God as “The King” and His Act of Reconciliation

Abstract

This article focuses on biblical language to refer to God as “the King†and his eternal space as “the Kingdom of heaven†or “the Kingdom of God,†exploring the imperialistic nuances with particular reference to the parable of “The Vineyard and the Laborers†in Matt 20:1–16. The author proposes a re-interpretation of the text using a postcolonial dalit feminist perspective that upholds the authority of Scripture as it functions in communities of faith. Therefore, the approach to the text is to seek the liberating insights and messages the text has to offer, despite the fact that it contains imperialistic language and images. Thus this article deviates from postcolonial scholars who largely engage in deconstruction, rather than reinterpretation.