Challenging Boundaries in Acts 8:26-40: Toward seeing “othered bodies” through Decolonial Feminist Eyes
Main Article Content
Keywords
Acts 8:26-40, Ethiopian eunuch, feminist, decolonial, knowledge, agency, good news
Abstract
Cartography, the scientific name for “mapping”, sets boundaries that separate people and places. As a metaphor, it is “another name for stories told by winners”, which may also refer to the politics of knowledge production captured in biblical texts. As such, stories mapped by hegemonic powers ignore the presence, knowledge, and insights of the marginalized “othered”. Reception history of the story mapped in Acts 8:26-40, and by implication sermons preached on this biblical text, primarily lends itself to the advancement of the Christian missionary task – proselytization. The story of the Ethiopian eunuch has generally served as a literary prop to “proclaim the Good News”. Explicit references to racial and sexual identity markers in the text are generally “glossed over” and the unnamed character is seen as the “other” in need of salvation. This paper explores how, when seen from a decolonial feminist perspective, a different picture of the unnamed Ethiopian eunuch emerges. The argument made here is that when hegemonic understandings of the biblical text are questioned, boundaries that separate people and places are challenged to reveal a theological map of radical inclusivity.
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References
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Burke, Sean. “Queering Early Christian Discourse: The Ethiopian Eunuch.” In Bible Trouble: Queer Reading at the Boundaries of Biblical Scholarship, edited by Teresa Hornsby, and Ken Stone, 179-189. Atlanta: SBL, 2011.
Burke, Sean. Queering the Ethiopian Eunuch: Strategies of Ambiguity in Acts. Augsburg Fortress, 2013.
Burke, Sean. “Reading the Bible with Eunuchs.” In Mapping New Terrain in Queer Religious Scholarship, edited by Bernard Schlager, 207-211 Abingdon: Routledge, 2025.
de Hoop, Raymond. (2008). “The Interpretation of Isaiah 56:1-9: Comfort or Criticism?” Journal of Biblical Literature 127, no. 4 (2008): 671-695.
Dube, Musa W. “Toward a Postcolonial Feminist Interpretation of the Bible.” Semeia 78 (1997): 11–26.
Dube, Musa. Postcolonial Feminist Interpretation of the Bible. St Louis: Chalice Press, 2000.
Grosfoguel, Ramón. “The Epistemic Decolonial Turn: Beyond the political-economic paradigms.” Cultural Studies 21, no. 2-3 (2007): 211-223. doi:10.1080/09502380601162514.
Hadebe, Nontando. “Can Anything Good Come from Nazareth? Come and see!': An Invitation to Dialogue Between Queer Theories and African Theologies.” Concilium 5 (2019): 81-90.
Hall, Stuart. “Gramsci’s Relevance for the Study of Race and Ethnicity.” Journal of Communication Inquiry, 10, no. 2 (1986): 5-27.
Harding, Sandra. Whose Science? Whose Knowledge?: Thinking from Women’s Lives. New York: Cornell University Press, 1991.
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Jayawardena, Kumari. Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World. London: Zed Books, 1986.
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Lugones, Maria. Toward a Decolonial Feminism. Hypatia 25, No.4 (2010): 742-759.
Maksimović, Maja. “Insights from Liminality: Navigating the Space of Transition and Learning.” SYSYPHUS Journal of Education 11, no.1 (2023): 147-166.
Martin, Clarice. “A Chamberlain's Journey and the Challenge of Interpretation for Liberation.” Semeia 47 (1989): 105-135.
Masenya, Madipoane. “Without a voice, with a violated body: Re-reading Judges 19 to challenge gender violence in sacred texts.” Missionalia, 40, no.3 (2012): 205-214.
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Nadar, Sarojini. “Barak God and Die!’ Women, HIV and a Theology of Suffering.” In Grant me Justice: HIV/AIDS & Gender Readings of the Bible, edited by Musa Dube and Rachel Kanyoro, 60-79. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2004.
Nadar, Sarojini. Gender, Genocide, Gaza and the Book of Esther: Engaging Tests of Terror(ism). Abingdon: Routledge, 2025.
Nadar, Sarojini. and Maluleke, Tinyiko. (2022). “Of Theological Burglaries and Epistemic Violence: Black Theology, Decoloniality, and Higher Education.” The Ecumenical Review 74, no.4 (2022): 541-560.
Nye, Malory. “Decolonizing the Study of Religion.” Open Library of Humanities, 5, no.1 (2019): 1-45.
