Kerk en Theologie - Volume 74, Issue 1, 2023

Abstract “Slave/maidservant of the Lord” - this is how Mary calls herself in response to the Angel Gabriel’s announcement that she will give birth to the “Son of the Most High”. This article explores the varied interpretations of this self-description in Luke 1:38.48 and reflects theologically on the hermeneutical problems of religious slavery metaphors in the Bible. Gender plays a crucial role here, as giving birth to a child by their lo Read More

Abstract This article studies the exegesis of the bible by Isabella, an early 18th-century enslaved woman in the Dutch colony Suriname, whom the Reformed minister Jan Willem Kals (1700-1781) discusses in his main work Neerlands hooft- en wortel-sonde as an example of his assertion that black people can be Christians too. According to the report by Kals, Isabella uses the New Testament story of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts Read More

Abstract The intertwinement of gender and religion in the struggle against slavery, both in Europe and in the colonies is central to this contribution. Was there a gendered action repertoire in the abolitionist movement that appealed to the protestant-Christian community? In the 19th century the deployment of ‘humanist narratives’ promoted the identification of women within the protestant churches with enslaved women as mot Read More

Abstract In 1938, Barth expresses support for armed struggle against National Socialist rule. The letter causes great unrest in pacifist circles. Barth responds with a brochure in which he defends his view of war on biblical grounds. War, our enemy and the means we use in the process are human means. They should never be identified with God’s final battle, his enemy and his means. Knowledge of Barth’s choices and his conversa Read More