‘How much evil he has done to your saints?’: Ananias, Saul, and a Christian approach to the Contact Hypothesis in the Scottish refugee context
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Abstract
This article offers an exegetical and theological reading of Ananias’ involvement in Saul’s restoration (Acts 9:10–19) through the lens of the Contact Hypothesis. In this pericope, Ananias’ response balances an honest acknowledgement of the effects of Saul’s violence on his community with a courageous commitment to risky, personal contact. The paper argues that the Ananias-Saul narrative can provide both a theological perspective on, and a corrective to, the Contact Hypothesis, developing a praxis-based model for responding to the effects of violence and to its perpetrators. Case studies are drawn from the author’s experience in an integration sports project in Glasgow that facilitated contact among refugees, asylum seekers, and communities on either side of the city’s sectarian divide.
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