Oduyoye, Mercy. Introducing African Women’s Theology. Pilgrim Press, 2001.
Pillay, Miranda. “See this Woman? Toward a Theology of Gender Equality in the Context of HIV and AIDS.” Scriptura 89 (2005): 441-455.
Pillay, Miranda. (2009). “Through the Eyes of a Mother: Re-reading Luke's Mary as a Resource for Gender Equality in the 21st Century?” In Ragbag Theologies: Essays in honour of Denise M Ackermann - A Feminist Theologian of Praxis, edited by Miranda. Pillay, Sarojini. Nadar, and Clint. Le Bruyns, 205-218. Stellenbosch: SUN Press, 2009.
Pillay, Miranda. “The Anglican Church and Feminism: Challenging the historic Patriarchy of our Faith.” Journal of Gender and Religion in Africa (2013): 5-22.
Pillay, Miranda. “Women, Priests and Patriarchal Ecclesial Spaces in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa: On ‘Interruption’ as a Transformative Rhetorical Strategy.” HTS Theological Studies 76 (2020): 1-12.
Pillay, Miranda. Re-membering Community: Towards Unconditional Inclusion of LGBTQI+ Members. Cape Town: South African Council of Churches, 2022.
Raheb, Mitri. “Land, People and Empire: The Bible through Palestinian Christian Eyes.” In A New Critical Approach to the History of Palestine, edited by Ingrid Hjelm, Hamdan Taha, Ilan Pappe, Thomas L. Thompson, 317-325. Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.
Rohrbaugh, Richard. “Ethnocentrism and Research on the Historical Jesus.” In The Social Setting of Jesus and the Gospels, edited by Wolfgang Stegemann, Bruce Malina, and Gerd Theissen, 27-44. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2002.
Statistics South Africa. Statistical Release: Census 2022. Republic of South Africa, 2022. Retrieved from https://census.statssa.gov.za/assets/documents/2022/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf
Stein, S., Andreotti, V., Susa, R. and, Amsler, S. “Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures: Reflections on our Learnings thusfar.” Nordic Journal of Comparative International Education (2020): 43-65.
Shafak, Elif. The Island of Missing Trees. Dublin: Penquin Books, 2021.
Solevåg, Anna R. “No Nuts? No Problem!” Biblical Interpretation 24 (2016): 81-99.
Spivak, Gayatri. "Can the Subaltern Speak?". In Reflections on the History of an Idea: Can the Subaltern Speak, ed. Rosalind C. Morris, 21-78. Colombia University Press, 2010 .
Sugirtharajah, R. S. (2002). Postcolonial Criticism and Biblical Interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Tuck, Eve, and Yang, Wayne K. “Decolonization is not a metaphor.” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society 1, no. 1 (2012): 1-40.
Wilson, Brittany. “‘Neither Male nor Female’: The Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8.26-40.” New Testament Studies 60, no.3 (2014): 403-422.
Wilson, Britanny. Unmanly Men: Refigurations of Masculinity in Luke-Acts. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Yoon, Seokhyun. “A Representative Outsider and the Inclusion of the Outsider in Acts 8:26-40.” PhD diss. Duke University, 2016. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12924.
Ackermann, Denise. “Lamenting Tragedy from ‘The Other Side’”. In Sameness and Difference: Problems and Potentials in South African Civil Society, edited by James R. Cochrane, and Bastienne. Klein, 213-242. Washington: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, 2000.
Ackermann, Denise. “Tamar's Cry: Rereading an ancient text in the midst of an HIV/AIDS Pandemic.” In Character Ethics and the Old Testament: Moral Dimensions of Scripture, edited by M. D. Caroll, and Jaqueline. Lapsley, 191-220. Louisville: Westminister John Knox Press, 2007.
Anderson, Elizabeth. “Feminist Epistemology: An Interpretation and a Defense.” Hypatia 10, no. 3 (1995): 50–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.1995.tb00737.x.
Barnawi, Othman. “Epistemological theft and appropriation in qualitative inquiry in applied linguistics: lessons from Halaqa.” Applied Linguistics Review 16, no. 1 (2024): 1-13.
Burke, Sean. “Queering Early Christian Discourse: The Ethiopian Eunuch.” In Bible Trouble: Queer Reading at the Boundaries of Biblical Scholarship, edited by Teresa Hornsby, and Ken Stone, 179-189. Atlanta: SBL, 2011.
