Always with You: Questioning the Theological Construction of the Un/Deserving Poor
Abstract The cultural persistence and political salience of the ‘un/deserving poor’ – the moral categorization of people in poverty – rests, inter alia , on the use of Christianity to construct a class-inflected position from which to judge or categorize the lives of others. Interpretation of the cl...
| Published in: | International journal of public theology |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2021
|
| In: |
International journal of public theology
Year: 2021, Volume: 15, Issue: 1, Pages: 42-60 |
| IxTheo Classification: | HC New Testament NCC Social ethics |
| Further subjects: | B
woman anointing Jesus
B undeserving poor B class and theology B Poverty B moralisation of poverty |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Abstract The cultural persistence and political salience of the ‘un/deserving poor’ – the moral categorization of people in poverty – rests, inter alia , on the use of Christianity to construct a class-inflected position from which to judge or categorize the lives of others. Interpretation of the claim that the poor are ‘always with you’ (Matthew 26:11) plays a role in this process of asymmetrical moralization, specifically through the framing of ‘the poor’ as a class with divinely-mandated functions and virtues. To develop theological challenges to asymmetrical moralization, I examine patterns in contemporary and historical interpretation of the gospel accounts of the woman who anoints Jesus (the wider context of the claim that the poor are ‘always with you’). I propose that, while many interpreters attempt to use these texts to establish a position from which to judge both the woman and ‘the poor’, they can be reread in a way that undermines that construction. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1569-7320 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: International journal of public theology
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15697320-12341641 |