Jesus, The Syrophoenician Woman, and Racism

Matt, Derek, and Alastair discuss the passage in the gospels that depict Jesus’s encounter with the Syrophoenician woman.

Matt, Derek, and Alastair discuss the passage in the gospels that depict Jesus’s encounter with the Syrophoenician woman. At first, and perhaps even at a second, glance, this complicated passage appears to incriminate Jesus of some sort of racial prejudice. But is this the right reading of the text?

Resources mentioned:

Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation, by Miroslav Volf

Timestamps

0:00
Introduction and reading of the passage
3:50
The problem of the passage; does this passage prove that Jesus had racial prejudices?
7:35
The context and situation of the passage
12:48
Problems with the “Jesus had racial prejudices” arguments
15:15
The exclusivity of Israel
22:25
Alastair’s take on Jesus’s use of “dog” in reference to the Syrophoenician woman
25:50
The test and veneer that leads to blessing
27:15
The holes in the reading that says “Jesus wasn’t sinful, but he was racially prejudiced”
34:00
The obstacles that our faith can overcome

Follow Derek, Andrew, and Alastair for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to Caleb Wait for keeping us organized. Special thanks to Tim Motte for sound editing. And thanks to The Joy Eternal for lending us their music, which everybody should download out of gratitude for their kindness.

Biblical Interpretation Race
Difficult Passages of Scripture
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