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Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos

Paul Caneparo

There are 3 books by the above author on sale in the free book of the month promotions. At first glance you might think they're commentaries, but on BestCommentaries.com they appear as "special studies". Has anyone used any of the resources on sale and have any insights?

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Lew Worthington

I have not, but I bought all of them and they're on my very short list of things to read. I'm pretty excited to get started. I can let you know when I find something if the information is still valid by the time I finished.

MJ. Smith

have any insights?

I would suspect a prejudice against narrative criticism on the part of BestCommentaries.com which tends to favor gramatical-historical commentaries. This is not to be taken as a negative complaint but rather as a recognition of what information they are best at providing.

[quote]

Cycle I: Crossing and Conquest (Joshua 1–12)

Act I: Capture of the First City (Joshua 1–6)

If a people and its land share an inseparable bond, how can an immigrant people claim an attachment?1

The first Act of the Cycle consists of episodes leading up to and including the conquest of Jericho. Two chapters, 1–2, prepare directly for the crossing of the Jordan River and following conquest, as well as for the entire book. Joshua is commissioned and commissions the people in turn, and two spies on a reconnaissance mission are protected by a Canaanite prostitute, an act that is central to the success of the invading army but also to protecting her own life and that of her family. Moreover, her presence at the start and at the end of the first act (6:22–23, 25) reflects the lived experience of early Israel as one of coexistence with many of its immediate neighbors. The crossing of the Jordan is related in fine detail in chapters 3 and 4, ending in the construction of two memorials. Chapter 5 describes the important marking of the separation between wilderness existence and conquering the land with ceremonies of circumcision and Pesach. Finally, the city of Jericho is captured, beginning with an initial appearance of a heavenly messenger followed by a ceremonial procession around the town for seven days, at the end of which the city falls without resistance.

Act I, Scene 1: Commission and Reconnaissance (Joshua 1–2)

