CHRISTIAN SCHOLARS AND READING SOCIAL SCIENCES

 CHRISTIAN SCHOLARS AND READING SOCIAL SCIENCES

Introduction

The social sciences do a great job of exposing and examining social issues. Social

issues such as racism, violence, and taking advantage of the weak, needed thinkers and activists

to stand against these practices. Even though their motivation can be driven by human

philosophies, they deserve the attention of Christian scholars and educators.1 Based on the

common grace, believers and unbelievers agree on many principals when the matter regards

human rights. However, believers should read social sciences with the biblical principles in their

minds, since believers ought to think, live, and act according to God’s will. This paper will give

a summary of “Reading the Social Sciences Theologically” for John David Trentham, “Mapping

the Margins” for Kimberle Crenshaw, “Brown vs. Board of Education and the Interest

Convergence Dilemma” for Derrick Bell, and an application for David Trentham’s four steps on

the last two articles.

Reading the Social Sciences Theologically

There will be no harm when the Christian scholars read social sciences; rather, they

could be helpful in the Christian realm if they read these social studies with the theological lens.

The ultimate purpose is not creating a good man with better manners, but the main goal for

Christian scholars and educators is submitting any human development to support Christians

who have hope in Jesus Christ the redeemer. Redemption in Christ orients believers to pursue the

everlasting way (Ps 139:24), with the drive to increasingly know and become like Jesus unto the

hope of eternal life (Phil 3:10–11). The absence of that redemption orients nonbelievers unto a

1 I will be using phrases such as Christian scholars and educators, Christian scholars, believers, or

Christian believers interchangeably.

1path that ultimately defies God’s character and denies Christ’s lordship.2 Consequently, Christian

scholars and educators must read social sciences with clarity and with understanding of the

context and the philosophical assumptions behind them because social sciences are modern

secular projects. Social sciences are based on human philosophy within its critical reasoning

desire to make the word understood. However, the biblical wisdom is based on Jesus, who is

oriented unto the “everlasting way” (Ps. 139:24). This wisdom is not based on the human mind

nor personal experience. Social sciences are a reflection of God’s general revelation for believers

and nonbelievers. Hence, when unbelievers develop philosophy or understanding to critique

human behavior, their studies and conclusions can be helpful to believers if they line up with the

biblical perspective, because believers know that their primary issue is their sinful nature, and

everyone needs the salvation of Jesus Christ. Cristian scholars and educators should

acknowledge and value that general revelation in God’s creation and benefit from it, but their

ultimate purpose is conforming to God’s image. The principle of inverse consistency directly

proceeds from that theological perspective.

Trentham’s Four Steps

Trentham sets up a protocol for the inverse consistency consisting of four steps, and

these four steps control reading social sciences theologically. Trentham’s first step is to envision

redemptive maturity, which means that believers should compose a vision for reading social

sciences that will not deviate them from the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints

(Jude 3). Believers do not seek only what is permitted or not permitted to be approved by God—

which is important—but the pivotal goal for every believer is conforming to the image of God,

becoming Christlike, and glorifying him on earth through his behavior. This is the initial step in

engaging social sciences. Thus, any Christian who reads social sciences must read them precisely

to use them wisely to help him to empower, motivate, and support him spiritually.

2 John David Trentham, “Reading the Social Sciences Theologically: Approaching and Qualifying

Models of Human Development,” (Christian Education Journal, 2019), 459.

2Trentham’s second step is: read for receptivity. One may read social sciences with the

eye of understanding and not with evaluation nor critique. So, the second step requires gaining a

deep understanding. This step requires three methods: 1) reading the paradigm from its most

recent and precise sources; 2) gaining a direct understanding from the author’s philosophy; and

3) understanding the paradigm in a way that the author would agree upon. This step will require

a careful reading of the source and not a general look or reading of the text. The honest reader

will read to understand the author’s real intention. Of course, reading for receptivity must not be

conflated with reading for affirmation or conformity.3 Trentham calls this neighborly love, which

needs reading with receptivity to know and understand the author and not rushing to evaluate,

analyze, or critique.

Trentham’s third step: employ reflective discernment. Christians must explain the

paradigm from a critically reflective perspective. In this step, the reader must reflect on the

paradigm and discover if it is oriented toward human ethics or Christocentric life ethic and if it is

oriented toward secularists or biblical vision. The reader should examine if the paradigm is

internally consistent or flawed, and knowing how wide in range culturally would determine its

applicability.