Burke, Sean. Queering the Ethiopian Eunuch: Strategies of Ambiguity in Acts. Augsburg Fortress, 2013.
Burke, Sean. “Reading the Bible with Eunuchs.” In Mapping New Terrain in Queer Religious Scholarship, edited by Bernard Schlager, 207-211 Abingdon: Routledge, 2025.
de Hoop, Raymond. (2008). “The Interpretation of Isaiah 56:1-9: Comfort or Criticism?” Journal of Biblical Literature 127, no. 4 (2008): 671-695.
Dube, Musa W. “Toward a Postcolonial Feminist Interpretation of the Bible.” Semeia 78 (1997): 11–26.
Dube, Musa. Postcolonial Feminist Interpretation of the Bible. St Louis: Chalice Press, 2000.
Grosfoguel, Ramón. “The Epistemic Decolonial Turn: Beyond the political-economic paradigms.” Cultural Studies 21, no. 2-3 (2007): 211-223. doi:10.1080/09502380601162514.
Hadebe, Nontando. “Can Anything Good Come from Nazareth? Come and see!': An Invitation to Dialogue Between Queer Theories and African Theologies.” Concilium 5 (2019): 81-90.
Hall, Stuart. “Gramsci’s Relevance for the Study of Race and Ethnicity.” Journal of Communication Inquiry, 10, no. 2 (1986): 5-27.
Harding, Sandra. Whose Science? Whose Knowledge?: Thinking from Women’s Lives. New York: Cornell University Press, 1991.
Hassim, Shireen. “Gender, Social Location and Feminist Politics in South Africa.” Transformation Journal 15 (1991): 65-82.
Jayawardena, Kumari. Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World. London: Zed Books, 1986.
Lin, Yii-Jan. (2020). “The Multivalence of the Ethiopian Eunuch and Acts 8:37.” TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism 25 (2020): 103-110.
Longino, Helen. “Review: Feminist Standpoint Theory and the Problem of Knowledge.” Signs 19, no. 1 (1993): 201-212.
Longino, Helen., and Lennon, Kathleen. “Feminist Epistemology as a Local Epistemology.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 19 (1997): 19-54.
Lugones, Maria. Toward a Decolonial Feminism. Hypatia 25, No.4 (2010): 742-759.
Maksimović, Maja. “Insights from Liminality: Navigating the Space of Transition and Learning.” SYSYPHUS Journal of Education 11, no.1 (2023): 147-166.
Martin, Clarice. “A Chamberlain's Journey and the Challenge of Interpretation for Liberation.” Semeia 47 (1989): 105-135.
Masenya, Madipoane. “Without a voice, with a violated body: Re-reading Judges 19 to challenge gender violence in sacred texts.” Missionalia, 40, no.3 (2012): 205-214.
Mbuvi, Andrew. “Revisiting Translation and Interpretation Issues in the Story of the African Royal Official (Ethiopian Eunuch) in Acts 8:26-40: The Hebrew Bible (LXX) Background.” Old Testament Essays 34, no.2 (2021): 474-484.
Mickel, Steve. “Cross-Cultural Leadership Complexities: A Study of the Ethiopian Eunuch and Philip’s Interaction in Acts 8:26-40.” In Biblical Cross-Cultural Leadership. Principles from the New Testament, edited by Suzana Dobrić Veiss, Elizabeth K. Hunt, and Joshua D. Henson,155-177. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024.
Mouton, Elna. “Christian Theology at the University: On the Threshold or in the margin?” HTS Theological Studies, 64, no. 1 (2008): 436.
Mouton, Elna. “Human Dignity as Expressions of God Images? Perspectives from in 1 Corinthians 24 and Ephesians 5.” Neotestamentica 45, no. 2 (2011): 275-292.
Mouton, Elna. “Reimagining Ancient Household Ethos? On the Implied Rhetorical Effect of Ephesians 5:21-33.” Neotestamentica 48, no.1 (2014): 163-185.
Nadar, Sarojini, Paulo Ueti and Johnathan Jodamus, “Toward Gender Justice: Reimagining Religion, Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Acts 8:26-40,” The Ecumenical Review 75, no. 1 (2023): 107.
Nadar, Sarojini. “Barak God and Die!’ Women, HIV and a Theology of Suffering.” In Grant me Justice: HIV/AIDS & Gender Readings of the Bible, edited by Musa Dube and Rachel Kanyoro, 60-79. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2004.
