Periphery and Centre

In the OT depictions of the Temple (1 Kings 6), the Holy of Holies is placed at the center, surrounded by concentric circles of protection. This placing of the Divine at the centre is particularly significant in contrast with the crucifixion site in Hebrews, where "Jesus Christ , the mediator of the new covenant" (9:15) is sited in death in W. H. Auden's words in ‘Friday’s Child’, "suffering in a public place / A death reserved for slaves," on a rubbish dump outside the city. Hebrews 13:12-13 states: "Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate . . . Let us therefore go to him outside the camp . . . "

This siting of the Divine outside has theological implications for someone like Leonardo Boff who wrote Faith on the Edge: Religion and Marginalised Existence, and for other liberation theologians, who believe that God privileges the margins over the centre, and that the Holy Spirit is especially to be found at work there.