En annan universalism. Den etiopiske eunucken (Apg 8:26-40) från ett postkolonialt perspektiv

Abstract

A Different Universalism: The Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26-40) from a Postcolonial Perspective

With the purpose of illustrating what a postcolonial approach in biblical studies can involve, this article applies the writings of Said, Spivak and Bhabha as interpretative grid on the episode about the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). Postcolonial approaches, it is argued, involves two main concerns: 1) how the text has been used in colonial settings and 2) how the text, in the light of the colonial heritage, relates to ancient empires at the time of its composition. Consequently, the article begins by discussing the colonial inheritance of Acts, including its importance for motivating Protestant mission. Here it is also illustrated how nineteenth interpretation of the episode regarded the Ethiopian as an oriental, and what that implied in terms of forming a western identity. The episode is then interpreted as part of the overall plot in Luke-Acts with its geographical transition from Galilee via Jerusalem to Rome. Seen in its ancient imperial setting, it is argued, the text has a double potential of on the one hand being more imperial than Rome’s empire but on the other hand as offering a different kind of universalism that is based on what Catherine Keller has called mutually assured vulnerability.