Week 9: “Mission of the Church” -Fuellenbach

In his final chapter Fuellenbach discusses the role and mission of the Church both from the point of view “as the Kingdom of God”, “mediator of the Kingdom”, or as merely another servant within the Kingdom. This chapter presented some very interesting ideas, especially in the area of the Church’s role in the salvation of humanity. The two views that Fuellenbach posits are a) The Church as chief mediator, and only avenue through which one can join the Kingdom. and b) The Church as one of several avenues within the Kingdom, but is not intrinsically necessary for one to embark in Kingdom activities. This brings up a larger issue within pluralistic debate, and the role of the “saving knowledge of Christ” and one’s ability to experience salvation. Fuellenbach, I believe, answers this question by stating that downplaying the Church as chief kingdom mediator and only avenue for which individuals can experience Kingdom life is not watering down the necessity of Christ, but instead is merely opening doors for new ways in which individuals can experience Christ both inside, as well as outside the Church. It is my belief that this view fosters a larger view of God and His truth, one that is not a box with borders and boundaries, but is instead a tangible force that exists both in the world through humanity, and around the world in creation.

Week 8: “Adulteration and the Nation” -Lloyd (Castle)

In his piece on nationalism and the development of an authentic identity, Lloyd, uses the hybridization of Irish culture as a case study on the larger picture of “authentic cultural identity development”, specifically through the study of a culture’s literature. The most interesting aspect of Lloyd’s argument was his discussion on the ability of a formerly colonized people to gain an “authentic” identity that has not been hybridized by the former colonizer and further marginalized by the institution of subsequent nationalism. This posits an interesting question, one that is inherent in all nationalistic self-definitive language, and that question is, Does an authentic, inherent identity exist in the world? or Has this identity been hijacked and beleaguered by the former colonizer who has instituted a colonial language, religion, and race? These are questions relevant for all of us in the world today, whether we be colonizer, colonized, or both.

Week 8: “The Literatures of Australia and New Zealand” -Crane (Castle)

In his piece on the de-centralizing of Australian and New Zealand literature, Crane, brings up a very interesting point on the perpetual marginalization of Aborginal voices, even in the current de-colonizing of Australian and New Zealand literature. This idea seems to mesh with that of previous voices on the absolution of the women’s problem in a decolonized, nationalistic state, one in which those formerly oppressed continue to subjugate and oppress those with whom they are equals, in the purest sense of the word. This continues to happen with the voices of aboriginal writers attempting to combat further marginalization in a creation of a new nationalistic center within Australian and New Zealand literature. This idea furthers the question of whether or not we as people groups can ever break free from the cycle of colonizer and colonized?

Week 8: “The Body in the Library” -Tiffin (Castle)

In her piece on the use of women’s literature as a de-colonizing aspect of postcolonial work, Tiffin, uses the work of Shelley and other women literary figures to support her view. The most intringuing aspect of this work was Tiffin’s discussion on the “frankensteinization” of the colonies in a colonial framework, vis-a-vis the Colonizer as master frankenstein and the colonies as the abhorrant creation that is now widely out of control and must be destroyed before it destroys others. An interesting question that arises from these discussions is How do these “abhorrant creations” view themselves? Do they see themselves as the Frankenstein figure, or as something more? This self-identification is something that must be furthered developed in postcolonial studies.

Week 8: “Tyranny, Boundary, and Might” -Liew (Sugirtharajah)

In his piece on the pro-colonial overtones present in Mark’s depiction of the power of Jesus, Liew, stands in opposition to hundreds of years of biblical and cultural interpretations of the Gospel of Mark. In claiming that the Markan depiction of Jesus is one of “might makes right” and one where Jesus is apparently only an overlord who lords and pushes his power and authority not just on his disciples (whom he “forces” to do the menial tasks of his ministry), but also on the surrounding populace who face certain doom if they do not accept his authority. This interpretation is a classic misreading of the textual genre of Mark. As a Gospel its goal is not to present an image of a gentleman who is ushering a new style of egalitarian living and political upheval, what the Gospel of Mark is presenting is an image of Jesus as God, and it would have been unheard of in not only Mark’s context, but the context of the present, to present any God as equal with the rest of humanity, this would not make since for ancient Near Eastern author, period. Secondly I find fault with the idea that Jesus is merely forcing his disciples to carry out meanial tasks of service to him while “he sleeps on the boat”, this again is a misunderstanding of the Christian message of service that is a common thread throughout the Markan Gospel, an ignorance of the willingness of Jesus (again, a God) to subject himself to humanity, to broken, beaten, and crucified again for said humanity, would be the ultimate in service and an oppositional stance to the current violent authorities, in the disciples service they are learning the true model of authority, based upon a belief in a God who will be subject and oppressed to ultimately free.