Complete obedience and complete conquest.2

Canaan, like Rahab, is portrayed as an open space.3

Although chapter 1 can be understood as a unit by itself, considering it together with chapter 2 makes for a more interesting and thematically complex beginning to the book. Both chapters are placed at a point in time before the crossing of the Jordan (and as such the two belong together), while at the same time they are linked through matching as well as divergent concerns. Joshua 1 represents the commissioning of Joshua in a direct speech from God, and in his turn, Joshua commissions the leaders of the community. The chapter is thoroughly theological, with strong links to Deuteronomy and references to other texts of the Torah. God makes pronouncements, and male characters are in positions of leadership, with Joshua in first place. In chapter 2, God is not actively present and the initially male characters make way for a female non-Israelite who lives on the margins of her community.
In chapter 1, the stage is crowded with people: Joshua is present throughout, receiving instruction and encouragement from God and passing it on to official representatives of the people. Those of the tribes already in possession of land east of the Jordan get special mention and instructions. The chapter ends with the people pledging obedience to Joshua and adding their voice to the divine assurance of support. Almost the entire chapter consists of speech, exhibits the slow tempo that defines such a text, and leaves the people positioned in one place. Chapter 2 opens with Joshua and two unnamed male spies before immediately introducing a named Canaanite female with an untraditional profession. Joshua speaks only one line in the chapter, four words in Hebrew (2:1), and disappears from the scene until the end of the episode. The woman, Rahab, is in the center of the action in virtually the entire chapter, is assigned a major role in the survival of the spies, and is thereby in control of at least the opening moves of the conquest. She also receives the largest amount of speech. There is a good deal of narration and movement: of the spies to the house of Rahab, of the Canaanite pursuers sent by the chieftain of Jericho, and of Rahab herself, ending with the spies returning to home base. Speech is rendered as conversation rather than monologue as in the first chapter, and in addition is for the most part not stereotypical but betrays lively interchange and delineates character. Speech in the first chapter takes place to a great extent in the open, while in chapter 2 the crucial action and speech happen in the enclosed spaces of city and house.
Finally, the tone of the two chapters is strongly contrastive. Joshua 1 testifies to the hortatory style one encounters in Deuteronomy, hammering home certain phrases and themes, while Joshua 2 engages from the start in double entendre and word play.
These two chapters together are, on the other hand, linked by the concern of “crossing,” a major theme in the opening scenes of Joshua. The first words of God to Joshua contain the command to “cross the Jordan.” The first people to do so, although the verb is absent in the opening lines of chapter 2, are the spies who must cross the Jordan twice in order to fulfill their task. The people as a whole stay east of the Jordan in both chapters. The spies cross more than the boundary of a river by bedding down in the house of a prostitute, and Rahab herself crosses the limits of loyalty to her own people by her alliance with the spies and through them with the invaders. She is moreover, as a prostitute, a person who professionally and habitually crosses the borders of propriety and acceptable behavior and owns an unstable identity to begin with—her marginal existence exemplified by her dwelling inside the wall of the city. Her only obvious power in the story consists of possessing information regarding the whereabouts of Joshua’s emissaries. She is able to negotiate this power to her own advantage as well as that of her Israelite visitors.
We can break down chapter 1 into two sequences of approximately the same length, both consisting almost entirely of speech: verses 1–10 and 11–18. Only verses 1 and 12 and the first words of verse 16 comprise descriptive narration. In the first half, the opening lines set the time period as one directly following the death of a major character, Moses, a standard opening that serves as a transition point, closing off previous episodes and setting the stage for new events. Moses is identified as “the servant of Adonai” with Joshua positioned as “the assistant of Moses.” Only at the end of the book will Joshua be promoted to the title “servant of Adonai” (24:29). Without further detail as to time or place, the text launches into the speech of God to Joshua, a speech that continues until the halfway point of the chapter. The speech consists of the formal commissioning of Joshua, with an elaboration of earlier commissions reported in Numbers and Deuteronomy (Num 27:18–23; Deut 31:14, 23). It is made up of commands and promises. The commands relate to action but above all to the appropriate mindset; the promises concern the gift of the land and the assurance of God’s presence.
Now that Moses has departed this life, it is time for action. Hence God’s first command is to “arise” and “cross.” Joshua and the people are located on the side of a river they need to cross before they can take possession of the land. It will take a good deal of text before this crossing is accomplished, but its importance is indicated by these two verbs of action. The place where they (i.e. Joshua and “all this people”) are is where they will leave behind wilderness existence under the guidance of Moses and the place from where they will begin their existence in the land under the guidance of Joshua. It is a land that God is “giving” to them. The fact of the gift is repeated in the opening part of the speech (2–3) and is emphasized in Joshua’s instructions to the people that follow (11, 13, 15; 3×). The extent of the gift of land is specified in verse 4 but in such a way that its boundaries are unclear, only generally indicated as running from south to north and east to west, with the southern and western borders marked by the geographical endpoints of desert and sea. Daniel Hawk, in his commentary, suggests that this imprecise delineation “injects a sense of uncertainty into the very important matter of defining the boundaries of the land.”4 A purposeful ambiguity is possible, or it may be that the unrealistic limits in north and east—as far as the great river Euphrates no less!—point to the ideal of land possession, hearkening back to other delineations and the description of the land as “wide and good” (Gen 15:18; see p. 61). The promise of the land is followed by a promise of presence. Just as God had once promised ongoing presence to Moses at the outset of his mission to free the slaves from Egyptian bondage (Exod 3:12, 14; 4:12), God promises presence to Joshua at the conclusion of this mission: “As I was with Moses, I will be with you. I will not desert or abandon you” (5). This promise forms the capstone to all that precedes it.
The second part of the first sequence (1:6–9) is in the form of a command but concerns disposition rather than action. The “strength” and “courage” mentioned relate to the mindset required of Joshua rather than to the amassing of a proper army. The gift of the land is, after all, conditioned on sticking closely to the instruction Joshua has received (7), for that way lies success. It looks as if the obstacle to Joshua’s success is not the difficulty of meeting a hostile indigenous population or the weakness of his own crowd but a potential lack of resolve and caving in to fear. Twice the admonition sounds to “be strong and courageous” (6, 7), to be repeated a final time in the form of a rhetorical question (9). This mindset will express itself in acting on the “Teaching” (torah) of Moses, God’s servant (7). It is a written text which needs to be pondered and repeated so that proper action will follow what is “written” (8).
The divine speech concludes with an admonition not to be afraid, ending with a renewed promise of presence (9). Strength, courage, persistence in attention to Moses’s instruction, and lack of fear, qualities that need to characterize Joshua’s disposition, are enclosed in a divine dedication to presence (5, 9). The encouragement not to fear will be repeated three times in the conquest episodes (8:1; 10:8; 11:6), most likely indicating that there was a great deal to be afraid of rather than pointing to a flaw in Joshua’s character. The other caution, not to veer from the instruction of Moses, is a crucial component of the task ahead for Joshua and, at the same time, a warning to the community in which the final version of Joshua was composed. Their identity lay not in numbers, which had never characterized them, nor in extraordinary equipment or strength in battle. Those were certainly not resources they could trust after the Babylonian exile and return to the land. What identifies them is the text, the “scroll of the Teaching [torah]” referred to in Joshua 1:8, to which they must turn for guidance. Acting on it would be their way to any prosperity and success, which at the time of the Judean restoration consisted of surviving as a unique, cohesive community.5
The voice of the Deuteronomistic Theologian(s) is strong in this speech, providing many links with Deuteronomy. Joshua is connected securely to Moses, who is mentioned four times in the first three verses and twice more in what follows.6 There are literal repetitions between Deuteronomy 31:1–8 and Joshua 1:6, 7, and 9. There is a strong emphasis on the land as gift—a gift contingent on the observance of the instruction given by Moses. The adjective “all” resounds throughout in the lines “all this people” (2), “all places” (3), “all the land of” (4), “all the days of” (5), “all the Teaching” (7), and “all that is written” (8).
The second sequence consists of three parts. First, Joshua addresses the “commanders of the people” to get the people ready for the river crossing that is ahead (1:10–11); the second part, sitting in the center of this sequence, contains a detailed instruction to the tribes that already inhabit the Transjordan (12–15); finally, the chapter closes with a response from those who receive Joshua’s instructions (16–18), so that verses 16–18 correspond to verses 10–11. The short report in 10–11 begins with an order to the commanders to “cross” through the camp and to “command” the people to get ready because they are about to enter “the land that Adonai your God is giving you to possess.”

1 L. Daniel Hawk, “Indigenous Helpers and Invader Homelands,” in Joshua and Judges, ed. Athalya Brenner and Gale A. Yee (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2013), 109–22, 113.

2 Sarah Lebhar Hall, Conquering Character: The Characterization of Joshua in Joshua 1–11 (London: T&T Clark, 2010), 15.

3 Nāsili Vaka‘uta, “Border Crossing/Body Whoring: Rereading Rahab of Jericho with Native Women,” in Bible, Borders, Belonging(s): Engaging Readers from Oceania, ed. Jione Havea, David J. Neville, and Elaine M. Wainwright (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2004), 152.

4 L. Daniel Hawk, Joshua, Berit Olam (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000), 8.

5 In Jewish liturgical tradition, Joshua 1:1–18 is the haftarah for Simchat Torah.

6 “Joshua is in a long line of Israelite leaders in the former prophets whose leadership is evaluated against the backdrop of the law of Moses” (Lebhar Hall, Conquering Character, 13).

Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos, The End of the Beginning: Joshua and Judges, vol. 1, A People and a Land (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2019), 52–58.

Ted Weis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1256459#Comment_1256459

I'm preaching through 1 Samuel, currently in chapter 25, and found his remarks insightful. Mostly observes the big picture-narrative structure, with detailed observations when warranted. Recommended pick up, especially for the price IMHO.

Paul Caneparo

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1256496#Comment_1256496

I'm preaching through 1 Samuel, currently in chapter 25, and found his remarks insightful. Mostly observes the big picture-narrative structure, with detailed observations when warranted. Recommended pick up, especially for the price IMHO.