Trentham’s fourth step: identify appropriative outlets. The fourth step determines in

which context that paradigm the reader applied. Hence, the Christian educator finds how he can

apply what is lined up from the study of social sciences with the biblical doctrine. Furthermore,

the main goal here is employing what is possible and suitable to use to support the Christian’s

vision for redemptive maturity, so social sciences are mainly for the Christian educatory to use

and not to enjoy.

Mapping the Margins

Kimberle Crenshaw wrote “Mapping the Margins,” which is about intersectionality,

identity politics, and violence against women of color. She is concerned about the violence of

3 Trentham, “Reading the Social Sciences Theologically,” 491.

3battering and rape that males practice against women of color as well as immigrant women of

color. Most of these vulnerable women are poor, low-income, or unemployed, who seek

protection. Also, most of them are overwhelmed by their childrens’ responsibilities and lack of

skills. Many of these women depend on their spouses for their income, and they lack information

about their legal rights. So, they have limited access to these resources. In addition, non-English-

speaking women have limited opportunity to reach any support services. It has been estimated

that nearly forty percent of all homeless women and children have fled violence in the home, and

an estimated sixty-three percent of young men between the ages of eleven and twenty who are

imprisoned for homicide have killed their mother's batters.4

Brown vs. Board of Education and the Interest

Convergence Dilemma

Derrick Bell is an important lawman, and he is one of the founders of Critical Race

Theory. He wrote “Brown v. Board of Education and the Interest Convergence Dilemma” to

address the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) that

affirmed racial segregation in public schools against the country constitution. Bell asserts that

legal development occurs when it is beneficial to the white majority. Also, he affirms that the

case did not end racism or justice to black Americans in a practical way, so legal victories do not

mean that racial justice has been achieved.

Bell declares the need to understand the intention behind the legal decisions and the

reliance on court decisions to accomplish social changes. Thus, he provides a critical

understanding of the motivation behind the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court and encourages

the reader to understand the context when it has other dimensions. Finally, Bell suggests that the

court’s decision was a result of interests between black Americans and the broader social interest

of the time.

4 Kimberle Crenshaw, “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against

Women of Color,” Vol 43, (Stanford Law Review, 1991) 1255.

4Applying Trentham’s Four Steps to Mapping the

Margins

In this section, I will explain how Christian scholars and educators can read and apply

social sciences through reading Mapping the Margins for Kimberle Crenshaw. Kimberle

Crenshaw did a great job in her article, but on what basis is she defending the rights of women of

color with all their issues? Trentham’s four steps help the Christian scholars and educators to

understand an important social issue theologically. Even though it is important for Christians to

understand and have a stance against oppression, it is significant for Christians to be supported

by the biblical principles. Simply, devout Christians should not defend human rights away from

God’s intention to any human being.

Particularly, Kimberle defends human rights and women of color. This intention

esteemed highly as a human seeks respect and recognition for others, but on what basis? Or,

what is the standard? Biblically, people seek to strive to be Christlike. The Bible asserts, “To a

perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13).5 However, in this

life, it is not easy for every human to find this spiritual identity because of the people’s evil. That

will take the Christian scholar to the first pages of the Bible. God made the first human being in

his image and likeness and bestowed him dominion over the earth to represent God’s dominion

over the creation (Gen 1:26). When God breathed into Adam’s nostrils, the breath of life, Adam

became a living being (Gen 2:7). First, Adam was dust, and dust is not worth much, but by God’s

breath, Adam became a human being who is priceless. Hence, the main identity of a human

being abides in his soul or spirit which God gave him. The human identity and worth appeared in

his immoral soul and in his way of thinking and creativity. So, the human identity is derived

from his creator and not from people, society, or law. Certainly, if Cain recognized that divine

recognition, he would never have kill his brother, because in God’s ordinance, God created Able

in his image for a certain purpose to accomplish on earth, and Cain interrupted God’s plan and

violated God’s earthly image. The human being is an image of God in three considerations. First,

5 All scripture quotations are from the NKJV.

5based on God’s creation as I mentioned above (Gen 1:26), and this consideration is not limited to

certain race, color, or tribe; rather, God gave this worth to every human being despite their

differences. So, when a Cristian scholar reads or defends any human rights, he must understand

the standard that every human ought to meet, and seeking protection or maintaining must be

based in God’s image and not based on a human’s lawful status. Second, this consideration is

based on their faith in Christ and being changed from sinners to righteous in Christ. This

consideration affirms that Christians are a new creation and born again on God’s perfect image.

