“‘The Other’ Doing God’s Work” Course: Session 3 (Afternoon)

Session 3 – Including Some, Excluding Others: Nehemiah and the Edge of Extinction

While Nehemiah takes steps to guard against the assimilation and disappearance of his small community of Jewish returnees to Jerusalem, he also portrays the Persian King Artaxerxes as benevolently fulfilling the will of the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus did a century and a half before.

NOTE: Based on Dr. Lucas Schulte’s research findings in his book My Shepherd, though You Do not Know Me: The Persian Royal Propaganda Model in the Nehemiah Memoir

Key Takeaway: Even in perilous times for a minority religious identity, there is room to view the religious Other as doing good with our own religion — and therefore, we should guard against excluding the religious Other when we are not a vulnerable religious minority.