Doctoral Degrees (Old and New Testament)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Old and New Testament) by browse.metadata.advisor "Claassens, L. Juliana M."

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    Encountering the female voice in the Song of Songs : reading the Song of Songs for the dignity of Kenyan women
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-12) Juma, Dorcas Chebet; Claassens, L. Juliana M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates one of the central aspects of a Kenyan woman’s identity, namely the notion of sexuality, which unfortunately also underlies numerous socio-economic and developmental challenges currently confronting Kenyan women. The research shows that in Kenya, patriarchal ideologies are used to control the sexuality of women in the name of ‘our culture’. Thus, it is and has been difficult for many Kenyan women to live with dignity as beings equally created in the image and likeness of God. The study, therefore, sought to identify, expose, criticize, destabilize and to deconstruct patriarchal ideologies that deny Kenyan women the right to live with dignity. Patriarchal ideologies that have been used to mute the voices of Kenyan women on matters of sex and sexuality are challenged by introducing the voices of Kenyan women. The latter is done with reference to poetry that reflects the voices and experiences of Kenyan women as a means of expressing who they really are in the midst of a society that silences them. It is shown that, by means of poetry, the full power and energy of these women may be mobilized. Moreover, the voices and experiences of Kenyan women offer a contextual re-reading of the Song of Songs for their dignity. The study presents the female voice in the Song of Songs (a text from a male pen) as responding in a new way to the patriarchal Old Testament society on matters of sex and sexuality. In the process, a twofold strategy is proposed with which negative perceptions of the sexuality of women in the worldview of Kenya may be addressed: First, this study proposes that it is important to purposefully steer conversations regarding issues of sex and sexuality. The latter is done in the conviction that this is one way of creating a platform for addressing other gender-based injustices that deny Kenyan women the right to live with dignity. Second, by focusing on Kenyan poetry, as well as on the female voice in the Song of Songs, there is a possibility of reconstructing positive aspects of the sexuality of Kenyan women, which may allow them to live with dignity. To achieve the aim of this study, to re-read the Song of Songs for the dignity of Kenyan women, an African Women’s Theological approach is used within the broader context of feminist and womanist approaches to the Song. Through an African Women’s approach to the Song of Songs, the study asks how the female voice that spoke boldly in the patriarchal setting of the Old Testament can also be liberating in the Kenyan patriarchal setting. The female voice in Song of Songs presents issues of sex and sexuality in a new way. As such, it is proposed that the latter voice, read through the hermeneutical lens of Kenyan women’s poetry or poetry on Kenyan women, has the potential to inform and therefore to transform the patriarchal setting of the Kenyan society. It is only if Kenyan women are empowered to negotiate safe sex and to express their sexuality on their own terms and conditions, that this will be fully realized.
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    For king and country: an ideological critical study of covenant in Jeremiah 11:1-17 and Kingship in Jeremiah 22:1-23:8 as examples of cultural violence
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Gertzen, Marius; Claassens, L. Juliana M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study offers an ideological critical investigation of the notion of covenant in Jeremiah 11:1-17 and kingship in Jeremiah 22:1-23:8 as examples of cultural violence. Employing the theoretical framework of Johan Galtung with reference to direct, structural and cultural violence, the ideological-literary aspects and ideological-contextual aspects of the world in, behind and in front of these texts are explored. In Chapter 2 of this study the theoretical framework of Galtung pertaining to direct, structural and cultural violence is critically discussed. Cultural violence as exemplified by, for instance, religion and ideology is shown by Galtung to justify or legitimise direct or structural violence. Cultural violence makes direct and structural violence look, even feel, right – or at least not wrong. Cultural violence thus plays a crucial role in legitimising acts of direct violence, and rendering the fact of structural violence acceptable in society. In Chapter 3, the world of Jeremiah is investigated. Textual aspects of structure, genre and the Deuteronomistic source informing Jeremiah are brought into conversation with the historical, social and religious aspects of the world of Jeremiah. In Chapter 4 the notion of covenant is defined and interrogated. After offering a diachronic as well as a synchronic analysis of covenant in the Hebrew Bible in its Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) context, this chapter addresses the way in which covenant features in Jeremiah 11:1-17. This includes the ideological-literary manifestation of judgement; the text’s close affinity to the Deuteronomistic ideological worldview; and Jeremiah 11’s correspondence with the temple sermon of Jeremiah 7. These aspects are then used to investigate the ways in which the temple in Jerusalem can be perceived as an example of structural violence and the process of the centralisation of the cult as an example of direct violence. Thereafter, covenant as cultural violence is explored in terms of the covenantal ideology of election; the covenantal ideology of Zion; and the covenantal ideology of the Deuteronomistic. Lastly, it is demonstrated how the direct, structural and cultural violence of covenant in Jeremiah 11:1-17 are closely related to each other by utilising the violence triangle and violence strata image of Galtung. In Chapter 5 of this study the notion of kingship is defined and interrogated. The monarchical state is identified as a theoretical vehicle that is useful for investigating kingship in Israel. The synchronic focus of kingship on divine election and the upholding of justice in the ANE and Israel is investigated, where after diachronic aspects of the divine election and the upholding of justice of selected kings of Israel are explored in conjunction with aspects of direct and structural violence pertaining to the monarchical states during the reign of these kings. The direct violence of the monarchical state of Jehoiakim is discussed in terms of the practise of corvée labour, as well as the structural violence of the monarchical state pertaining to functions of the state as introduced by Solomon but continuing to the time of Jehoiakim. The theology of kingship is discussed especially with reference to the way in which the future promise of a just king is used in Jeremiah 22:1-23:8 to save the institution of kingship. Mention is also made of how the royal psalms can be seen as the popular discourse that kept the elective position of the king before YHWH alive, even if the prophets saw this relationship as a thing of the past. Lastly, the direct, structural and cultural violence of kingship in Jeremiah 22:1-23:8 are once again brought into conversation with each other by employing the violence triangle and violence strata image of Galtung. Finally, the study shows how an understanding of the theoretical framework of Galtung regarding violence may help one to better understand the direct, structural and cultural violence of the ideology of Apartheid in a contemporary South African context. The study concludes by showing the dangers of an inerrant view of Scripture, but also cautions against limiting the violence of Scripture to only texts that contain visible direct violence.
