Ruth and Esther: Negotiable space in Christopher Wright’s The Mission of God?

Abstract

In the volume entitled The Mission of God, author Christopher J.H. Wright (2006) endeavors to search for a missional hermeneutic that unlocks the Bible’s grand narrative. The book’s comprehensiveness and extensiveness would be difficult to match in years to come. However, the books of Ruth and Esther are notably overlooked and mentioned only in passing. This glaring omission implies an insignificance and irrelevance of the two books in contributing to the hermeneutic of missions. Should these two books be included or excluded in the grand narrative of the mission of God? This paper positions Ruth and Esther at an indispensable place in a missional hermeneutic that nuances the intricacies of the Abrahamic covenant, the diaspora, and gender in God’s grand narrative.