The Literary Construction of the Other in the Acts of the Apostles: Charismatics, the Jews, and Women - Paperback

by Mitzi J. Smith (Author)

Mitzi Smith engages the reader in explaining how, as in the real world, the characterization of the Others is used negatively in the biblical texts. Smith shows how the concept of difference is constructed in order to distinguish ourselves from proximateothers: indeed, the other who is most similar to us is most threatening and most problematic. The process of Othering, or Otherness, is a synthetic and political social construct that allows us to create and maintain boundaries between 'them' and 'us'. Thus, this work demonstrates how proximate characters are constructed as the Other in the Acts of the Apostles. Charismatics, Jews, and women are proximate others who are constructed as the external and internal Others.

Author Biography

Mitzi J. Smith is Associate Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Studies at Ashland theological Seminary at Detroit. She is a contributor to True to Our Native Land (2008).