Nadar, Sarojini. Gender, Genocide, Gaza and the Book of Esther: Engaging Tests of Terror(ism). Abingdon: Routledge, 2025.
Nadar, Sarojini. and Maluleke, Tinyiko. (2022). “Of Theological Burglaries and Epistemic Violence: Black Theology, Decoloniality, and Higher Education.” The Ecumenical Review 74, no.4 (2022): 541-560.
Nye, Malory. “Decolonizing the Study of Religion.” Open Library of Humanities, 5, no.1 (2019): 1-45.
Oduyoye, Mercy. Introducing African Women’s Theology. Pilgrim Press, 2001.
Pillay, Miranda. “See this Woman? Toward a Theology of Gender Equality in the Context of HIV and AIDS.” Scriptura 89 (2005): 441-455.
Pillay, Miranda. (2009). “Through the Eyes of a Mother: Re-reading Luke's Mary as a Resource for Gender Equality in the 21st Century?” In Ragbag Theologies: Essays in honour of Denise M Ackermann - A Feminist Theologian of Praxis, edited by Miranda. Pillay, Sarojini. Nadar, and Clint. Le Bruyns, 205-218. Stellenbosch: SUN Press, 2009.
Pillay, Miranda. “The Anglican Church and Feminism: Challenging the historic Patriarchy of our Faith.” Journal of Gender and Religion in Africa (2013): 5-22.
Pillay, Miranda. “Women, Priests and Patriarchal Ecclesial Spaces in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa: On ‘Interruption’ as a Transformative Rhetorical Strategy.” HTS Theological Studies 76 (2020): 1-12.
Pillay, Miranda. Re-membering Community: Towards Unconditional Inclusion of LGBTQI+ Members. Cape Town: South African Council of Churches, 2022.
Raheb, Mitri. “Land, People and Empire: The Bible through Palestinian Christian Eyes.” In A New Critical Approach to the History of Palestine, edited by Ingrid Hjelm, Hamdan Taha, Ilan Pappe, Thomas L. Thompson, 317-325. Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.
Rohrbaugh, Richard. “Ethnocentrism and Research on the Historical Jesus.” In The Social Setting of Jesus and the Gospels, edited by Wolfgang Stegemann, Bruce Malina, and Gerd Theissen, 27-44. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2002.
Statistics South Africa. Statistical Release: Census 2022. Republic of South Africa, 2022. Retrieved from https://census.statssa.gov.za/assets/documents/2022/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf
Stein, S., Andreotti, V., Susa, R. and, Amsler, S. “Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures: Reflections on our Learnings thusfar.” Nordic Journal of Comparative International Education (2020): 43-65.
Shafak, Elif. The Island of Missing Trees. Dublin: Penquin Books, 2021.
Solevåg, Anna R. “No Nuts? No Problem!” Biblical Interpretation 24 (2016): 81-99.
Spivak, Gayatri. "Can the Subaltern Speak?". In Reflections on the History of an Idea: Can the Subaltern Speak, ed. Rosalind C. Morris, 21-78. Colombia University Press, 2010 .
Sugirtharajah, R. S. (2002). Postcolonial Criticism and Biblical Interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Tuck, Eve, and Yang, Wayne K. “Decolonization is not a metaphor.” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society 1, no. 1 (2012): 1-40.
Wilson, Brittany. “‘Neither Male nor Female’: The Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8.26-40.” New Testament Studies 60, no.3 (2014): 403-422.
Wilson, Britanny. Unmanly Men: Refigurations of Masculinity in Luke-Acts. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Yoon, Seokhyun. “A Representative Outsider and the Inclusion of the Outsider in Acts 8:26-40.” PhD diss. Duke University, 2016. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12924.
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Dec 31, 2025
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Challenging Boundaries in Acts 8:26-40: Toward seeing “othered bodies” through Decolonial Feminist Eyes. (2025). African Journal of Gender and Religion, 31(2). https://doi.org/10.36615/z6cg6x91
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Author Biography
Miranda Pillay, University of the Western Cape
Miranda Pillay is a Senior Researcher at the University of the Western Cape, affiliated with the Desmond Tutu (SARCHI) Chair in Religion and Social Justice which is jointly supported by the Lund Mission Society and the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant number 118854).
How to Cite
Challenging Boundaries in Acts 8:26-40: Toward seeing “othered bodies” through Decolonial Feminist Eyes. (2025). African Journal of Gender and Religion, 31(2). https://doi.org/10.36615/z6cg6x91
