The Meaning of Freedom and the Kingdom of God: A Struggle against the Fetishization of Our Present World

Horizons ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Joseph Drexler-Dreis
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Possible World ◽  
Jesus Movement ◽  
Neoliberal Capitalism ◽  
Present World

In their respective contexts of Roman empire and global neoliberal capitalism, the Jesus movement and the Zapatistas announce that another world is possible and that this world has irrupted in the struggle for that other possible world. This article argues that the practical and theoretical work of the Zapatistas offers to theologians a way to articulate the meaning of the kingdom of God as a world of hope and struggle that is actualized in and informed by struggles to resist fetishization.

Constructive and Critical Functions of Christian Eschatology

1984 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfhart Pannenberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Karl Barth ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
John Hick ◽  
New Creation ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Modern Mind ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Present World

The last two decades witnessed a boom of eschatology in theological discussions. It emerged mainly from the impact of Jürgen Moltmann's theology of hope. But a recovery of the eschatological concern in systematic theology has been due for some time, since Johannes Weiss' successful thesis of 1892 that Jesus' proclamation of the kingdom of God was not primarily a program for moral or social action, but had its roots in Jewish apocalypticism and envisaged a cosmic catastrophe that would occur when God in the imminent future would replace this present world by the new creation of his own kingdom without any human ado. Three decades later, in 1922, Karl Barth wrote in the second edition of his commentary on Romans: “A Christianity that does not thoroughly and without remainder consist of eschatology, would be thoroughly and totally devoid of Christ.” Strong words. And yet it proved difficult to reappropriate to modern theology the new exegetical insight concerning the basic importance of eschatology within the framework of Jesus' message and teaching. There was too deep a chasm separating the evolutionary outlook of the modern mind from the otherworldliness of apocalyptic expectations that focused on the imminent and catastrophic end of the present world. Thus it was no accident that Barth and Bultmann recovered the apocalyptic urgency of Jesus' message at the price of stripping it of its temporal prospect of a final future of this world. In 1964, Jürgen Moltmann aptly criticized such a detemporalization of eschatology for removing its very core. But the restoration of the apocalyptic outlook towards future fulfillment in Moltmann's own work turned out to focus more on certain political consequences, which he and his followers derived from the eschatological hope, than on the transcendent content of the biblical hope itself. Concerning the basis of eschatological faith in Moltmann's work, John Hick could pass the somewhat harsh verdict: “that basis is in practice relegated to the periphery of his thought and reduced to a mere uncritical use of biblical mythology” to the effect that “all the problems facing Christian eschatology in the twentieth century are systematically ignored.”

Changing Materialities

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Roman Britain ◽  
Roman Imperialism ◽  
General Terms ◽  
The Face ◽  
Messy Reality

The material signature of the Roman period in Britain is undeniably distinctive, marked as it is not only by a whole series of changes and additions to the formal repertoire of artefacts but also by a great proliferation of the sheer numbers of things. The traditional explanation for the changing contours of materiality in Roman Britain has been the over-simplistic narrative of ‘Romanization’. While it is certainly the case that there is a connection between Roman imperialism and material change, this traditional picture cannot be sustained in the face of new understandings of the material patterning in Roman Britain, and of the ways in which people interact with material culture in more general terms. In this chapter, I will review this recent empirical and theoretical work to demonstrate how this is gradually giving us a fuller picture of the complicated and messy reality of life in the Roman empire.

Cut from the same cloth: A study of female patrons in Luke–Acts and the Roman Empire

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-210
Author(s):  
Amanda C. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Acts Of The Apostles ◽  
Gospel Of Luke ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Mary Magdalene ◽  
Jesus Movement ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sociohistorical Context

This article discusses how women acted as patrons and benefactors in the social hierarchy of the Roman Empire, and how that sociohistorical context enlightens our understanding of women portrayed as patrons in the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles. Specifically in view are Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and other unnamed women in Luke 8:1–3, and the businesswoman Lydia in Acts 16. Miller argues that Luke’s reading communities would have understood these women as important and influential members of the early Jesus movement, and that Luke blurs the lines between patron and client as part of his challenge to the Empire’s sociocultural boundaries.

