My father was a wandering Aramean: Toward a missiological understanding of hybridity in the Abrahamic narrative
The person of Abraham embodies the tension of living in-between. In studying the life of Abraham, the focus is often on the theological importance of the patriarch’s missional role as a vehicle of blessing to the nations as expressed in Genesis 12:1–3. In recent years, however, the missiological sig...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Sage
2022
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In: |
Missiology
Year: 2022, Volume: 50, Issue: 1, Pages: 41-47 |
IxTheo Classification: | CH Christianity and Society HB Old Testament RJ Mission; missiology |
Further subjects: | B
Abraham
B Immigrant B Immigration B Genesis B Australia B Hybridity B Spain B Abrahamic blessing |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | The person of Abraham embodies the tension of living in-between. In studying the life of Abraham, the focus is often on the theological importance of the patriarch’s missional role as a vehicle of blessing to the nations as expressed in Genesis 12:1–3. In recent years, however, the missiological significance of who Abraham was has begun to emerge. Imbedded in the very identity of Abraham is this sense of hybridity; of multiple belonging; cultural identities wedded together; of the fusion that takes place when you are in-between people groups, languages, and lands. In the case of Abraham, this hybrid identity is magnified as the patriarch leaves his Mesopotamian birthplace and travels to a new land that never fully becomes his own. Throughout the rest of his life, Abraham remains a “wandering Aramean” and a foreigner until his death. As God’s missional blessing through Abraham is fulfilled in Scripture, Abraham’s hybrid identity also embodies God’s missional heart to the nations. In this article, I highlight how the hybridity embedded in Abraham’s person provides insight into contemporary mission theory and praxis. |
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ISSN: | 2051-3623 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Missiology
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/00918296211043529 |