During an era when religious institutions used theology and Scripture to malign and reject others, Jesus accepted and included Gentiles, the poor, the sick, women, Samaritans, Romans, children, and many others who were outcasts and oppressed. Being inclusive and...
Sometimes for humans no one is more "other" than the person who claims to worship the same God we worship but differently, and the Samaritans were "those people."
The preoccupation with protecting boundaries between the chosen and the despised people is not limited to the Samaritan/Jewish conflict of the first century. Throughout human history, people and nations have defined themselves over against other groups. The history of...