Taming “Wild Ass–Colts”: An Analysis of Theology as a Kyriarchal Weapon of Spiritual and Physical Violence

This essay examines the strategies Jesuits used in seventeenth-century New France (Quebec) to apply Christian theology and biblical interpretation to the Montagnais people in their evangelization. The Jesuits' encounter with the Montagnais vividly demonstrates how the Bible may be used as a weapon of theological imperialism, particularly with regard to the role and status of wo/men and children. After applying Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza's critical feminist hermeneutic to the theology the Jesuits employed, Nienhuis speculates how the results of their encounter might have been different had they practiced Schüssler Fiorenza's critical feminist theology among the peoples of New France. Finally, by bringing a hermeneutics of suspicion to the Jesuits' written account, the author repudiates the hegemonic theological discourse prevalent in the text—particularly in how it fostered intimate-partner violence among the Montagnais. This harmful theology still functions today in theological responses to women who suffer intimate-partner violence.