Colonial exile : place and biblical faith in North America

Abstract

This thesis is an exploration of how Christian communities ought to imagine themselves vis a vis their inhabited landscapes, as well as how the Biblical text (especially the Old Testament) can serve to root communities in their respective geographical places. I argue that North Americans are only tenuously connected with their places, a result of the history of colonialism, and that as a result the biblical text, which is itself a reflection on the experience of exile and homelessness, confronts North Americans in a profoundly relevant way. I also explore how Christians in North America might develop resources from within their tradition to reclaim a sense of rootedness, including disciplines of presence taken from the Old Testament and Christian “theologies of place,” the latter of which in particular having become a topic of increased attention in recent years.