The socio-moral responsibility of women in the Old Testament : a paradigm for contemporary women's involvement in the protection of children in peril in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

The present study focuses on the socio-moral responsibility of today’s women in regards with the protection of children from abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo.The aim of the research is to examine the socio-moral principles of children protection that emanate from the attitude of some women found in passages from the Old Testament, including Exodus 1 : 15-2 : 10 ; 2 Kings 4 : 1-7 ; 2 Kings 4 : 17-37 ; 1 Kings 3 : 16-28 and 2 Kings 6 : 25-30. The aim was to find out to what extend these principles could contribute to equipping DRC women so that they may take active part in the protection of children from abuses. To this end, the central argument is that the good application of the principles drawn from these biblical texts, namely the fear of God, love, compassion and faith in God, can help today’s women to decisively get involved in the protection of the children whose life is in danger. The objectives of this research consist in finding the meaning of “family”, “woman”, and “child” in order to understand the value, the role, and the place of each in the concepts of Ancient Israel society and in the Congolese social life as well. To achieve the assigned goals and objectives, we used the qualitative method to which we associated the content analysis technique (Gavard-Perret et al, 2012 : 281) and the documentary analysis. The other method we used is the grammatico-historical exegesis (Kaiser, 1981: 87-88) which has helped us to extract from biblical passages the socio-moral principles that we mentioned earlier. Finally, on the basis of these elements, we were able to build a pastoral model of children protection. This model derives from the principles found in the life of biblical women that were studied. We tried to demonstrate how the application of these principles could help DRC women to protect children whose life is in danger. In order to reach a more fruitful outcome of this study, it is planned to organize seminars in churches, schools and other places that host many women. This project is set up to make women aware of their responsibilities towards children who are suffering abuses.