"Getting in Front of the Text" for Liberation and Social Transformation

Abstract

Biblical texts do not mean, but we mean with them. Given the nature of contextual interpretation, we need to know who we are as readers, what we read in the text, and how we read it. How do we understand God in the Bible? Whose God do we read? Essentially, the reader must decide. We, the readers, must engage with various texts responsibly and take a stand. Liberation movement or social transformation must address all kinds of marginalization, locally and globally, economically and socially, religiously and politically, personally and communally, psychologically and spiritually. Readers of texts must recognize multilayered, intersectionality-woven marginality, stand in front of the text, and witness the power of the gospel for all people.