This article is for crocodile hunters

Barbara Hughes, "Where was God?" Sewanee Theological Review 48:1(2004), 87-108.


This is quite a good article if you want to understand the theological journey of one victim and the structure of her healing within the Christian system. I think that it will be an eye-opener to many people and it is a truly necessary addition to these two volumes on children and Christianity.


The dilemmas that I noted in my article, "Birth of an Anthropologian" are easily identifiable in my own reading of this article. It strongly points out how all of our experiences and ways of learning to survive are so diverse. I had once more my own dilemma in how to construct a blog on this article. I chose not to make a critical analysis of the article for a number of reasons.

However, just about everything that I argued in my dissertation is evident in this article, and I have major issues with most of the theological constructions that are evident in the construction of Ms. Hughes spiritual journey. Her journey was not my journey, nor is it the journey of many, many survivors. She is well aware of this and tries to allow for that fact at the end of the article.

In the end, we can only understand that, in order to survive, one believes what one has to and one finds the community.

NOTE:
This may be hard to find. I couldn't find it on any of the university's databases and had to order it. It was a special two part series in the journal called Children and the Kingdom (Vol 1: Theological Reflections on Childhood and Vol. 2: Education and Formation). Two volumes for $14 USD - well worth the price. While I may have issues with the theology at times, these volumes are a fascinating look at children in Christianity. It also contains some beautiful art work (in colour) by children. It is published by the School of Theology at the The University of the South Sewanee, Tennessee. Anglican/Episcopalian in affiliation.