Thanks Ted. It's interesting you say "his insights" as Johanna is a lady and one point that concerned me is I can see from a Google preview of the book she says "As always, I have written as a scholar of the Bible with deep commitments to feminism and issues of gender and to analysis of patriarchal structures and ideologies." I wonder whether your reference to "his insights" suggests this agenda is purely insightful rather than overpower the commentary.

Thanks MJ too.

Robert M. Warren

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1256502#Comment_1256502

Thanks for your helpful comment, Paul. I can add that she also wrote Reimagining God—The Case for Scriptural Diversity and Called Out With: Stories of Solidarity in Support of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Persons. I don't think these works are available in Logos. She also taught a course: Feminist / Womanist / Mujerista Liberation Theology [breathe]. When my mujercita is liberated from her slumber this morning, I'll ask her what a Mujerista is.

Sean

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1256459#Comment_1256459

Samuels are probably my favorite books of the OT. I don't specifically that I "need" them (as in, when I would use or even getting around to read them), but at that price I had to snatch them up.

I would suspect a prejudice against narrative criticism on the part of BestCommentaries.com which tends to favor gramatical-historical commentaries.

A few years back, the Berit Olam commentary on 2 Samuel was similarly offered on sale. Also focused on narrative and literary commentary, it was a delight to read. I read it simultaneously with the Word Biblical Commentary and the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary; the contrast between them all was quite illuminating. It's left me with a desire for more volumes from this series (i.e., Berit Olam), but alas, neither time nor money for commentaries is unlimited.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1256507#Comment_1256507

what a Mujerista is.

For the benefit of those who do not read handbooks and dictionaries on methodologies for fun. I highly recommend this book as a way to broaden your ways of thinking of scripture and/or for scraping some of the debris off your Scriptural lens. Not all methods are productive of new, true, and useful insights for a particular reader but knowing the broad terrain enriches one's reading of scripture.

