The Parable of the Good Samaritan and Negative Ethnicity: a Social Scientific Reading of Luke 10:25-37 for the Kenyan Context

Abstract

The parable of the Good Samaritan presents an interpretative challenge, thus causing bewilderment as to whether or not it is a fertile ground for negative ethnicity. The motivation of this study emanated from a deep interest in the ethnic schemes that characterize the gospel of Luke and the parable of the Good Samaritan that portrays a deeply ethnic-seated animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans. Luke 10:23-37 was preferred for this study because it contains ethnic undertones, which to some extent may either inform or deconstruct the concept of negative ethnicity. The title of this study, “The parable of the Good Samaritan and negative ethnicity: A social scientific reading of Luke 10:25-37 for the Kenyan context” reflects the emphasis on ethnic unity in Luke that should inform the construction of the same in Kenyan situation. The subtitle, “A social scientific reading of Luke 10:25-37 for the Kenyan context” is an explication of the methodology used in the study attempting to establish the interface between the world behind the parable of the Good Samaritan and Kenyan space. This study considers the sitz im leben of the parable of the Good Samaritan to explicate its meaning to the Lukan community, while suggesting its importance in curbing the ever-growing challenge of negative ethnicity. The study underpins Social Scientific Criticism (SSC) as a method of interpretation while utilizing Social Identity Theory (SIT) which explains how members of a particular ethnic group values their sense of identity by way of comparing with other ethnic groups. An in-depth Social Scientific analysis of Luke10:25-37 based on the proximate context of the ethnic animosity between the Jews and Samaritans as elucidated in Luke 9:51-55 is done to show how the Lukan Jesus employed the parable to challenge the conventional understanding of the law. The exegetical findings were then filtered through the SIT approaches of curbing inter-group conflicts namely; categorization, re-categorization and de-categorization. It is hoped that the study’s conclusions will be deployed by various agencies to step up the contemporary efforts of fighting against negative ethnicity.