Social Identity Reading of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ (Luke 3:23-38): Lessons on Inclusivity for the Christian Church in Kenya

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.sidebar##

Published May 20, 2024
https://doi.org/10.71064/spu.amjr.1.1.261
Download
PDF
Statistic
Vol. 1 No. 1 (2024): Special Issue - African Multidisciplinary Journal of Research (AMJR)

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.main##

Elijah Makhanu
St. Paul's University
Julius Kithinji
St. Paul's University

Abstract

Ethnic identity, viewed as the basis of ones’ belonging or otherwise is one major cause of
disunity in both the biblical and contemporary world. The impact of ethnic identity on
Christian unity should be viewed as a strong case for the existence of Christians and a key
identifier of whose they are. The main objective of this paper is to understand the impact of
the ethnic identities in the genealogy of Jesus on unity in the Christian Church, while
examining the integrative effects of various ethnic identities in the genealogy of Jesus Christ
as recorded in Luke, through the lenses of Social Identity Theory (SIT). Using a library-based
study, this paper seeks to demonstrate that Luke employed cultural memory, a view point of
SIT to create a new identity among the followers of Jesus through an inclusive agenda that
decentralizes ethnicity as presented in Jesus’ genealogy by including some individual
characters who do not belong to the Jewish ethnic group. By so doing, Luke presents Jesus
prototypically as a superordinate Christian identity for the entire human race. Thus,
redefining the concept of ‘ethnic belongingness’ in a very revolutionary sense. While
reference is made to the Matthean genealogy in terms of social status, it is important to
underscore that the anticipated audience of Matthew which is Jewish, limits its scope and
application in so far as this paper is concerned. For this reason, the book of Luke is
preferred for this study because of its profound concern with universal social issues of the
gospel and its spatial descriptions. The various ethnic identities in the genealogy are diverse,
heterogeneous and are at the centre of inter-ethnic animosities world over. Similarly, the
genealogy of Jesus comprises of various ethnic groups which share a common ethnic identity
in the person of Jesus, but largely disagree on the way that identity should be expressed.
While this genealogy spurns centuries of time, providing the lenses through which one can
understand shifting priorities and inter-ethnic conflicts, it lays a solid foundation for
celebration of unity and a common heritage shared by all members of the body of Christ. The
findings of this paper will concretize the foundation for the Christian Church culture that
thrives on unity in diversity as demonstrated in the person of Jesus Christ, thus
foregrounding the efforts towards ethnic unity in the Christian Church in Kenya.

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.details##

How to Cite
Makhanu, E., & Kithinji, J. . (2024). Social Identity Reading of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ (Luke 3:23-38): Lessons on Inclusivity for the Christian Church in Kenya. African Multidisciplinary Journal of Research, 1(1), 82–95. https://doi.org/10.71064/spu.amjr.1.1.261

References

  1. Ernest De Witt Burton, (1900). The Purpose and Plan of the Gospel of Luke. In, The Biblical World, vol. 16, (4) 248–258. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3136549. Accessed 4 May
  2. Friedman, Mordechai, (1990) Tamar, a Symbol of Life: The ‘Killer Wife’ Superstition in the Bible and Jewish Tradition. American Journal of Semitic Languages and
  3. Literature Review 15:23–61.
  4. Frymer-Kensky, Tikva (2002) Royal Origins: Tamar. In Reading the Women of the Bible, 264-277. New York: Schocken Books.
  5. Guthrie Donald, (1990. The New Testament Introduction. 4th Edition. Downers Grove: IVP.
  6. Green Joel, (2000). Luke, Gospel of. In Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, edited by David
  7. N. Freedman, 828-830. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
  8. Keener, Craig S., (1999). A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI:
  9. W.B. Eerdmans Pub.
  10. Ladd George E., (1993). A Theology of the New Testament. 2nd Edition. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
  11. Maas, Anthony, (1909). Genealogy of Christ. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York:Robert Appleton Company.
  12. Marshall Howard I. (1978). The Gospel of Luke. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
  13. Marshall D., (1988). The purpose of the Biblical genealogies (2nd ed.). Cambridge:
  14. Cambridge University Press.
  15. Michael A. Hogg, Zachary Hohmann, and Jason E. Rivera, (2008) Why Do People Join Groups? Three Motivational Accounts from Social Psychology. In Social and personality Psychology Compass 2(3) April, 1273-4.
  16. Morris, Leon. (1974). Luke. In Tyndale New Testament Commentary Series. Downers Grove: IVP.
  17. Naseri, Christopher. (2011). The Four Women in Matthew's Genealogy of Jesus. In KOINONIA Vol. 5, (2) December 1-22.
  18. Nolland, John, (2005). The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek text, Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans, p. 70
  19. Nyaundi M. Nehemiah, (2001). Modern Good Samaritan. In Journal of Adventist thought in Africa.Vol.4. pp 41-47.
  20. Patterson, Stephen, (2011). Luke, Gospel According To,” in The Oxford Encyclopedia
  21. of the Books of the Bible: Acts-LXX, edited by Michael C. Coogan, 587-600. Oxford: Oxford.
  22. Robertson, A.T. (1960), Commentary on Luke 3:23. In Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament. Broadman Press.
  23. Schaff, Philip, (1882). The Gospel According to Matthew. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
  24. Sextus Julius Africanus (c. 160 – c. 240) Epistle to Aristides.
  25. Tarimo, J. (2000). Ethnicity, Common Good and the Church in Contemporary Africa.
  26. Available at http://sedosmission.org/old/eng/Tarimo.html on 30/6/2021.
  27. Waruta, D. (1992). Tribalism as a Moral Problem in Contemporary Africa," in J. N. K. Mugambi and A. Nasimiyu-Wasike, eds., Moral and Ethical Issues in African Christianity.
  28. Wosyanju Mary. The Role of the Church in Combating Negative Ethnicity in Kenya:
  29. A Survey of Mainline Churches in Eldoret, Kenya. African Journal of Education Science and Technology