MUJERISTA THEOLOGY/CRITICISM
A theology/criticism born out of a struggle of Latina women for freedom and acceptance in the world and to find a place where their beliefs and ideals are not merely included as part of the whole but are seriously considered and allowed to hold a place of respect equal to those of white and black women. Called the theology of grassroots Latinas, this theology has as its central focus the liberation of Hispanic women.
Historical background. The Latin American Conference on Theology from the Perspective of Women in Argentina met in 1985 in Buenos Aires from October 30 to November 3; there twenty-seven women from nine Latin American countries came together to set in motion the task of Latin American women’s LIBERATION THEOLOGY. In 1986, this meeting was followed by the Intercontinental Women’s Conference in Mexico. Both of these conferences recognized the contributions of women to the field of theology and marked the starting point of the serious development of mujerista theology. Some of the main players in the movement are Elsa Tamez, a Mexican Bible scholar and dean of the Latin American Biblical University in Costa Rica; Professor Maria Pilar Aquino; the Brazilian Ivone Gebara; and Cuban-American seminary professors Ada María Isasi-Díaz and Daisy Machado.
Hispanic women’s theology. Mujerista theology is described by its founder and most vocal proponent, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, as “Hispanic women’s theology … born of the intersection of feminism, Hispanic culture, and the struggle for liberation. It is a communal theology … and honors the distinctiveness of Hispanic culture” (Baker-Fletcher). Through her experiences and struggles as a Cuban-American and female theologian, Isasi-Díaz desired to help form a dynamic theology taken from the voices and perspectives of Hispanic women in the United States; she wanted to bridge the gap between “the academic theological world and the Hispanic women’s community” (“The Task,” 89). For Isasi-Díaz and her colleague Yolanda Tarango (Mexican-American founder of Las Hermanas, a mujerista organization), the first and perhaps the most important step in developing a theology was to find a name (Isasi-Díaz, “Mujerista Theology’s Method,” 123–28). Isasi-Díaz and those working with her decided to turn to an integral part of Hispanic culture—its music—for inspiration in naming the “essence” of woman. In Spanish songs of all types, women are simply referred to as mujer. Thus, according to Isasi-Díaz, “those who make a preferential option for mujeres are mujeristas” (“The Task,” 98). Officially organized in 1987, mujerismo as a movement establishes few theological parameters in deciding who can and cannot consider herself a mujerista; however, a mujerista must be a woman of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican descent who lives in the United States, and her primary motivation for interpreting the world and MEANING must be communal liberation (Floyd-Thomas and Gillman, 37–39; Isasi Díaz, “The Task,” 99–100). What makes Hispanic women’s theology different from any other theology, especially that of other women and of Hispanic men? Isasi-Díaz explains the “distinctness” of mujerista theology by discussing the Hispanic woman’s need for liberation from various oppressors and oppressive lifestyles; the mujerismo definition of liberation as it encompasses certain ideas about solidarity and salvation; mujerismo’s goals for theology; sources for theology; the way of doing theology as PRAXIS; and finally, some of mujerismo’s unique theological beliefs.
The need for liberation. How are Hispanic women living in the United States in need of liberation? Are they not treated as equals, like all other individuals in our society? According to Isasi-Díaz, Hispanic women are not treated as equals in society and are in fact oppressed in a variety of ways. First of all, there exists a lack of respect in American society for Hispanic culture in general, rooted in the racist and ethnic prejudice prevalent in the United States today (Mujerista Theology, 17, 32). Hispanics are forced to give up many aspects of their culture in order to succeed in American society. Isasi-Díaz offers the example of her being able to transport only samples from her mother’s garden in Cuba to the United States, just cuttings and pieces taken from the whole; she was unable to inherit the whole garden. She says, “That is what happens to the Hispanic culture in the United States. It is sacked and raped” (17).
Hispanic women experience oppression within their own culture as well, however, and are often marginalized and mistreated according to certain Latin norms. Machismo and other forms of male domination demean women’s roles in the home as well as intellectually and sexually. Although Hispanic women’s typical domains are within the domestic family SETTING, they are usually so overworked with daily tasks that it is not abnormal for many to suffer from sleep deprivation (Isasi-Díaz, “Un poquito,” 328). Outside the home, women are rarely taken seriously, both within and outside Hispanic circles. Hispanic women are seldom consulted in making decisions of policy or programs within the community, although they are often called on to do the work of implementing those decisions (Isasi-Díaz, “Mujeristas: A Name,” 123; idem, “Praxis,” 45). Not being allowed any other type of power or voice, many Hispanic women turn to using their sexuality for leverage. Barbara Strickland, a longtime missionary to Honduras and professor of Spanish and Hispanic studies in the United States, says, “Hispanic women are often forced to use their sexuality in order to live; it is their only playing card” (from interview with Strickland). Mujeristas say that the cause of women abusing their bodies sexually stems from their lack of understanding their bodies as being intrinsic to who they are; Hispanic culture denies women sexual desire or pleasure, and so the sexual act is rarely considered more than just a duty, a way to put food on the table, or a necessity for procreation (Isasi-Díaz, MUJERISTA Theology, 142–43).
Although mujeristas do admit to oppression within their own culture, they consider the greater American culture and society to be the main source of their oppression. In addition to American society’s strangling of Hispanic cultural expression, American society uses oppressive language when referring to women and also robs them economically. Isasi-Díaz claims that the English word “woman” refers only to middle- and upper-class white women within traditional American society. When other groups want to be totally heard or visible, they must add adjectives to the word, such as “poor woman,” “African-American woman,” or “Hispanic woman.” Furthermore, the term “feminist” always connotes “lesbian” or “bisexual,” which is negative because such lifestyles deviate from the norm of the dominant and controlling society (Isasi-Díaz, Mujerista Theology, 20). In addition to inherent oppression within the English language, Hispanic women are economically oppressed by American society. Hispanic women are often the poorest members of American society and are almost always the ones responsible for supporting themselves and their children (Moody, 47).
Of all the various types of oppression they face, mujeristas are most vocal about the oppression they experience from other feminist organizations and also from the church and its TRADITIONs. Active feminist groups within the United States virtually ignore the plight of Hispanic women and refuse to acknowledge that Hispanic women have unique and individual needs that are unlike women of other ethnicities. Furthermore, such organizations refuse to admit that there is prejudice within their own circles. Even more than feminist prejudice, mujeristas feel very strongly about the oppressive structures of the church. Author on FEMINIST CRITICISM Linda Moody (50) writes in contempt for the Catholic Church’s stubbornness in refusing to grant bona fide leadership positions to women. Others criticize the church for perpetuating what has become a church-sanctified sense of “holiness” in pain and struggle; this form of masochism is simply a way for the church’s patriarchal society (see PATRIARCHY) to continue oppressing Hispanic women (Isasi-Díaz, “Un poquito,” 338). Isasi-Díaz further castigates the church for its claim to understand and possess OBJECTIVE TRUTH: “Most of the time, what is considered objectivity is the subjectivity of dominant groups who can impose their understandings on others and use those understandings as ideological tools for control over the poor and the oppressed” (Mujerista Theology, 37, 129). From Isasi-Díaz’s point of view, objectivity is never attainable, and to claim it for one’s INTERPRETATION is a falsehood and thus sin. Mujerista theologians strive to rise above such sin and admit to complete subjectivity, since their interpretations arise solely from the Hispanic woman’s own CONTEXT and perspective.
The struggle. The Hispanic woman’s daily experience of cultural, physical, intellectual, sexual, communicative, economic, organizational, and religious oppression is what mujeristas call la lucha, the struggle. La lucha includes not only a woman’s physical fight for survival but also her cultural and spiritual fight. Out of the existence of that struggle comes the Hispanic woman’s need for liberation. As a liberation theology, mujerismo defines liberation as an “expression of the aspiration of oppressed peoples and social classes” (Isasi-Díaz, “The Task,” 89). Interestingly, however, the mujerista seems much more concerned with liberation for the oppressed Hispanic women living in the United States than with liberation for other oppressed groups. Within the female Hispanic community, liberation is not something that one individual can accomplish herself. Liberation is a communal process in which oppressed individuals work together to create a new reality that is different from the present oppressive one.
Liberation. The mujerista idea of liberation is intricately tied to what mujeristas consider solidarity and salvation. Isasi-Díaz suggests a new way for contemporary culture to look at the traditional Christian behavior of love; she calls it solidarity. By solidarity she means a sense of relation, support, and understanding primarily between members of communities of struggle but also between the oppressor and the oppressed. A Christian should always be concerned with loving the neighbor—that is the goal of Christianity. And who is our neighbor? Isasi-Díaz says that our neighbors are “the least of our sisters and brothers”; our neighbors are the poor and oppressed (Mujerista Theology, 88–89). Thus, in order to be in solidarity, oppressed people should always strive to care for one another and work together for the greater goal of liberation. Also, the oppressor should always strive not only to understand and empathize with the plight of the poor and oppressed but also to participate actively in helping them realize liberation (86): “There can be no salvation without liberation, though no single act of liberation can be totally identified with salvation in its fullness” (90). Mujerista theology is concerned with what Isasi-Díaz calls “the unfolding of the ‘kindom’ of God.” The absence of the letter g from the word kingdom poignantly illustrates the mujerista belief that salvation and being part of the kingdom of God are achieved through a communal process of liberation—a necessary sense of kinship between God and the individual, and between the individual and others. Even though mujeristas usually recognize Christ as the Son of God and consider his death on the cross to be God’s salvific act for humankind (although a few sources disagree with this view), they consider an individual’s participation in the act of salvation as being a part of the active communal effort to transform the world from oppressive to liberating structures (90).
Within the framework of a liberation theology, mujeristas claim to have certain goals. Isasi-Díaz lists them as follows:

(1) to provide a platform for the voices of Latina grassroots women, (2) to develop a theological method that takes seriously the religious understandings and practices of Latinas as a source of theology, and (3) to challenge theological understandings, church teachings, and religious practices that oppress Latina women, that are not life-giving and therefore cannot be theologically correct.

