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The problem of anti-Judaism in Christian feminist biblical interpretation: some pragmatic suggestions
Cross Currents, Spring, 2003 by Sarah J. Meicher
Biblical scholars who are concerned about global justice issues and the ethical ramifications of their work, will naturally want to adopt a critical stance and methodological approach that serves global justice. Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, in her presidential address to the Society of Biblical Literature, challenges biblical scholars "to engage in a disciplined reflection on the public dimensions of our scholarly work" so that we could become significant participants "in the global discourse seeking justice and well-being for all." (21) She calls for a level of critical reflection by biblical scholars that addresses both an ethics of critical reading, which "changes the task of interpretation from finding out 'what the text meant' to the question of what kind of readings can do justice to the text in its historical context," and an ethics of accountability, which "stands responsible not only for the choice of rhetorical interpretive models but also for the ethical consequences of the biblical text and its subsequent interpretations." (22) The critical framework that Schussler Fiorenza envisions allows the biblical text to say something other than what we want or expect. The text may still ruffle our feathers or prick our consciences. Nevertheless, her critical rhetorical approach encourages the biblical scholar to examine the political and social effect of the biblical text and its contemporary and historical interpretations. In such a way, the biblical scholar can avoid perpetuating unreflectively the devaluing or oppressive tendencies of the past.
Schussler Fiorenza has long advocated a rhetorical approach to biblical scholarship that takes into consideration multiple emancipatory aims; that examines various intersecting kinds of oppression based on class, race, gender, culture, and religious affiliation. (23) She is a feminist biblical interpreter who recognizes the historical and social particularity of women's experience and the historical and social particularity of forms of oppression that impact women. (24) The question of anti-Judaism in Christian feminist biblical interpretation calls for just such a multi-faceted consideration of oppression. As Schussler Fiorenza observes, biblical interpretation that seeks to be accountable must serve the goal of "justice and well-being for all." (25)
Finally, a biblical interpreter is wise to use her or his creative imagination in order to project what the repercussions of a published or public interpretation might be when viewed from the perspective of another religion. Irving Greenburg, in his essay, "Cloud of Smoke, Pillar of Fire," argues that theological statements should meet the command of the Holocaust to radically value all human life and to completely respect the image of God in the other. In other words, when evaluating a theological statement or biblical interpretation, we should ask the following question as a criterion for that statement's or interpretation's validity: "Would the statement or interpretation be credible in the presence of burning children?" (26) Thus, in our reformation of Christian biblical interpretation, I would commend to biblical scholars that we learn to jettison or rewrite any practice or interpretation that does not radically value human life or completely respect the image of God in the other. Our criterion for the adequacy of new theological statements could be, "Would I utter this belief or express this position at Auschwitz or Birkenau?"
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