I write a monthly article for Spectrum Magazine, an Adventist journal and website featuring Adventist and Christian viewpoints and news. This month I wrote on the concept of Positionality, which is basically the idea that everyone is positioned towards what they read and view:
The idea behind it is simple: I am not neutral, and I should stop pretending that I am. I am positioned toward the Bible in a way that someone else is not. This is not a problem; it is not wrong. It simply is, and it is unavoidable. Try as I might, I can’t simply stop loving the Bible. I can’t just forget the stories my grandmother told me. I can’t switch those things off, just like I can’t switch off being white or male or African.
Read the rest.
You can read the article on Spectrum’s website.
This article is heavily indebted academic friends of mine who recently published an introductory textbook to studying Jewish and Christian women in antiquity. The book, though I have only read parts, is absolutely excellent.
The cover, as you can see on the right, is also excellent.
There have been some fun reactions on social media, including endorsements of my article by one of the authors of this book!
Tom, thank you so much! This means a lot! I want to state for the record that including the #IAmFrom poem as a teaching activitiy was @ShaynaSheinfeld's idea. 🙂
— Dr Sara Parks (@DrSaraParks) January 23, 2022
I found this article as with many other of your articles very insightful. I remember hearing one bible scholar say, "Every hermanuetic is contextual inspite of how convinced you might be of its objectivity". Your article well encapsulates this statement.
— Marc Mate (@MarcMate1) January 23, 2022
Tom wrote this "You Are Not Neutral" article for an Adventist audience, but honestly, a simple definition and demonstration of positionality is needed on many fronts right now. I am humbled and glad that our textbook is out there as a tool for teaching this beyond the classroom❤️ https://t.co/DorujtKLli
— Dr Sara Parks (@DrSaraParks) January 23, 2022
