Green Eggs and Shawarma: Reinterpreting the Bible, Reforming Mission, with Leviticus' "non-indigenous resident" as a Test Case

Authors

Mark A. Awabdy, Asbury Theological Seminary

Abstract

This article encourages Christians to revisit and reinterpret the Bible in order to more faithfully align with God's mission in the world. As a test case, the article reinterprets the socio-religious status of the "non-indigenous resident" in Leviticus and concludes with some possibilities for reforming mission theology and praxis. The first section of the article reviews the conventional interpretation of Leviticus' as one granted absolute religious freedom. Against this view, the body of the article contends that the in Leviticus was bound in covenant to Yahweh, yet free to practice some foreign customs and practices. To argue for this, the article reconsiders the intent of the Holiness Code's injunctions; reinterprets three pertinent laws; and identifies an important contextual limiting factor in Lev 18-20. In the conclusion, the author offers three ways this fresh understanding of the in Leviticus intersects with, and may serve to reform, present cross-cultural witness to the Gospel

DOI

10.7252/Journal.01.2011S.03

Recommended Citation

Awabdy, Mark A. (2011) "Green Eggs and Shawarma: Reinterpreting the Bible, Reforming Mission, with Leviticus' "non-indigenous resident" as a Test Case," The Asbury Journal: Vol. 66: No. 1, p. 31-45.
Available at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/asburyjournal/vol66/iss1/4