An Old Emergence

The story of the prodigal son from the Gospel of Luke is one of many encounters with a male-centered parable told by Christ. This furthers the overall masculist ethos of scripture. Christian scripture was written by men toward a male-dominant society featuring a male incarnation of Christ which presents problems for women who study and encounter the Bible. As Rosemary Radford Ruether points out: “A Christology that identified the maleness of the historical Jesus with normative humanity and with the maleness of the divine Logos must move in an increasingly misogynist direction that not only excludes woman as representative of Christ in ministry but makes her a second-class citizen in both creation and redemption.”1 The theme of redemption found in the parable of the prodigal son is directly related to the fact that the story uses three male characters as the primary players. What if the prodigal child was a daughter and not a son? The society around which scripture was built would never

“I can hear Jesus saying to us: I was sick with AIDS and you did not visit me. You did not wash my wounds, nor did you give me medicine to manage my opportunistic infections. I was stigmatized, isolated and rejected because of HIV/AIDS and you did not welcome me. I was hungry, thirsty and naked, completely dispossessed by HIV/AIDS and globalization in my house and family and you did not give me food, water or any clothing. I was a powerless woman exposed to the high risk of infection and carrying a huge burden of care, and you did not come to my rescue. I was a dispossessed widow and an orphan and you did not meet my needs. We, the church of this era, will ask, When Lord did we see you sick with AIDS, stigmatized, isolated and rejected, and did not visit or welcome you in our homes? When Lord did we see you hungry, naked and thirsty and did not feed you, clothe you and give you water? When were you a powerless woman, a widow and an orphan and we did not come to your rescue? The Lord wi