Biblical discourse as a technology of ‘othering’

A decolonial reading on the 1840 Moffat sermon at the Tabernacle, Moorfields, London

Bibliographic Data

ID9284264
AuthorsItumeleng D Mothoagae (0000-0002-9644-0371, University of South Africa, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume78
Issue1
Publication date2022-12-19
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0259-9422 • E-ISSN: 2072-8050
PublisherAOSIS (PUBLISHER • ZA)
DOI10.4102/hts.v78i1.7812
OpenAlexW4313465660
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited7

In his sermon to the directors of the London Missionary Society (LMS) in London in 1840, in ‘othering’ the Batswana (Africans), Moffat engages in biblical discourse. He uses biblical descriptions to ‘other’ them and the land they occupied. This article analyses the 1840 sermon by Moffat, and in it I will argue that through his sermon, Moffat engaged in biblical discourse and performed epistemic privilege in his exposition of the Batswana to his audience, namely the directors of the LMS. At the same time, he used biblical texts and imagery to create in the mind of his listeners an image of heathenism and uncivility. In doing so, I argue that he further located the Batswana within the realm of the ‘damnés’. In the article, I apply two analytical lenses, namely decoloniality and critical race theory, as hermeneutical tools. Contribution: It is argued in this article that in doing so, Moffat further located the Batswana within the realm of the damnés

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Exposition (narrative · Linguistics · Literature · Privilege (computing · Purgatory · Reading (process · Realm · Sermon · Sociology · Theology · African cultural and philosophical studies · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Computer Science · History · Philosophy · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies

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