Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Horsley, R. A., & Siberman, N. A. (1997). The Message and the Kingdom: How Jesus and Paul Ignited a Revolution and Transfo. idk: Putnam Pub Group,
Argue that earliest Christianity was a movement that boldly challenged the heartlessness and arrogance of a vast governmental bureaucracy run on unfairly apportioned tax burdens and guided by cynical special interests - that preached about 'opportunity', 'self-reliance', and 'personal achievement' while denying all three to the vast majority of men, women and children over whom it presumed to rule. 5
A truly historical approach to the world of earliest christianity must also attempt to reconstruct the unspoken social, political and economic background for Jesus' miracles and teachings and must help u try to understand what effect his message might have had on his listeners. 6
The continuing quest for the kingdom of God by Jesus , paul and the earliest Christians should be understood as Both a spiritual journey and an evolving political response to the mindless acts of violence, inequality and injustice that characterised and still all too often characterise the kingdoms of men. 7
Covenantal renewing immersion can be seen as profoundly political statements of opposition 34 In first century exorcisms and spontaneous cures were , in themselves, not considered impossible or even unusual. 48
The restorative and creative energy he shared with others was not aimed solely at individuals but served as a way of transforming wider community life. 50
In both john's and Jesus' preaching the coming of the kingdom of god meant a revolution in the way people behaved toward each other and their recognition that they should have no Caesars tetrarchs, centurions or other overlords above them except for one God and creator of the world. 54
Jesus suggested that god was establishing his kingdom by creating an alternative society. 54
Under the pressure of debt and taxation, roman legal standards not the torah began to take precedence Villagers who may previously have felt a responsibility to help their neighbours in times of shortage were no longer under legal obligation to do so, especially since they were themselves now debtors 55
Jesus' healings and teachings must be therefore seen in this context, not as abstract spiritual truths spoken between stunning miracles but as a provram of community action and practical resistance to a system that efficiently transformed close knit villages into badly fragmented communities of alienated frightened individuals. 55
The kingdom of god was indeed at hand if they believed it - not a dream, not a vision of heaven, not a spiritual state, but a social transformation here and now ... If only they rejected injustice and heeded the commandments of god. 56
Sayings of Jesus were not abstract ethical injunctions but powerful political prescriptions 93
Membership in the movement begun by Jesus wasn't a matter of sudden conversion to the transcendent belief in a crucified and resurrected messiah. The faith and hope he inspired were much more down to earth than that. The sayings of Jesus - as remembered or imagined - offered a set of quite specific instructions about the way that people should act in public and treat each other in order to bring the ancient community of Israel to life again. 97
The battle must now be waged in the hearts and minds of righteous people throughout the empire who were in danger of being possessed by the evil spirits of power, status and patronage. 179
Far more than political agitation, class warfare, or zeal for national liberation, he had come to believe that a focused concentration on sacrifice and sharing - monetary sharing as well as spiritual selfishness - was the most potent and effective weapon that god's elect could possibly use avIbstvteb forces of darkness 182
Paul had come to believe that in an age of patrons and clients , of status and possessions, only continual acts of radical self sacrifice modeled on yeh crucified figure of Jesus Christ could renew and redeem the world. 183
By the early second century the kingdom of God was increasingly seen as an entirely spiritual state of grave accessible only through increasingly regularised discipline and rituals of the church. 224
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A truly historical approach to the world of earliest christianity must also attempt to reconstruct the unspoken social, political and economic background for Jesus' miracles and teachings and must help u try to understand what effect his message might have had on his listeners. 6
The continuing quest for the kingdom of God by Jesus , paul and the earliest Christians should be understood as Both a spiritual journey and an evolving political response to the mindless acts of violence, inequality and injustice that characterised and still all too often characterise the kingdoms of men. 7
Covenantal renewing immersion can be seen as profoundly political statements of opposition 34 In first century exorcisms and spontaneous cures were , in themselves, not considered impossible or even unusual. 48
The restorative and creative energy he shared with others was not aimed solely at individuals but served as a way of transforming wider community life. 50
In both john's and Jesus' preaching the coming of the kingdom of god meant a revolution in the way people behaved toward each other and their recognition that they should have no Caesars tetrarchs, centurions or other overlords above them except for one God and creator of the world. 54
Jesus suggested that god was establishing his kingdom by creating an alternative society. 54
Under the pressure of debt and taxation, roman legal standards not the torah began to take precedence Villagers who may previously have felt a responsibility to help their neighbours in times of shortage were no longer under legal obligation to do so, especially since they were themselves now debtors 55
Jesus' healings and teachings must be therefore seen in this context, not as abstract spiritual truths spoken between stunning miracles but as a provram of community action and practical resistance to a system that efficiently transformed close knit villages into badly fragmented communities of alienated frightened individuals. 55
The kingdom of god was indeed at hand if they believed it - not a dream, not a vision of heaven, not a spiritual state, but a social transformation here and now ... If only they rejected injustice and heeded the commandments of god. 56
Sayings of Jesus were not abstract ethical injunctions but powerful political prescriptions 93
Membership in the movement begun by Jesus wasn't a matter of sudden conversion to the transcendent belief in a crucified and resurrected messiah. The faith and hope he inspired were much more down to earth than that. The sayings of Jesus - as remembered or imagined - offered a set of quite specific instructions about the way that people should act in public and treat each other in order to bring the ancient community of Israel to life again. 97
The battle must now be waged in the hearts and minds of righteous people throughout the empire who were in danger of being possessed by the evil spirits of power, status and patronage. 179
Far more than political agitation, class warfare, or zeal for national liberation, he had come to believe that a focused concentration on sacrifice and sharing - monetary sharing as well as spiritual selfishness - was the most potent and effective weapon that god's elect could possibly use avIbstvteb forces of darkness 182
Paul had come to believe that in an age of patrons and clients , of status and possessions, only continual acts of radical self sacrifice modeled on yeh crucified figure of Jesus Christ could renew and redeem the world. 183
By the early second century the kingdom of God was increasingly seen as an entirely spiritual state of grave accessible only through increasingly regularised discipline and rituals of the church. 224
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