A Community in Search of its Identity: Mt. 21:28-22:14 in a Subaltern Perspective

A Community in Search of its Identity studies the parables of Mt. 21:28-22:14 as the expression of a doubly marginalized community marginalized as a part of the Jewish community within the Roman Empire and further marginalized within this Jewish entity on account of its faith in Jesus-Christ. The gives the Gospel of Matthew a subaltern perspective that can be applied to the Christian flock in its minority position of India, and particularly to the Dalit Christians, further marginalized within their own Christian brotherhood. Solid and relevant, this piece of biblical research will reward its readers with a better perception of the Gospel challenge to our generation as it was to the people of those days. The exegetical analysis undertaken in this doctoral dissertation is excellent, meticulous exhaustive. The newness of this work consists in the application of Subaltern perspective to the three parables in Mt. 21:28-22:14 and in the way these parables are linked to Mt. 5: 17-20. The Author establishes the link between both texts on the practice of "Better Righteousness" by which the marginalized Christian community of Matthew defines its identity, showing there by how deeply it is rooted in Judaism while at the same time, registering its protest against the attitude of the Jewish leaders of the time.