Saju Mary Abraham
Saju Mary Abraham
I am Saju Mary Abraham, a Biblical Research Scholar in the discipline of New Testament, from the Senate of Serampore, Kolkata, India. I am a postgraduate in Physics (M.Sc.) and in Sociology (M.A.).
As for my theological education, I did my Bachelor of Divinity (BD) from Union Biblical Seminary, Pune and Master of Theology (MTh) in the stream of New Testament. Presently I am in my Doctoral Research Programme from the Senate of Serampore, Kolkata, under the supervision of Rev. Prof. Dr. C.I. David Joy, the Principal of The Kerala United Theological Seminary.
My ministry experience ranges from working with students mission organisation and teaching in theological colleges.
My Research areas during my theological study period were the following:
For the current Doctoral Studies, my research title is Eusebeia in Early Christian Community: An Intertextual Reading of the Pastoral Epistles from a Postcolonial feminist Perspective
Here my area of research concerns the nature and function of Eusebeia, “godliness,” a frequently occurring word in the Pastoral Epistles and a major theme in the PE, and how it reflects the nature of ecclesia presented in the PE. I look at this as my primary text in relation to some of the contemporary and Christian traditions as gathered from the early second century Christian writings. Interestingly, a trajectory of a Christian living could be identified claiming Pauline heritage, similar to the Pastoral Epistles yet a contrasting world view. This strengthens the position that Early Christianity was never a monolithic stream but diverse and could be referred as Early ‘Christianities’.
Given this diversity and plurality, the claim that came to be backed and held by the Pastoral Epistles as the orthodox Christianity (or the sound teaching) need to be contested and all the contrary positions to it as ‘false teaching’ need to be revisited. The methodological framework of James C. Scott is helpful to analyse such texts with his detailed work on delineating the traditions as ‘public transcript’ and ‘hidden transcript’. The former is the one held out by the dominant community and which emerges as the generally accepted position while the latter are the little traditions, embraced and practiced by those who are marginally placed in the society. This framework helps one to look how the power relations in the Pastoral Epistles are normalised and standardised so that women and those in the lower social hierarchy are called to be content with their assigned station code. Eusebeia, then is critically looked at, which forms the core ethical centre of the ecclesiology anchored by the PE.
My MTh Thesis Title was ‘New Creation Motif in Galations:6:11-18: A Socio rhetorical reading.
Family background:
With regard to my Christian faith and my life journey, I owe my foundations and nourishment to the ecumenical Christian tradition. I was born and brought up in the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Christian tradition and now currently involved with my family in the Church of South India (CSI),from the Anglican tradition. I am married with two children. My husband is a presbyter of the CSI and a faculty with the Kerala United Theological Seminary, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, in the discipline of Old Testament. My eldest daughter is a Law student and the younger son in his High School.