scholarly journals Schipperen tussen twee rijken: Q en het Romeinse gezag

2012 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark R.C. Grundeken
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Small Community ◽  
Imperial Cult ◽  
The Third ◽  
Standing Up ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
Heaven And Earth

Compromising between two powers: Q and the Roman Empire. The study underlying this article investigated the attitude of Sayings Source Q towards the Roman authorities and their representatives. It primarily aimed at contributing to scholarly discussions on the relationships between early Christianity and the Roman Empire, but it also attempted to put the research in a broader context of present-day discussions on the issue of ‘church and state’. The first part of the study dealt with Q’s views on the government. The second part studied Q’s views on the emperor cult. The third and final part aimed at putting Q’s views on the authorities and on the veneration of the emperor in the right context. It concluded that Q compromises between idealism and realism. Its attitude towards the government is quite hostile. It portrays worldly power as demonic (Q 4:5–6; 11:18, 20), it regards God as the only true Lord of heaven and earth (Q 10:21) and rejects the legitimacy of the imperial cult (Q 4:5–8). It fully focuses on the completion of the kingdom of God (Q 6:20; 7:28; 10:9; 11:2b). Yet, as a relatively small community (Q 10:2), the Q people seem to have realised that there was no point in standing up against the Roman authorities and their representatives. Q’s propagated views on Roman power are not characterised by active resistance, but by passive dissidence (Q 6:22–23, 27–32; 12:4–5). Within the context of the Roman Empire, it was better to be a realist than a revolutionist.

scholarly journals Pax Romana as agtergrond van die Christelike kerugma

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frans J. Boshoff
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Global Stability ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Christian Religion ◽  
The Future ◽  
Pax Romana ◽  
Second Coming

Pax Romana as background of the Christian kerygma: The concept ‘kingdom of God’ is fundamental to the kerygma on the salvific meaning of Jesus Christ in New Testament times. This article aims to explore the raison d’être why this concept had been such an important element in the kerygma. It argues that the Pax Romana as the primary ideology of the Roman Empire played a significant role. The Pax Romana advocated harmony with the gods, and subsequent heavenly peace and global stability and security in the inhabited world. However, the kerygma replaced the Pax Romana as an ideology with the apocalyptic-eschatological concept ‘kingdom of God’. According to apocalyptic eschatology, an end to the known world is expected. This end was considered to be a cataclysmic catastrophe awaiting in the future, albeit indeterminate to humankind. On the contrary, the church’s kerygma proclaimed that the kingdom of God was already present. An element of Jewish apocalyptism, however, remained in the Christian religion - yet adjusted. That is, although the kingdom of God was regarded already present, the idea of a second coming of Christ as Redeemer was upheld. The article demonstrates that the Christian kerygma on the realised kingdom of God had its origins in the expectation of an utopia, as envisaged in the Pax Romana as ideology.

scholarly journals Grieks-Romeinse apokaliptiek en die Christelike kerugma

2005 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
H.J. Boshoff ◽  
Andries G. Van Aarde
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Profound Influence ◽  
Christian View ◽  
Pax Romana

Greco-Roman apocalypticism and the Christian kerygmaThis study aims to show that the idea of the kingdom of God can be viewed as an apocalyptic alternative to the Pax Romana. The apocalyptic thinking of the Roman Empire had a profound influence on the kerygma of Jesus and his followers. Therefore, the kingdom of God came to replace the Pax Romana and this replacement took form in the kerygma of Jesus Christ. It is the view expressed in this study that the Christian view of the kingdom as a present-day reality derived from the apocalyptic idea of the Roman Empire as an existing utopia.

Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Levering
Keyword(s):  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
New Creation ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Present World ◽  
Two Alternatives

This book defends the reasonableness of believing that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead. It mounts both historical arguments and theological arguments. There are only two alternatives as a historical matter: either Jesus actually rose from the dead, or else his bereaved disciples saw hallucinatory visions and were fooled by them. Indebted to N. T. Wright, this book argues that historical evidence points to the former scenario. The Gospels were backed by eyewitnesses who were living and telling their stories even during the time of the writing of the Gospels. In addition, “history” is not a neutral category; to know what history actually is, it is necessary to know whether or not there is a Creator God who loves his creatures. Furthermore, there is every reason to consider the Scriptures of Israel to belong to the background evidence by which scholars and inquirers evaluate the credibility of the testimony to Jesus’ Resurrection. The historical evidence for this event will be more credible to those who cultivate an ability to contemplate the whole. The book also addresses the question of why, after Jesus rose from the dead, he did not continue to show himself in his glorified flesh. Jesus’ entire mission is predicated upon helping us to avoid cleaving to the present world over God. He is leading us to where he is—the kingdom of God, the beginning of the new creation at the Father’s right hand.

scholarly journals Putting Qumran, Jesus and his movement into relief

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eben Scheffler
Keyword(s):  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
First Century ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
New Covenant ◽  
Jesus Movement ◽  
Teacher Of Righteousness

After referring briefly to the fantasies regarding the origins of Christianity as elicited by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 (Dupont-Sommer, Allegro, Thiering), the purpose of the contribution is to put the Jesus movement into relief in the context of first-century Judaism. The identity of the Qumranites is argued to be Essene scribes. The identity, ideology and practices of the latter are compared with those of Jesus of Nazareth and the movement he elicited using the following rubrics: (1) Jesus, the teacher of righteousness and the powers that be; (2) asceticism versus itinerary charismaticism; (3) caring versus lack of caring for the sick, poor and marginalised; (4) elitist priests and scribes versus lower-class peasants; (5) the interpretation of the law; (6) religious and daily practices (baptism, ritual meal, sacrifice, prayer, community of possessions, scribal activity); (7) religious views or ideology (kingdom of God, the new covenant, light and darkness, politics). The result is a picture of Jesus (with his focus on human suffering) in sharp relief versus Qumran and facets of the early church.

Isaiah 40.3 and the Synoptic Gospels’ Parody of the Roman Road System

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-124
Author(s):  
Edward P. Meadors
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Synoptic Gospels ◽  
Imperial Ideology ◽  
Difficult Terrain ◽  
Road System

This article proposes that the Synoptic Gospels’ pronouncements of Isa 40.3 (Matt 4.3; Mark 1.2–3; Luke 3.4–6) invite a comparison with the Roman road system and its extensive broadcast of Roman imperial ideology. Heralding the sovereignty of a coming king on newly constructed roads through difficult terrain, Matthew, Mark and Luke portray the coming of the kingdom of God in terms analogous to the laying of Roman roads followed by the enforcement of Roman rule throughout the Roman Empire. If Isa 40.3 heralded the arrival of the true God through the ministry of Jesus, as the Synoptic Gospels proclaim, then Rome's pretentions were by implication counterfeit. The engineering feats of raising ravines, levelling heights, smoothing terrain and making straight highways denoted Roman expansion, conquest and the standardisation of Roman imperial ideology. In contradistinction, the Synoptic Gospels’ citations of Isa 40.3 presage the triumph of God, while simultaneously parodying Roman imperial ideology.

Biblical Hermeneutics in the Context of Post-Anglicanism

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Micah Eun-Kya
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Wheeled Vehicle ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Religious Dialogue ◽  
Pax Romana

This chapter searches the new identity of Post-Anglicanism beyond Anglicanism in the age of the global empires. The British Empire and Anglicanism were a two-wheeled vehicle during the colonial period. Anglicanism can be understood as justifying a ruling ideology in colonial ages just as the Pax Romana justified the Roman Empire under the slogan of the expansion of the Kingdom of God. This can be called the Pax Anglicana. How then can Post-Anglicanism frame the future of the Communion? It needs to take seriously today’s global contexts in the light of Minjung (the oppressed) in Asia, Latin America, Africa. For this we need to read the Bible against the background of the society and religion of ancient Israel and their links with ancient empires. And it has to reconstruct Anglicanism in terms of justice, peace, and religious dialogue against the global empire.

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