Such are the sociological understandings, teachings, and practices that mujeristas consider to be oppressive and are trying to work against. As for a theological method, mujerista theology draws from a variety of sources and then uses those sources in unique ways to accomplish an active working theology referred to as praxis.
Source of theology. The primary source from which mujeristas draw their theology is the everyday life of average Hispanic women, known as lo cotidiano. A mujerista theologian is concerned about how the daily tasks of caring for a family, working at a job, dealing with various prejudices, and so forth affect the way Hispanic women view the world and go about finding their own truth. Why do Hispanic women pray? When do Hispanic women (who live in the United States) speak Spanish and when do they speak English, and what SIGNIFICANCE does that have? How do Hispanic women respond to different prejudices? A woman’s daily experiences are considered to be the main source of her being—where she practices religion. How genuine a woman’s faith may or may not be becomes much more obvious when she goes through her daily routine than when she attends mass or goes to confession. Isasi-Díaz states, “Lo cotidiano is the epistemological framework of our theological enterprise. It is a way of understanding theology, our attempt to explain how we understand the divine, what we know about the divine” (Mujerista Theology, 68, 71). She goes on to qualify the fact that although each woman’s personal experience of life justifies her own sense of truth and religion, mujeristas cannot be said to adhere to total relativism or a lack of morality. “We do recognize and hold liberation to be the criterion or principle by which we judge what is right or wrong, good or bad, salvific or condemnatory” (69). Since mujerista theology seems to claim only liberation as a source of moral value, how do mujeristas hermeneutically approach the BIBLE, and what is its purpose?
“Bible stories become ours when we use them because we need to, and to make them be helpful in a given situation we change even central elements of the story itself, highlighting perhaps nonessential elements. It is not that the integrity of the text is not important; it is that the need to survive takes precedence” (Isasi-Díaz, Mujerista Theology, 152). Mujerista theology seeks to lift out of the Bible passages and concepts that serve to legitimate and perpetuate the fight for liberation. In many respects, the Bible does not speak directly to Hispanic women or even to women in general, when considering their need to free themselves from oppressive structures (125). Furthermore, many Hispanic women do not feel comfortable or prepared to interpret or decide what certain texts mean. Isasi-Díaz suggests that there is a need among Hispanic women for an increased familiarity with the Bible, primarily to ensure that a greater number of Hispanic women have a greater voice in BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS (159). Isasi-Díaz further elaborates on her concern for Hispanic women who are currently comfortable in reading and deriving meaning from biblical texts (mostly evangelicals, charismatics, and Pentecostals), since many are being oppressed and forced into developing certain philosophies and ideas about certain texts because those guiding them in interpretation do not allow for deviance from “traditional views.” According to mujerista theology, the Bible should be used as a source for theology only inasmuch as it adds to discussion and reflection on oppression and liberation (160–61).
Although certainly not considered a main source in the development of mujerista theology, the church—particularly the Roman Catholic Church—is a common element within the community of Hispanic women, and thus a legitimate source for theology. Most Hispanic women refer to themselves as Christian Catholics even if they do not attend church; as such, they apply at least some teachings of Catholicism to their faith. Even though many, if not most, aspects of Catholicism are oppressive in nature, according to mujeristas, the lived experience of Hispanic women reflects an intrinsic sense of church and religion that has become a defining part of their culture and that constitutes much of how Hispanic women view God, Jesus, prayer, and the Bible (Isasi-Díaz, “Mujerista Theology’s Method,” 128). Nevertheless, the religious and theological views of most Hispanic women, while reflecting important Catholic beliefs, also reflect beliefs of other religions.
“We insist on the normative, graced, and even universal dimensions of the salvific manifestations of non-Christian religions.” For a mujerista, theology relies on a diverse mixture of sources, which include not only pre-Reformation, Spanish European, and American Catholic religions but also African and Amerindian religions (Isasi-Díaz, Mujerista Theology, 74–75). For example, the common term “Our Lady of Regla” is a title for Mary that is identified with Yemaya, the Lucumi African religion’s goddess of the sea (Moody, 79). The Cuban Santa Barbara is identified with Chango, the Yoruban god of thunder. The Mexican Lady of Guadalupe, while often identified with the mother of Jesus, is equally identified with Tonantzin, the Aztec goddess who was mother of all the gods (118). Mujerista leaders Isasi-Díaz and Tarango claim their theology to be Christian even as it draws from extra-Christian theological sources. According to them, mujerista theology can be considered a form of Christianity because most mujeristas identify themselves with Christianity. They maintain that it is not difficult for two or three traditions reflecting beliefs in different gods to be incorporated into a legitimate faith structure. “We take from each religious strand what is life-giving, what is important for the struggle of survival, and leave aside what is not relevant or harmful” (119). How do the sources of lo cotidiano, the Bible, Catholicism, and non-Christian religions work together to form an active, vibrant theology that helps define and liberate Hispanic women?
In mujerista theology, the most important part in deriving theological meaning from a variety of theological sources is the necessity of praxis. For mujeristas, theology is a verb: action is a primary component. Also, each individual woman is a theologian: theology is defined by the whole community rather than just by an academic elite (Isasi-Díaz, “The Task,” 90). In doing theology, theologians gather in groups to discuss and reflect on their diverse views of life, their diverse experiences, and their diverse religious understandings in order to develop a communal theology with liberation at its core. In discussing their views, theologians should look for and discover the subversive and oppressive structures that they are forced to deal with every day. Through such reflection, the women as a group will begin to realize and create ways for each person to use her personal gifts so that greater liberation may be accomplished for the whole community. Some women may serve as artists, and others as musicians, writers, speakers, demonstrators, and more. Isasi-Díaz gives examples of what using personal gifts for doing theology is really about:

