Otherness and Exile: Jesus’s Attitude Towards Apostates and Outsiders

This contribution explores to what extent Jesus’s attitude towards apos-
tates and outsiders could be described as lenient, strict, or somewhere in
between. How did he position himself within the religious-cultural web
of parties, splinter groups, and movements, and how did this materialize
into idiosyncratic ways of approaching dilemmas regarding apostasy and
assimilation? Who are the apostates according to Jesus, if any? Methodo-
logically, the investigation looks primarily for narrative and propositions,
structured in the literary device of the parable, to discern what purport
and intentions the historical Jesus transmitted to his followers. Alongside
Jesus’s own Galilean tradition and style, particular attention is paid to
the texts in which he expresses belief and despair, faithfulness and doom
(hybridity versus exile).