Paul declares, “You have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man who is

renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Col 3:9–10). When

someone becomes a believer, he is created again in God’s image by the Holy Spirit. Thus, this

second consideration is based on converting to the Christian faith. Always, believers seek to

conform to the image of God, which represents love, kindness, and respect for all people. Third,

the Bible tells the reader that believers have hope to leave the week and earthly body and

transform to a glorified body when believers leave earth to meet with the Lord, and this is the

third and final image. Paul asserts, “And as we have borne the image of the man of dust (Adam),

we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man (Jesus)” (1Cor 15:49). Accordingly, John

states, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,

but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1

John 3:2). Consequently, believers must understand that they all will one day transform into

Jesus’s heavenly, glorified, immoral body. This heavenly body will relate to every believer from

every language, color, culture, country, and ethnicity.

Trentham’s second step is: read for receptivity. When a Christian scholar or educator

reads “Mapping the Margins”, they should read it with receptivity because the article demands

respect and protection for women of color. Equality is a demand for everyone and a heavenly

gift; everyone should enjoy it. By nature and the common grace without deforming the human

conscience, everyone presents equality and love to every individual. Hence, it is important to

6carefully read “Mapping the Margins,

” not with an eye of evaluating or critiquing; rather, the

article is beneficial since to seeks a right God gifted everyone.

Kimberle exposes an important social dilemma regarding violence practiced against

women of color. Within her article, she mentioned the violence against immigrant women who

have language barriers and limited access to support recourses. Christians’ ought to understand

what their society is going through. It is an existing issue. In fact, the Bible did not disregard this

issue; rather, the Bible guards the relationship between husbands and wives. The Bible says:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her….

husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves

himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord

does the church…. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to

his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak

concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his

own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband (Eph 5:25–33).

Paul gives the relationship between husbands and wives another dimension, so he tells

the Ephesians that marriage reflects a spiritual bond between the church and Christ. Jesus loved

the church, and the church is a converted sinner from their sinful nature to the righteous one.

They obtained this new nature by the work of Jesus on the cross and his redemption. Therefore,

Jesus’s love for the church is the role model for every Christian husband, and the church’s

submission and respect is the role model for every Christian wife. When Jesus chose the church,

the church was merely sinners. Jesus cleanses these sinners. When a wife makes a mistake, her

husband should not have to punish her, because husbands and wives were sinners and God

forgave them their sins. Also, wives should present respect as the church respects its redeemer.

Eschatologically, the Bible presents the redeemed church as the wife of the lamb (Rev 21:9). So,

when the Christian reader reads “Mapping the Margines,” he knows that husbands should love

their wives, not because the law of nature tells him to do so; rather, because they loved him and

his wife when they deserved punishment for their sins. In the same manner, when a Christian

wife respects her husband, she does not respect him because she should be nice to him because

7this is well and accepted by people; rather, she respects her husband because she represents the

submission of the church to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Regarding the immigrant women who may have language barriers and limited

recourses, the Bible teaches husbands to not take advantage of their wives’ weakness points. The

Bible commands, “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the

wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers

may not be hindered” (1 Pet 3:7). If the wife is the weak vessel, husbands should give them

honor; otherwise, their prayers may be hindered. In addition, this passage reminds the Christian

husbands with the grace of God, and their life together is a gracious life. In support of that,

Proverbs asserts, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord” (Prov

18:22), so wives appointed by God are a gift and a favor from God to the husband. Likewise,

Proverbs affirms, “A faithful man will abound with blessings” (Prov 28:20). Thus, the Christian

relationship between husbands and wives seen as wives as a favor from God and husbands as

men, bound with blessings. Therefore, husbands ought not to take advantage of their wives’

weaknesses; rather, give them honor and love.

Regarding the vulnerable, the Bible says, “A father of the fatherless, a defender of

widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who

are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land” (Ps 68:5–6). As long as God is

in his holy habitation, he will support the vulnerable. Believers would desire to achieve God’s

will in their lives all the time. If helping the needy is one of God’s concerns, it should be for the

believers as well, so James called this “pure and undefiled religion before God” (Jas 1:27). Also,

Solomon says, “He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And He will pay back what he

has given” (Prov 19:17). Anyone is a subject for hardships in life and harsh circumstances.