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    The Sin of Gibeah? : reading Judges 19 and Hosea 9-10 in the context of migration and trauma
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-11-12) Fry, Alexiana Dawn; Claassens, L. Juliana M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation explores an intertextual connection of the texts Judges 19 and Hosea 9-10 based on the phrase “the sin of Gibeah” through the methodological lenses of trauma hermeneutics and migration theory. With particular consideration of the impact of the Judean exile on texts not only in the exilic period, but also post-exilic, I propose in this study that the sin of Gibeah can best be understood as one of Othering. A central argument of this dissertation is that both Judges 19 and Hosea 9-10 can be read as stories of migration, as writing impacted by exile, depicting the horrors the community had experienced. In these texts, we find that the literary figures of the bodies of the women Gomer and the nameless Concubine are characters through whom the trauma of migration played out in order to make sense of the senseless for the community in the form of narratives. Yet, from the position of the authorship of both texts, this understanding is not necessarily to be condoned. The sin of Gibeah as Othering demands that the history of exile be told with all truth, with all horror, even as it calls many to account. The importance of these biblical narratives of migration is brought into sharper focus when read also in the context of contemporary narratives of migration. The role of trauma narratives as formative, enabling the re-making experience for both individuals and communities impacted by migrating, manifests in biblical as well as contemporary stories of migration. In exploring the intersection of trauma, migration, and gender in contemporary discussions on migration, specifically in my context of the United States, this study’s understanding of the sin of Gibeah as the sin of Othering continues to point the finger at those in power, asking if we too will bear witness.
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    Unmanned and unmade : uncovering violence, emasculation, and shame in Nahum 3
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-02 ) O'Malley, Mel Baars; Claassens, L. Juliana M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation explores the intersection of cultural trauma and masculinity in the book of Nahum to better understand the sexual violence described in the text. God’s rape of Nineveh, and by extension, the king of Assyria and his army of warriors, is deeply problematic. However, avoiding and ignoring this text misses an opportunity to understand the book of Nahum as a survival narrative, written in response to trauma and disaster in the Judean community. This violent portrayal offers a glimpse into the real experience of emasculation of male survivors of sexual trauma, not only in the past, but also in the present. Exploring what male survivors endure in Nahum provides particular insight into the experience of male survivors of Military Sexual Trauma (MST) today. This study seeks to illuminate the connections between warriors of the past and of the present who share common ground and to understand the loss of identity, both of maleness and of vocation, which ensues in the aftermath of rape. Nahum demonstrates the insidious power of patriarchy and the enduring problem of hegemonic masculinity. By exploring constructs of gender, it becomes clear that when a man, especially a warrior, is raped, either as a show of power or after being defeated on the battlefield, he undergoes an unmanning process. In essence, he is no longer a man. The experience of emasculation is traumatic and causes a male survivor to become isolated not only from God and others but also from himself. Neglecting Nahum’s story denies the reality concerning male rape, which remains hidden to this day. Consequently, survivors are often cut off from needed social support which could contribute to the recovery journey. Uncovering Nahum and its horrific violence is an opportunity to see spiritual and emotional wounds that have been buried for far too long. Interpreting the violence in this book through the lens of cultural trauma empowers the reader to better understand the male survivor’s journey including emasculation, shame, and isolation. With this knowledge unearthed, the journey of healing may become possible. For those with the courage to read it, Nahum’s survival story is, and has been, a teacher of trauma’s truths over the millennia. By reading Nahum and contemplating its implications for male survivors, the rarely discussed consequences of sexual violence against men can be more fully recognized and addressed.