Reflections on God’s Missiological Purpose at Babel
To conclude, if I am reading correctly, he seems to suggest that those neighbours—those who are most other than us—signify the Otherness of God. How might this provide a sharpened and Christian missional meaning to Derrida’s suggestion that God “pleads for a translator” of humanity’s “babel?” A second question emerges from the tradition that describes the Pentecost festival as commemorating the giving of the Law. What kind of moral imperatives of the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit might we discern, from fusing together Derrida’s and Lévinas’ respective reflections?
For Further Reading:
One translation of Jacques Derrida, “Des Tours de Babel” is available here: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Derrida_Babel.pdf
Hinne Wagenaar, “Babel, Jerusalem, and Kumba: Missiological Reflections on Genesis 11:1-19 and Acts 2:1-13,” International Review of Mission 92, no. 366 (2003): pp. 406-421; esp 411-413.
Image: Tower of Babel (1594) by Lucas Van Valckenborch. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Category: In Depth, Spring 2015
Followers
Fans
