A misericórdia que ultrapassa fronteiras: uma leitura sociológica da parábola do Bom Samaritano - Lucas 10.25-37

Abstract

Language is not only a means through which human beings express their thought. It also is not simply a virtual code ready and available outside of the formation context. Any one of these comprehensions, each in its own way, does not consider the speakers and the situations of use as determiners of the facts and rules of the language. Language is essentially dialogic and should be understood as a form or process of inter-action , in which the users interact as social subjects. It is not the work of one individual, but the social and historical work of that individual and of others. And it is constituted for the others and with the others. That is why it is affirmed that the interactions occur within an enormous social, historical and ideological context and, in these limits, language suffers interferences. This concept demands a differentiated reading of the biblical text, that is, an approach which takes in the historical, social and dialogic aspect of the text. Thus, what is being proposed is a biblical reading through the sociological method, a reading from the four sides. This method is based on the presupposition that there exist four sides or aspects which determine the social life of a people. It is a methodology orientated toward a simplified reading with didactic goals, which presents the totality of the social dynamism in four great aspects or dimensions of the social reality, that is: economic, social, political and ideological. Based on the dialogic concept of the text, on the theory of genres, on the historical-cultural aspect with data obtained from an exegetical analysis and, especially, on the sociological aspect of the parable of the Good Samaritan, this paper carries out a sociological reading of the text of Luke 10:25-37 to reach the goal of the parable of the Good Samaritan. With this reading various social voices were identified which permeate the text as was also identified a peculiar proposal of a Christian model which seeks the protagonist of the Christian love instead of being concerned with the object and the limit of this compassion.