Between the Slavery of the Law and the Freedom of the Promise in Grace: A Semiotic Reading of the Allegory of Sarah and Hagar
Nilthon Fernandes
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Brazil
Abstract: The article analyses the allegory of Sarah and Hagar as a problem of dual forms of religiosity: serving God out of fear and obligation under the Law, or through free and loving adherence under Grace. It aims to conceptually define these two profiles of believers, model the contracts that govern them, and evaluate the ethical and affective effects of each regime. The theoretical framework combines discursive semiotics and sociosemiotics. The methodology applies semiotic analysis to the biblical corpus, mapping the figurative universe, isotopies of fear and love, modal schemas, and the narrative trajectories of Law and Grace. The results indicate two contracts: in the regime associated with Hagar, compulsory obedience predominates, whereas in the regime associated with Sarah, fiduciary adherence prevails. The study concludes that the passage from legalistic servitude to gracious filiation reconfigures the believer’s identity and fosters a fruitful relational spirituality, in which love expels fear and sustains freedom.
Keywords: Discursive semiotics, Sociosemiotics, Sarah and Hagar, Narrative contract, Modalities of wanting and duty.