Week 8: “Mark and Empire” -Moore (Sugirtharajah)

In his piece on imperial tones both latent and obvious in the Gospel of Mark, Moore, concludes that the Gospel of Mark both dreams of an anti-kingdom(empire is the term he commonly uses, although basileia is more commonly translated “kingdom”)but kingdom nonetheless, while still deconstructing the economic structures of empire through the story of the sacrificial peasant. The most interesting aspecit of Moore’s article was his discussion of the exorcisms of Jesus as not only exorcisms of demon-infested persons, but also in a more allegorical light, as lands “occupied” by demon oppressors, i.e. Rome. While this interpretation is quite interesting and worth noting, especially when one is attempting to reconstruct the context of Mark’s Gospel, with special attention paid to the happenings of the time in which the Gospel itself was written, but to take this interpretation as a definitive interpretative lens would be to stretch the analogy a bit far. Moore even mentions the widespread critique on the part of biblical scholars of postcolonial readings of scripture. This is an important fact to keep in mind; a post colonial reading should allow a competent reader of biblical literature another color with which to view scripture, but it should not be one’s primary lens/color for viewing the whole of interpretative strategy, thus forcing all biblical interpretation into conjecture.

Week 8: “Two Models for the Future Church” -Fuellenbach

In his chapter on the two models that will shape the ecclesiology and interpretation of the Church universal, Fuellenbach, brings up an interesting discussion on the nature of the term “contrast societies” and how this term is used to describe the churches of the future. In this discussion Fuellenbach does an excellent job of bringing to light the necessity with churches returning to their apostolic roots in the sense of a being a contrast society, he does this through evidence of God’s contrast society of Israel, as well as the contrast societies of the Early Church. Fuellenbach also discusses the critiques of these societies as sectarian in nature, and through these critiques is able to illumine the true goals and ideas behind a contrast society, one that is not separate or apart from culture, but instead one who is firmly rooted in culture and because of this position is able to give a valued critique of said culture. This is the model that must be reclaimed for the Church, especially because of its current unholy alliance with institutional and secular thought. The Church as contrast soceity must become the new model for the future church, because in doing it will allow the Church to reclaim its core mission and the core mission of its inaugurator; one of liberation, hope, freedom, and irruption of the kingdom of God through incarnational living.

Week 7: “Crimes and Punishments” -Hodge and Mishra (Castle)

In their piece on criminal representation through literature and historiographies, Hodge and Mishra, discuss the subsequent effects on Australia through its use as a settling ground of imperial convicts and debtors. This piece was somewhat confusing in its in-depth analyses of criminal textual representation, sometimes appearing to get lost within its own analyses. Ultimately the authors come to the conclusion that although the criminal identity may have either contributed to the two-faced compliance of Australians, or their compliance. The nuance of this identity may need further researching, but ultimately, at least in my opinion, Hodge and Mishra state that crime and punishment representation serve ideally as a disciplinary example that ultimately misses the point and instead leads to a paranoid and guarded view both towards government and fellow Austrailian.

Week 7: “The New Colonizer Arrives” -Ferguson (Castle)

In her piece on a new colonization “ethic” as seen in the novel “Across the Wide Sargasso Sea”, Ferguson, posits the nationalists in the colonial fallout as the new colonizers subsuming the cleansing of the European “other” from their midsts. One of the interesting points that Ferguson makes is the solidarity that characters such as Christophine (the female representative of this cleansing attitude) draw from to exert their independence from and opposition to the European presence. This solidarity is something that the colonizer always fears, hence the creation of race, the instution of class and religion as hierarchies to not only separate the other from the colonizer, but the “other” from his very brother and sister. A question that arises within me as a read a piece such as this is, where does the colonizer still suceed? How am I separate from my brothers and sisters? and within the Church: Where have we allowed the imperialistic ethic to separate us not only from each other, but from the margins as well? Can solidarity heal the un-holy grip that imperialism has upon the Church?

Week 7: “Colonizing Gender in Colonial Australia: The Eliza Fraser Story” -Schaffer (Castle)

In her discussion on the effects and impressions of the “Eliza Fraser Story” and the construction of Austrialian gender identity, Schaffer, brings up a very interesting point on the “spatial delineations of power”. With this concept Schaffer describes the boat carrying Capt. Fraser and his wife Eliza as a bastion of imperial class structures that are only upheld within that structure, and subsequently because of its wreck, break down and are no longer able to perpetuate the dominant power structure. This idea carries with it a lot of weight when one begins to think about how the Church must look in the years to come to avoid self-marginalization, especially in how it addresses its structural hierarchies, its buildings, and the stigma that comes with these delineations of power. How will this idea be played out in the construction of Church both idealistically and physically in years to come?