Exploring women’s challenges and victories in the New Testament through liberation theology

Abstract

Women and young girls continue to face a plethora of challenges in contemporary contexts. This is caused and compounded by various factors such as male-orientated perceptions, constricted opportunities and lagging will to advance the transformation and liberation of women and young girls. This is enough to indicate that, unequivocally, there are continued setbacks that affect women. By the same token, it cannot be downplayed that women continue to overcome some of these setbacks. Therefore, this article aims to explore women’s challenges and victories in the Bible, with special reference to the New Testament. To do this, liberation theology is applied as a conceptual framework to advance the discussions in selected incidents. This article makes three notable findings. Firstly, women exercise agency in resisting and denouncing oppressive structures. Secondly, there is a necessity to (re)examine certain biblical narratives with an emphasis on justice and liberation in an attempt to elicit revolutionary perspectives on narratives that have traditionally been interpreted in ways that obstruct women’s roles. Thirdly, there are instances in the New Testament where women find liberation and empowerment through spiritual leadership roles. In closing, this article underscores the significance of scrutinising women’s issues that transcend the biblical narratives in a bid to elicit reasonable solutions to any identified challenges.

Contribution: The scholarly contribution of this discourse lies in the exposition of women’s dialogues and biblical narratives. In so doing, this article chooses to focus on liberation theology on account that it is downplayed with presumptions that it is too discipline-focused.