In this book, Fr. René Micallef, a Maltese Jesuit, reflects on the issue of otherness in the Bible on two levels. Theological ethicists can feel they are strangers when they wander into the land of Scripture. On the methodological level, this book promotes hospitality among academic disciplines and shows how biblical texts and contemporary ethics debates can be bridged responsibly. It presents a practical procedure together with its theoretical basis in a way that can be used in the formation of young ethics scholars.
On a more concrete level, and as a case study, the author reflects on biblical hospitality and kinship building with strangers. Acts 28:1-10 speaks of the hospitality of the Maltese, but also of their fear and suspicions regarding Paul, the stranger. Such biblical stories of hospitality may become part of a national identity: welcoming tourists and rich investors strengthens that narrative, but welcoming poor, black and non-Christian asylum seekers and immigrants may put that narrative to the test. In recent years, all over the world, mass migration has provoked and unmasked a deep fear of the other.
There is no easy way of building trust with the "other," but we can learn from historical experiences such as that of biblical Israel and of the first Christian communities. It is worth exploring not only the positive and commendable passages and behaviors, but also the fear and hostility present in biblical texts, as well as the struggle to overcome such reactions. The book explores the Bible in all its complexity to help contemporary readers think through modern political issues critically. Only by educating young Christians to honest and critical thinking can we engender deep, reasoned and trusting faithfulness to the Gospel of mercy, Church authority and tradition.
René Micallef, SJ, is associate professor in the Department of Moral Theology of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He has done volunteer and pastoral work with migrants and refugees in Malta, Italy, Spain, Uganda, and the US.
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