Abstract:
The aim of this essay is to explain the philosophical viewpoints of Michel Foucault
concerning the power of knowledge and its consequences when individuals are subjectified
into ‘docile bodies’. According to this perspective, resistance against power commences when
the little stories of individuals are told in opposition to the master narratives of ideologies
of power. The essay refers to Steve Biko and Martin Luther King whose stories of resistance
against racism as an ideology of power serve as examples. Their examples of resistance are
hermeneutically and heuristically applied to the interpretation of the parables in Luke 15
and 16. These parables are peculiar to Luke’s theology. The essay exposes the subjectifying
of the identities of the ‘lost son’ and ‘father’, the ‘master’ and ‘steward’, and the ‘rich man’
and the ‘poor man’, as these heteronormative categories occur in parabolic stories in Luke 15
and 16. The essay concludes with a vision for Christians today on how to recognise power
relationships and how to respond in a non-violent way to the dominant ideologies promoting
power.
Description:
This article was initially
presented as a paper at the
NavNUT Conference ‘Mag
in die Nuwe Testament’, on
16−19 January 2011 at the
University of Stellenbosch,
Stellenbosch, South Africa.