Hispanic women protesting the lack of city services in the South Bronx, emptying a bag of trash on the desk of the city official who could order the garbage to be picked up more frequently in the area where the women live—that is doing Hispanic women’s liberation theology [used in this context to refer to mujerismo]. A woman struggling in a meeting controlled by Hispanic men to pass a resolution that would ensure a certain percentage of women in each of the delegations to an important national meeting—that is doing Hispanic women’s liberation theology. Four women testifying in front of a group of Roman Catholic bishops about the oppression of Hispanic women in church as well as in society, finishing their presentation by giving each of the bishops a stone and telling them, “We have asked for bread and you have given us a stone. Put these stones on your altars when you celebrate Eucharist and remember us Hispanic women, struggling for our liberation and the liberation of our people”—that is doing Hispanic women’s liberation theology. (“The Task,” 90–91)

Isasi-Díaz takes time to single out the gifts of women who possess certain skills and who lead their community in reflection. The first woman is comfortable in the area of EXEGESIS, social science, languages, ARCHAEOLOGY, or history. She will be the one to offer the ideas of her community to the theologians of her field in order to help them interpret reality from a mujerista perspective. She is called the “theological technician.” The second woman is in charge of making sure that the reflection of the community is gathered and recorded; she is called the “enabler.” The third woman, who may or may not also be the enabler, gives a voice to her community by recording what the community is saying; she must accurately represent her fellow women and must be continuously accountable to them. She is called the “writer” (91–94). While affirming the importance of these individual roles, Isasi-Díaz emphasizes that the essence of mujerista theology is in communal reflection and action; no individual should be uplifted more than another. The community must experience all parts of life as a unit, for in community lies liberation, and in liberation lies salvation.
Praxis. This praxis that is called mujerista theology is used in the practical application of theological principles and SCRIPTURE in unique ways. One of the most written-about applications of praxis in mujerista theology is the mujerista’s definition of God. God is seen as the God of the poor and oppressed, the God of life, and a relational God. In viewing God as the God of the poor and oppressed, mujeristas will not refer to God as Dios todopoderoso, “all-powerful God.” While they do not deny that God is all-powerful, mujeristas simply do not consider that aspect of God’s character to be important for them. Representing the voices of many Hispanic women, Isasi-Díaz questions, “If God is all-powerful, why am I oppressed, why do I not have enough money to send my children to school or to take my mother to the doctor?” (“Praxis,” 47).
In an effort to reconcile their circumstances with their faith, mujeristas choose to focus on God as being all-merciful toward the poor and oppressed. God takes sides with the suffering (usually women and their children) and shows them mercy in big and small ways (Moody, 79). The notion of God as all-merciful is reflected in mujerista biblical exegesis also. God has mercy on those in need of liberation and often intervenes for them, sometimes using women to do it. Isasi-Díaz discusses the vital roles of Shiphrah and Puah in the exodus event. In Exod. 1:15–22, the midwives Shiphrah and Puah refuse to carry out the pharaoh’s orders to kill the sons born to Hebrew women. “Without these women, the pharaoh might have been more successful in his attempt to check the Hebrew population. No liberation is possible without life; these women are indeed givers of life” (“Mujerista Theology’s Method,” 126–27). Shiphrah and Puah were vital to the exodus event in that they probably made it possible for Moses to survive as a baby and grow up to fulfill his role in God’s intended liberation for the oppressed Hebrew people.
Parallel to the mujerista theological understanding of God as the God of the poor and oppressed is the understanding of God as the God of life. According to mujeristas, God cares first and foremost about our basic needs; God does not wish that anyone starve or perish due to a lack of basic food, water, shelter, and so forth. God is concerned with people’s bodies, and a large part of God’s concern, according to mujeristas, is for the physical and sexual abuse that Hispanic women suffer. Women need to become more aware of God’s telling us that humans are both body and spirit. When either body or spirit suffers continuously, the other will bear the consequences (Isasi-Díaz, Mujerista Theology, 143). In bearing the burden of physical and sexual struggles, Hispanic women find help not in the Bible but from praying to God as their giver of life and also to Mary and the saints. “The Spirit of God and Mary are our only resources for resistance to poverty” (Moody, 79). Mujeristas believe that God accepts the fact that we can begin to focus on our spirituality only when all of our basic needs have been met.
Finally, mujeristas consider God to be a relational God: liberation occurs as humanity cries out to God and God hears. Together in relationship, God and humanity work toward liberation (79). Moody discusses how vital the story of Ruth is for mujerista theology. She says that the most important aspect of the STORY lies in the COVENANT between Ruth and Naomi because it provides a relational link between God and the two women. “These two women of differing cultural backgrounds make a commitment to each other to relate to one another just as God makes a relational commitment to humanity. The model [mujerista] offer is that Ruth and Naomi’s relatedness in friendship across the boundary of difference is the embodiment of the covenanting God” (118). First, Ruth promises to accept Naomi’s people as her people, altering the usual boundaries of familial and cultural allegiance. This has particular implications for the praxis of mujerista theology. Women should learn and understand each other’s languages and cultures. Second, Ruth promises to hear the God of Naomi. This can be applied in women’s efforts to read and hear each other’s theologies about God; women need to engage in conversation. And third, the commitment of Ruth and Naomi is lifelong. Women should pledge their total selves to one another, their whole efforts. This effort should last until death (118).
Mujerista theology is one that includes feminist, liberationist, and Hispanic perspectives together in one active way of looking at life and Christianity. Mujeristas are deeply motivated by their desire for liberation from the numerous oppressive structures that are currently in place within their own and especially within American culture. They believe that solidarity is achieved through a sense of community and that communities achieve salvation through liberation. Mujeristas use everyday life, the Bible, Catholicism, and other religions as their sources for theology. Their theology is actively implemented by average Hispanic women who understand the importance of doing rather that just thinking or writing. Within their theological FRAMEWORK, mujeristas have interesting views and hermeneutical methods; their interpretations of the significance of the stories of Shiphrah and Puah and of Ruth and Naomi are particularly important for their theology. Mujerista theology is constantly in flux because the context of the women who do the theology is constantly changing. Perhaps out of this movement will come a more concrete method that speaks to the needs of Hispanic women while at the same time holding on to certain key constructs of Christianity. Even Isasi-Díaz states, “ ‘This is the best I can do right now; this is the best way I can say it and do it right now.’ I must pray that the next time around I will do it better, say it better. That is the spirit with which I write” (Mujerista Theology, 203).

