Talking on the Road to Emmaus

A Paradigm for Deconstructing Racial Hierarchies and Contextualizing Theology

Abstract

This essay traces the formation of race in society as a hierarchical mechanism to maintain privilege. It then tracks Christianity’s engorgement on power and its resultant all-encompassing “normed†theology, and the failure of said theology to liberate all bodies. Next, the author turns toward contextualization as a tool for the liberation of marginalized bodies from theologies that privilege whiteness. Finally, using the road to Emmaus story from Luke 24:13-35, the author argues that the moment of experiencing God through the stranger can be life-giving, as the table of Christ becomes the place where white privilege and power are leveled.