Defense Date

4-18-2024

Graduation Date

Summer 8-10-2024

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Theology

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

William W. Wright IV, Ph. D.

Committee Member

Gerald Boodoo, Ph. D.

Committee Member

Daniel Scheid, Ph. D.

Keywords

Divine Image, Boki Concepts, Pontifical Biblical Commission, Reading Genesis 1-2, Beri-Be, Keredede

Abstract

Certain images facilitate tailoring our perception of ourselves and the rest of creation in positively practical ways, but others lead us astray and disfigure our relationships. Christians acknowledge that humans are made in the divine image, yet we allow the domineering presence of destructive frames and perceptions to counter our being divine image-bearers. This dissertation explores the intersection of the Boki Beri-be/Keredede motif and the language of the presentation of Genesis 1-2 in the 2019 Pontifical Biblical Commission Document What Is Man? calling for a recognition that humans are the embodiment of the divine presence in creation with a calling to harmlessly and creatively serve the blossoming of the entire creation which in its uniqueness reflects and communicates divine sacredness. The narratives give us a pluriversal vision of human distinctiveness and flourishing.

Integrating the narratives informs a dearth of readings that intently situate the cause of harm within affected individuals or communities and ignore the more prominent religious, cultural, and historical contexts in which harms are rooted. Remedying this position facilitates a drive towards decolonial reading, a critical shift from a limiting perspective that emphasizes what indigenous Boki peoples do not know or cannot do to an animating approach that purposefully utilizes indigenous Boki perceptions.

To advance an enriching understanding of humanity made in the divine image with the rest of creation, the readings facilitate an appreciation of the interdependent relationships of the divine, humanity, and the rest of creation, holistically supporting the flourishing and well-being of creation. In addition to improving the cultural legitimacy and utility of readings with indigenous Boki peoples, culturally all-encompassing interpretation has significant theoretical consequences, with its use in encouraging the critical survey of the cultural acceptance of diverse knowledge. As established above, this understanding cannot be pursued using colonial ecclesial eyes. While the degree of cultural differences between most Western ecclesial readings and native peoples makes it thought-provoking to advance a comprehensive understanding of diverse sacred narratives (oral and written), it may be conceivable to enable a gradual shift towards increasing the knowledge by drawing on Western ecclesial reading traditions that support this bridge-building.

These approaches also inform the subject of this dissertation, which proceeds with identifying frameworks we have found helpful in bridging readings that foster our profound interpretation of the designation ‘made in the divine image.’ We propose that westernized Christian readers can draw upon two narrative frameworks, the Beri-be/Keredede motif and the Pontifical Biblical Commission's narrative reading of Genesis 1-2, to recapture sacred framing narratives and promote narratives with indigenous Boki peoples and communities in ways that treasure indigenous sacred, ecological, cultural, and political contexts through indigenous Boki-biblical eyes.

Language

English

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