Bibliography. Karen Baker-Fletcher, “An Irresistible Power Not Ourselves,” Encounter 53 (Summer 1992): 270–89; Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas and Laura Gillman, “Facing the Medusa: Confronting the Ongoing Impossibility of Women’s Studies,” Journal of International Women’s Studies 2 (May 2001): 35–52; Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Mujerista Theology: A Theology for the Twenty-First Century (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996); idem, “Mujerista Theology’s Method: A Liberative Praxis, a Way of Life,” in Mestizo Christianity: Theology from the Latino Perspective (ed. Arturo J. Bañuelas; Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1995), 123–28; idem, “Mujeristas A Name of Our Own,” in Yearning to Breathe Free: Liberation Theologies in the U.S. (ed. Mar Peter-Raoul et al.; Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1990), 44–55; idem, “Praxis: The Heart of Mujerista Theology,” Journal of Hispanic/Latino Theology 1, no. 1 (November 1993): 44–55; idem, “The Task of Hispanic Women’s Liberation Theology—Mujeristas: Who We Are and What We Are About,” Ministerial Formation 62 (July 1993): 85–102; idem, “Un poquito de justicia—a Little Bit of Justice: A Mujerista Account of Justice,” in Hispanic/Latino Theology: Challenge and Promise (ed. Ada María Isasi-Díaz and Fernando F. Segovia; Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1996), 326–40; Linda A. Moody, Women Encounter God: Theology across the Boundaries of Difference (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996).

W. Randolph Tate, Handbook for Biblical Interpretation: An Essential Guide to Methods, Terms, and Concepts (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012), 267–274.

WOMANIST THEOLOGY/CRITICISM
A black women’s LIBERATION THEOLOGY that “is a critique of all human domination in light of black women’s experience, a faith praxis that unmasks whatever threatens the well-being of the poorest woman of color” (Moody, 82). Alice Walker, seeking an alternative word for organizing people’s thinking about black women’s “self-definitions, relationships, activities, and history, and their meaning for the black experience” (Gilkes, 10), coined the term “womanist” in 1982. According to Moody, Walker’s definition of a womanist is fourfold: (1) a womanist is a black feminist, or one of color, acting grown up, being responsible and in charge; (2) a womanist is a woman who loves other women, sexually and/or nonsexually; (3) a womanist must have a love for “music, life, dance, and the Spirit—committed to ‘the folk’ without sacrificing one’s own self”; and (4) “a womanist is to feminist as purple to lavender.” This ANALOGY conveys the idea that womanists have their own unique style, value, and commitments while still having some relationship to white feminists (Moody, 83).
Origins of womanist theology. Womanist theology developed out of two painful realities: black male theology tended to make the experience of black women invisible, and FEMINIST THEOLOGY ignored the realities of the lives of black women (Moody, 81). Because black women have felt the need to define new ways of being in the world, they have found it necessary to proclaim who they are as women and black in a world and society that does not place much value on either (Hayes, 28). To do so, black women, the mothers or bearers of African American culture, have chosen to speak for themselves because no one else is able or willing to do so. They have gone back to their spiritual roots in Africa and the United States (31).
Special interests of womanist theology. While womanist theology cannot be reduced to a set of characteristics, Diana Hayes identifies several interests. First, “mothering” is a critical a way of being among womanists in the United States because they have passed down their heritage through their children. Second, womanists also view themselves as teachers and acknowledge that “if you educate a man, you educate an individual. If you educate a woman, you educate a nation.” This statement is not intended as a denigration of men but is rather a positive posture toward both women and men. Third, womanists are not concerned about the “hereafter” but rather the “here and now.” For example, womanists see the importance not only of feeding the hungry but also of teaching the hungry to feed themselves (Hayes, 48–53). Furthermore, according to Karen Baker-Fletcher, womanists tend to have a love and respect for nature, wear attire that has to do with a “freedom of choice, freedom of movement, and respect for self and others,” and tend to dress in vibrant, deep, and passionate colors that reflect how they feel or want to feel in their spirits: creative and full of life (Baker-Fletcher, 69, 104–5).
Womanist theologians are trying to define themselves and their experiences—to embrace and love their culture, TRADITIONs, people, and people’s struggles (Hayes, 49–50). In light of this definition, womanist theology understands itself to be a liberation theology centered on the experience of black women in the United States, and it has evolved into the mirror image of black masculinity: “strong, rebellious, surviving, resisting, and heroic” (Anderson, 112). Although womanist theology is centered on the experience of black women in the United States, it also “places itself in solidarity with all women who suffer oppression: it takes the courageous position of opposing racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia” (Moody, 83). It also insists on the “interconnectedness of the human race,” which includes relatedness to African American men or to women of other racial and ethnic backgrounds (82). In addition, womanist theology tries to establish itself as a legitimate discipline within the academy while at the same time communicating in the language of “the folk,” the poor African Americans (83).
Principles of womanist theology. With respect to HERMENEUTICS, Delores Williams gives the following four principles of womanist methodology: (1) It is intentionally multidialogical, practicing itself in community with others beyond the African American women’s community. (2) It is informed by liturgical intent. It will be both accountable and challenging to the black church. (3) It is informed by a didactic intent, offering new ethical, spiritual, and moral insights to church and society. (4) It is committed to reason and black women’s experience as related in their imagery and metaphoric statements (Moody, 85).
There is a twofold source for black women’s understanding of God. The first is God’s revelation directly to them, and the second is God’s revelation as witnessed in the Bible when read and heard in the CONTEXT of their experience (Moody, 89). From a womanist perspective, God is spirit and historically has been seen as a “deliverer” who lifts one “out of the miry bog” (Baker-Fletcher, 110, 112). However, womanists relate mostly to God in Jesus, because he identifies with “the least,” and they feel that black women in US society most appropriately represent “the least” (Moody, 103).
The Bible has been a significant source of spiritual, ethical, and political empowerment for black women, who have used social-service clubs, educational systems, and advocacy organizations as bases for social activism. This focus is especially evident in the works of some distinguished African American women activists of the twentieth century, such as Mary McLeod Bethune, Nannie Helen Burroughs, and Marian Wright Edelman (Sanders, 126–27). The central hermeneutical principle for womanist theology is that “the Bible must be read and interpreted in the light of black women’s own experience of oppression and God’s revelation within that context” (Moody, 90).
Women of the Bible. According to womanists, there are four black women in the Bible who should receive special attention: Hagar (Gen. 16:1–15; 21:8–20), Zipporah (Exod. 2:21–22; 4:24–26; Num. 12:1), the queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1–13; 2 Chron. 9:1–9), and Candace, queen of the Ethiopians (Acts 8:27; Sanders, 131). Of these four women, the most written about is Hagar, the slave of Sarah and Abraham and mother of Ishmael. Hagar is considered passive—barely a participant in her own STORY. Womanists feel that the story is not about Hagar or even Sarah but rather about Abraham (Hayes, 6). In this biblical story, Hagar stands in as a surrogate mother for Sarah, “who in her impatience and unfaithfulness, lost sight of who she was in relation to the sovereign Word of God, and so doing, lost sight of reality itself” (7). The liberation in Hagar’s story was not given by God; rather, it was found in human initiative. So a connection between the trials of black women of the past and Hagar is drawn: “As Hagar learned how to survive and acquire an appropriate quality of life for herself and her son, so also did the African slaves, accommodating the Bible to the urgent necessities of their lives” (57). From a womanist perspective, this story is one of conflict, women betraying women, and mothers conspiring against mothers. “Theirs is a story of social rivalry” (8). Womanists view both Hagar and Sarah as victims of a societal system that privileged men and valued women only in terms of their relationship to those men—as daughter, wife, mother, and sister, unable to stand alone and with no identity to claim for themselves (7).
Black women also look to other females in the Bible, such as Phoebe, Priscilla, and Mary—coworkers with Paul—and interpret the experiences of these women in ways that reflect womanists’ interests. Womanist theologians notice that the ultimate allegiance of these women was to God, not to men (Townes, 33). Black women also take pride in the mothers of the Bible who became their role models for motherhood, such as the mothers of Isaac, Moses, Samson, and others. These mothers provide black women with a view of women as being “more than bodily receptacles through which great men were born” (33).
Womanist theology hermeneutic. Delores Williams devised a hermeneutic based on a view of “a God who liberates (the God of the enslaved Hebrews) and a God who does not liberate (the God of the non-Hebrew slave, Hagar).” Her hermeneutic is intended first to help theologians “to discover the subjective aspects of their own experience that they share with biblical events and characters.” Second, it is intended to help theologians understand the ways that “contemporary Hagars,” the most marginalized of black women, are excluded from the liberation MOTIF of black (male) liberation theology (Moody, 80). The bottom line seems to be that womanist theology “aims at reassuring the humanity of black women by disclosing forms of false and illusionary consciousness among black women and in the black community” (Anderson, 111).
While womanist theology is an expression of black women and their past, not all black women are womanists. But at the same time, “the potential is embedded in all Black women’s experience” (Gilkes, 186). The womanist feels that it is necessary “to ground Black women’s analysis in multiple voices”—in order to have the diversity, richness, and power of black women’s ideas as part of a “longstanding African-American women’s intellectual community” (Hayes, 4). A womanist, then, is a black feminist who is “audacious, willful, and serious; loves and prefers women, but also may love men; is committed to the survival and wholeness of an entire people; and is universalist, capable, all-loving, and deep” (Moody, 85).