Christians who walk by the instruction of God, they help the vulnerable, and how much more it

is if that person is the Christian’s wife. If the wife lives in a low-income situation or is

unemployed and seeks protection, she deserves a better life with the Christian husband. Ruth is a

unique instance in the Bible, the Moabite Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi. She was a

8gentile from Moab and became the grandmother of King David and Messiah Jesus centuries

later. She had a strong desire to attach to the Jew Naomi. Ruth says, “Your people shall be my

people, And your God, my God” (Ruth 1:16). Obviously, she was accepted by her mother-in-

law, the people of Bethlehem, and Boaz. Boaz blesses her, “The Lord repay your work, and a full

reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge”

(Ruth 2:12). Also, the Israelite women praised Ruth to Naomi when she gave birth, “Blessed be

the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in

Israel! And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-

in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him” (Ruth 4:14–15).

Ruth was merely a gentile vulnerable woman who went to a foreign country with her mother-in-

law; yet Boaz accepted her in his field and commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean

even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely

for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her” (Ruth 2:15–16). Boaz honored the

stranger, poor, and powerless Ruth. Furthermore, he had the opportunity to marry her and

became a great example for a great husband. Another biblical example: when Hannah was

depressed because she was childless, Elkanah stood with her and supported her. When she wept,

did not eat, and grieved, Elkanah made a remarkable statement. He said, “Am I not better to you

than ten sons?” He seems a great husband who supported his beaten wife. Afterwords, the Bible

records that Hannah “arose.” Our society needs husbands led by biblical principles who honor

God’s word.

Trentham’s third step: employ reflective discernment, which means that the Christian

scholar and educator should emphasize that the paradigm has a Christian base to accept it.

Examining the paradigm and discovering if it is oriented toward human ethics or Christocentric

life ethic, and if it is oriented toward secularists or biblical vision. Jesus teaches, “You shall love

the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first

and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself”

(Matt 22:37–39). The main point for Jesus is that he wanted his disciples to live for God, and that

9relationship reflects on their relationship with the others. Therefore, Jesus wanted his followers

to look upon him for everything they do or practice in their lives. Sometimes believers get

confused about a certain matter and do not know what to do. Paul says, “Whatever you do in

word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through

Him" (Col 3:17). That means believers must examine any skill, knowledge, or teaching; if it

lines with the biblical teaching, they can accept it, live it, and practice it. Also, Paul teaches, “For

you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are

God’s” (1 Cor 6:20). That means Christians are to honor God in their bodies and their spirits

because Jesus paid his precious blood for everyone. Thus, husbands and wives ought to respect

each other’s bodies. Husbands should not abuse their wives or take advantage of their

weaknesses.

Finally, Trentham’s fourth step: identify appropriative outlets. At this stage, Christian

scholars determine in which context that paradigm can be applied. If a suitable principal can be

applied in the Christian life, the Christian scholars find how they can employ that principal in

maturity in the Christian faith. For Christian scholars, social sciences are not to enjoy but to use

it for God’s glory when it can help the Christian believer. When social science discusses and

warns against abusing vulnerable wives, Christians should act and start from the church’s

congregation to spread the biblical understanding. The church’s congregation has a direct impact

on the society because on Monday morning, believers are in their workplace, in the market, and

in their schools dealing with unbelievers. As an aspect of respecting people from every

background, churches must accept and welcome all people from their different backgrounds.

When a church contains whites and blacks, that means that church has reached maturity in

understanding how to glorify the Lord in their bodies, which have different colors. Likewise,

biblical churches must accept people from different ethnicities, languages, and cultures to

accomplish God’s eschatological plan. The believers praise Jesus in the heaven saying, “You are

worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain and have redeemed us to God

by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev 5:9).

10As it is mentioned in “Mapping the Margins,

” nearly forty percent of all homeless

women and children have fled violence in the home, and an estimated sixty-three percent of

young men between the ages of eleven and twenty who are imprisoned for homicide have killed

their mother’s batters. Christian scholars should seek the biblical perspective of what the home

should look like. There are 2 examples: 1) God teaches parents to take care of their children

spiritually, and children should abide with their parents for their protection. God commands

Israel:

And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them

diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you

walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign

on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the

doorposts of your house and on your gates (Deut 6:6–9).

God commands every Israelite to embrace God’s word in his heart first; then he had to

teach it to his children, and God’s commands should be declared upon every Israelite’s house.

God wanted to pass his word from generation to generation. 2) Jesus gave a parable about a man

who went to borrow three loaves of bread from his friend, but his friend found it difficult

because he has his children with him in bed (Luke 11:7). This parable gives the reader a glimpse

of the traditional Jewish house. In the ancient Jewish house, families stayed together under the

protection of the father as the head of the household. Similarly, Paul instructs Timothy, “If

anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the

faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim 5:8). Notably, Paul ties providing for the person’s

household with denying the faith. In another way, taking care of the person’s family is a fruit of

the work of the Holy Spirit. Hence, Christian scholars should read social sciences and keep in

mind, teach, and proclaim that Christians provide for their households because of their Christian

faith and not because of a good human perspective.

