Possessed or powerful? Reading the story of the Pythian slave girl afresh

Acts 16:16-18 tells the story of a slave girl who is said to have a ‘Pythian spirit’ which enables her to tell oracles, and we are told that the apostle Paul cast out the spirit from her.

Drawing on her Yorùbá heritage and her personal autobiographical experience of having a great-grandmother who was a powerful Oracle in Nigeria, Olabisi Obamakin will look at that this story in a new light and will ask whether we should see the Pythian slave girl as possessed or powerful.

Drawing also on Butterfly Fish, a novel by Irenosen Okojie that explores Nigerian worldviews and beliefs, Olabisi will show how the New Testament can be read in a new and powerful way through the lens of a Nigerian/British woman.

Dr Olabisi Obamakin is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Theological Education at Durham University. As a Nigerian/British woman, she has a special interest in widening participation into Theology and has spoken about her work to multiple academic and public audiences including at Exeter Cathedral and on BBC Radio Devon.

The event is free, but if you are able to make a donation to the continuing learning programme at St Paul’s Cathedral when you register for the event we would be very grateful.

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