Bibliography. Victor Anderson, Beyond Ontological Blackness: An Essay on African American Religious and Cultural Criticism (New York: Continuum, 1995); Karen Baker-Fletcher, Sisters of Dust, Sisters of Spirit: Womanist Wordings on God and Creation (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998); Kelly Brown Douglas, Sexuality and the Black Church (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999); Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, If It Wasn’t for the Women: Black Women’s Experience and Womanist Culture in Church and Community (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2001); Diana Hayes, Hagar’s Daughters: Womanist Ways of Being in the World (New York: Paulist Press, 1995); Linda A. Moody, Women Encounter God: Theology across the Boundaries of Difference (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996); Cheryl J. Sanders, ed., Living the Intersection: Womanism and Afrocentrism in Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress); Emilie M. Townes, In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995).

W. Randolph Tate, Handbook for Biblical Interpretation: An Essential Guide to Methods, Terms, and Concepts (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012), 469–472.

Robert M. Warren

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1256532#Comment_1256532

I seek everyone's forgiveness for asking.

My wife's answer: "It's a made-up word."

HJ. van der Wal

Shalom!

I have a question about dynamic pricing:

Am I right in the assumption that buying these three books would not lead to a significant reduction in the price of the base packages in which these books are included? I do not really need these books so I can easily wait until I upgrade at the end of this year.

NB.Mick

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1256589#Comment_1256589

Shalom!

I have a question about dynamic pricing:

Am I right in the assumption that buying these three books would not lead to a significant reduction in the price of the base packages in which these books are included?

Yes, that's a fair assumption (unless you have a very small dynamic price) - note that Collector's seems to be the first base package they are contained in. EDIT: The same or an even better deal may come around by year end, but if I was in the market for Collector's or Ultimate this would mean thousands of dollars dynamic price and I'd be seriously tempted to fix the current 25% rebate on base packages /EDIT

HJ. van der Wal

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1256590#Comment_1256590

Shalom NB.Mick!

Thank you for your response!

if I was in the market for Collector's or Ultimate this would mean thousands of dollars dynamic price and I'd be seriously tempted to fix the current 25% rebate on base packages

With the current 25% off I would save $372.25 on Logos 10 Ultimate. That is tempting but I prefer to wait. Otherwise I would have nothing to look forward to in the next base package sale.