Applying Trentham’s Four Steps to Brown vs. Board of

Education and the Interest Convergence Dilemma

Derrick Bell is concerned about the rights of the people of color; he wrote his article to

11ensure that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision regarding Brown vs. Board of Education (1954),

which affirms racial segregation in public schools, is against the country’s constitution. When the

Christian scholars and educators read the work of Derrick, Trentham provides his four steps to

have a Christian stance for that social issue. Trentham’s first step is: envision redemptive

maturity. Christians can join and fight for human rights and equality, but they should understand

how they would participate in maturity in the Christian faith. The goal of reading social sciences

is to gain all the possible tools to support one’s faith to mature in Christ. The Bible contains

teachings that promote equality, justice, and love for all people, regardless of race or

ethnicity.

All humans are created in God's image, regardless of race or ethnicity. The Bible

tells the reader that God created every human being who is born on earth in his image.

Genesis’s narrator states

God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have

dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all

the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So, God created man

in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created

them” (Gen 1:26–27).

This passage enfolds significant meanings in our topic. First, God states that he has

one image and one likeness, and, in that image, he created every human being. Apparently,

God does not have a white image or a black image. Hence, regardless of what color, culture,

or language a human has, they all were created and born in one image and likeness, which is

God’s image and likeness.

Second, God gave them, with no distinction, dominion over his creation. God

bestowed them an equal dominion over the creation. Again, this dominion was not given for

a certain race; rather, it was for every race that may come or exist. Also, this dominion was

not for humans over themselves; rather, it was for all of them over the created creatures.

Thus, this text affirms that the command of dominion was given to people not to practice

over each other since no one is superior to the other; rather, they are equal and have the

same dominion over creatures.

Lastly, the passage says that God created him; male and female, he created them, and

that means God equalizes the value between males and females. Both were created in God’s

image and likeness, and both had the authority to practice dominion over the creatures. It is

noteworthy that this teaching is on the first page of the Bible, which means that this is the

12foundation of God’s plan for his creation and creatures, so a true biblical Christian ought to

practice God’s desire and walk by his commands in his life. This applies to any government

that claims to be Christian or wants to apply equality in its policies, rules, and laws.

Trentham’s second step is: read for receptivity. When the psalmist prayed, “Open my

eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law” (Ps 119:18), God can open our eyes on our

social issues to participate in solving them. When we remain silent, the issue remains and

becomes worse. Bell claims that legal progress happens when it benefits the white majority. In

addition, Christian scholars must know the biblical principle of dealing with the other who is

different from us. Jesus emphasized the importance of loving one's neighbor as oneself. God

says:

If a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who

dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as

yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. ‘You shall

do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall

have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin (Lev 19:33–36).

This passage guards the rights of any stranger who comes to dwell among the Israelites.

God commands the Israelites to not mistreat the stranger; rather, the Israelites had to treat him as

any other Israelite who was born among the Israelites. Therefore, Israelites had to accept,

respect, and love him. God makes his argument here based on a serious event in the history of

the people of Israel. The Israelites were enslaved for four hundred years, and they—like any

slaves in that time—needed justice or a law to protect them if they may have any rights. So, God

commands the Israelites to show the strangers equality, justice, and love that the Israelites cried

for in Egypt. Furthermore, later in Deuteronomy 23:7–8, God instructs the Israelites before their

entrance to the Promise Land, “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall

not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land. The children of the third

generation born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.” Even though there was enmity

between the Israelites and the Edomites and the Egyptians at a time, the Lord instructs them not

to abhor them. And the children of the third generation of them are permitted to enter the

assembly of God; then that Egyptian, or the Adamite, becomes one of the children of Israel. As a

matter of fact, a group of mixed people from different nations joined the Israelites and exited

Egypt with them. The Bible says, “A mixed multitude went up with them also” (Exod 12:38).

The New Bible Commentary comments on this verse, “Whether servants or neighbors, who were

13willing to make Israel’s God their God welcomed and bidden to the feast. … The people of Israel

were the elect of God and the mediators to the world of His salvation, but He never intended

them to be an exclusive race.”6 God accepted people from every nation to join the Israelites, and

they enjoyed the same rights as the Israelites. Moreover, if any of these foreigners wanted to

participate in the most sacred Jewish tradition, which is the feast of Passover, they could, if they

were circumcised.

