Nancy Klancher Livres

Exploring the narratives of biblical mothers, this book delves into how figures like Sarah and Mary reflect cultural expectations of motherhood in relation to divine selection. It investigates the implications of these maternal archetypes in establishing social hierarchies and the perceived value of different peoples. By examining the interpretation of these stories over time, the author highlights how they have shaped contemporary understandings of sexual and racial differences, prompting critical questions about identity and belonging.

Current reception histories emphasize the world of Biblical readers, their socio-historical contexts, and the myriad effects of Biblical exegesis. This reception history studies interpretations of Jesus’ encounter with a Canaanite woman (Matt 15:21–28) as normative “scripts” that exhort specific types of compliance in a broad range of historical and cultural settings, revealing remarkably diverse understandings of Christian identity and community.