, Master of Theology, concentrating in History, Theology, and Women’s Studies, at Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas.
PRESENTATION TITLE: Empire Studies and Ezekiel: An African-American postcolonial approach to the Ezekielian narrative
Currently in biblical and theological studies, there is a tendency for scholars to study the New Testament in light of the authors’ context within the Roman Empire.[1] However, the prevalence of empire has been largely ignored in the Hebrew Bible. In this paper, I will examine Ezekiel within his Babylonian imperial context using the lens of Franz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth in order to provide a Black postcolonial interpretation of Ezekiel for a neo-colonial society in the twenty-first century. Given that the Ezekielian tradition is one of exile, judgment, and hope, I propose that the most suitable way to appreciate Ezekiel is through the eyes of an exile since the authors wrote from a position of marginalization.
During the 19th century, enslaved Africans appropriated the story of Ezekiel the priest-prophet into their resistance in the form of their spirituals. With sorrow songs such as “Ezekiel Saw De Wheel” and “Even Me” that were drawn from the biblical text, the enslaved Africans were able to subvert the wills of the Southern oligarchs during the time of American Manifest destiny. The entire book of Ezekiel thus serves as an early sixth-century B.C.E. sorrow song in which Ezekiel records the exile experience from YHWH’s point of view. Viewing Ezekiel in this manner offers the African American faith community a powerful precedent for negotiating existence in a modern imperial context.
[1] For example, see the works of Warren Carter, Nicolas Thomas Wright, Stephen Moore, Musa Dube, Fernando S. Segovia, Francisco Lozada, and Tom Thatcher.
Rod of Alexandria
Optimistic Chad
The abstract looks promising. Will you be giving this paper?
Yes I will!
Congratulations Rod! I’m also giving a paper on Fanon’s idea of “decolonization” at the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
CJ,
When and Where will that be?
I may get there differently than you… but YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, I love you too Rob!
lolz.
I guess you are happy that I am doing a paper on the relevancy of Ezekiel, an often ignored book of the Hebrew Bible.
no… that it should be interpreted through the lens of exile.
Oh, oh yeah, I am with you!
The conference is scheduled for September 30- October 3 in Cincinnati, Ohio. I’m giving two presentations on Thursday.
By the way, are you familiar with Daniel Block’s two volume commentary on the book of Ezekiel. He’s one of the foremost scholar in Ezekiel. You might find him very helpful.
No, I am not familiar with Block.
of course you’re not.
but be sure you’re familiar with zimmerli in the hermeneia.
Rob,
Too late. I already know Zimmerli.
i like what i read, but i’m not sure i like the descriptive word “ezekielian.” i’m sure it will just have to grow on me lolz.
yep, exile, the lens most americans don’t know to appropriate, so spread the word brother!
Hey, well it only means that the people who approved of my paper liked the adj. Ezekielian! lols, that is all that matters!
zimmerli is great, perhaps even a classic, but i personally think block is the best. if i remember correctly, his volumes are a little newer than zimmerli’s, so he’s able to converse with zimmerli’s work plus other newer research on temple abandonment, divine abandonment, etc. in the ancient near east.
block has another little book called something like “the gods of the nations” (plus a long subtitle) that deals with the ANE theology of the triangular relationship between deity, land, and people (if you can those ideas at 3 corners of a triangle). it’s a short read, but near the end he has a chapter on divine abandonment. worth the price of admission and then some, if you catch my drift. very relevant to ezekiel in general and ANE explanations for exile and abandonment.
idk, may or may not be your sort of thing, but you should check it out. btw, rachel wants alias back, and i should the office back to you before something happens to it (so far so good, perfectly safe)
mf
Yeah, that sounds good.
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