Trentham’s third step: employ reflective discernment. In this step, it is important to know

if the intention of the paradigm is oriented toward human ethics or Christocentric life ethics.

Secularism will not help the Christian education; rather, it will deviate him from the main goal of

reading social sciences. The main goal is not achieving human rights in schools and removing

every wall between whites and people of color; rather, the main goal is understanding that we all

were created in God’s image, and this image must be respected (as I mentioned above).

Jesus teaches, “But the ones (seeds) that fell on the good ground are those who, having

heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15).

God’s word is the seed may fall on our society’s heart, but to enjoy its fruits, it may take time.

However, Christians ought to take the matter seriously in reading, understanding, and acting. For

knowledge only, will never make any changes, but when we realize a social issue, Christians

must act with biblical motive to accomplish God’s will on earth.

Trentham’s fourth step: identify appropriative outlets. Probably Brown vs. Board of

Education did not make practical changes among schools because real changes happen when

God deals with people’s hearts. Trentham’s fourth step deals with the contexts where the

paradigm can be applied. Consequently, the biblical perspective should be applied in every

aspect of life, especially when it is a racial issue. In Christ, there is no distinction between Jew or

Gentile, slave or free, male or female. Paul asserts:

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were

baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither

slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if

you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal

6 The New Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, MI: 1953, 115.

143:26–29).

This is a fascinating passage Paul wrote. First, Paul reminds the churches of Galatia that

they are sons of God because of their faith in Jesus Christ and not because of their ethnicity or

race. Faith makes a person a son of God, and son of God means that a believer is accepted by

God and becomes a member of God’s family. Second, he states that there is neither Jew nor

Greek, so Paul tears down any supremacy based on any ethnicity. Lastly, he makes an

astonishing claim that even the gentiles are Abraham’s seed, simply because they are Christ’s.

This is the perspective of the Pauline theology when it comes to different races and ethnicities

when people accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Later, in Galatians 5:6, Paul affirms, “For in Christ

Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.”

He still takes the reader or the listener in his time not to the land, tradition, nor ancestors, but he

points to the faith in Jesus. Basically, he is telling the Jews that circumcision as a sign in the

flesh does not distinguish them any more before God, but the faith in Jesus makes people

different before God.

Paul wrote to the Gentiles in Ephesians 2:11–14 that they were without Christ, being

aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,

having no hope and without God in the world. Now, in Christ Jesus, they have been brought

near by the blood of Christ, because Jesus has made both Gentiles and Jews one. He told

them that Jesus has broken down the middle wall of separation, which was between Gentiles

and Jews. Paul repeats the same notion to the believers of Rome, “There is no distinction

between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For

whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom 10:12). Also, he teaches the

Corinthians the same concept: “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the

members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit, we

were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have

all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor 12:12–13) and later in the same chapter he

says, “God hath tempered the body together” (v. 24 KJV). The Liberty Commentary on the

New Testament comments, “As God viewed the body, he does not see it in part but in the

15whole. “Tempered” was used to speak of mingling two elements to form a compound.”7 The

Bible teaches that even though nations may differ in color, culture, or languages, God made

them that way, like a body has many parts, and they still make one body. These parts may

differ in their functionality or place, but each part still holds its importance to the one body.

Hence, these parts are equal and need one another. Amhara, Yorubas, Chinese, Bengalis,

Albanians, Polish, Latin Americans, Quebecois, and Hawaiians are equal in their

importance, and every one of them should have the same rights. Because God created them,

and that was his plan for his creation.

Conclusion

Christian scholars and educators should understand that when a policy is made, it is

supposed to protect everyone. If that policy is built on a personal interest, that means it is

far from God’s intention of protecting who is different. I explained the biblical paradigm,

which is the standard for any social paradigm. It begins from people created in God’s image

to accepting the others despite their differences.

7 The Liberty Commentary on the New Testament (Lynchburg, VA: Liberty, 1978), 416.

16BIBLIOGRAPHY

Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence

Against Women of Color.” Vol. 43, 1241–1299. Stanford Law Review, 1991.

Davidson, Francis. The New Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1953.

Falwell, Jerry and Edward E. Hindson. Liberty Commentary on the New Testament. Lynchburg:

Liberty, 1978.

Trentham, John David. “Reading the Social Sciences Theologically: Approaching and

Qualifying Models of Human Development.

” Vol. 16, 458–475. Christian Education

Journal, 2019.

17