Galilee: a critical matrix for Marian studies

Theological Studies, June, 2009 by Elizabeth A. Johnson

Insofar as such theologies start out with conscious reference to their own social location which then plays a guiding role in their understanding of Christian faith and praxis, they can be called contextual theologies. Whether liberation theology done out of Latin American, southern Asian, or African communities; or theology done in black, Hispanic, or Asian communities in the United States; or theology done from the experience of women in feminist, womanist, mujerista/Latina, or Asian women's formats, all allow the specificity of their situation and its attendant suffering to filter the meaning of the gospel. In the light of human finitude, of course, all theology is contextual; no universal viewpoint is possible. Theologies that assume the contrary almost always emanate from positions of privilege and historically have had the effect of making poor, marginalized groups and women as a whole virtually invisible and silent in their deliberations. By contrast, contextual theologies claim their particularity precisely as an honest and humble way of reading the good news that leads to universal significance for the whole church. Their resulting construals bring the liberating intent of God's saving actions in Jesus through the Spirit unmistakably to the fore.

Galilee: both a geographic region and a social location, it serves as shorthand for the scandal of God's compassionate preference for the lowly of the earth. To illuminate its significance as a door for Marian studies, this article first presents the earthy results of four areas of Galilee research that impinge on the interpretation of Mary, and then notes the resulting theological ramifications.

GALILEE RESEARCH

Archeological/Cultural Research

Forming the northern part of the ancient land of Israel, Galilee is a distinct region from Judea in the south. Its most obvious geographic features are four continuous hilly ranges that march across the land like stripes in an east-west direction. In between are broad valleys dotted with farming villages that worked the fertile soil. In John Dominic Crossan's description, the 470 square miles of Lower Galilee are "rich with grain and cereal on valley floor and with vine and olive on hillside slope." (6) At the region's eastern boundary the land sinks down into a basin that contains the Sea of Galilee, a fresh-water lake flowing into the Jordan River. The lake, river, and their surrounding lands are all below sea level, creating a subtropical zone in an otherwise generally Mediterranean climate.

Since the 1980s, scientifically-conducted archeological excavations have produced an explosion of information about ancient Galilee in Roman times. This painstaking work uncovers the material culture of the place, which in turn helps scholars reimagine everyday life. Jonathan Reed, a key practitioner of this science, points out that unlike literary texts, which intentionally set out to tell a story or make a plea from a definite point of view, archeological evidence uncovers not only the intentional witness of public architecture but also many unintentional witnesses to everyday life in antiquity. "Sherds from pots and pans, hidden coins, discarded kitchen scrap--all afford a glimpse behind closed doors of antiquity." (7) Scholars have married this knowledge to studies of cross-cultural anthropology, economic systems, and literary, political, military, and historical sources to help reconstruct a general picture of village society. (8)