In this book Crossan broadens his focus beyond Jesus to the whole surrounding Roman world, and the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation. And in comparing all this, he exposes a vast gulf between totally different visions for the world, which now compete to decide our future. On one hand he explores the vision of peace through victory over all enemies, which was the Roman imperial dream, and the dream of all empires including...
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Briefly, this is a must read for those who wonder what the present literal/metaphorical Christian fuss is about. It's about violent Christianity versus non-violent Christianity. Ironically, non-violence is at the core of many moral codifications, Christianity being one of them. Crossan explores the challenge and asks the question. We get to answer it or not. The First Axial Age, circa 500 BCE, saw the concurrent formation...
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In his latest reconsideration of the relations between Judaism and Christianity on the one hand and Roman Imperialism on the other, Dr Crossan treats us to a fascinating account of the parallels as well as the contrasts between the two systems. Did you imagine, for example, that "Son of God" and "Savior of the World" were titles unique to Christian thought? Not a bit of it! Both were given to the Emperor Augustus before...
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John Dominic Crossan believes that the Kingdom of God is here, present, that what he terms the "Divine Clean-up," (what others call "The Second Coming") is now and does not await some future cataclysm at the sword of an avenging, returning Jesus. He furthermore compares "God's radicality" to "civilization's normalcy." The latter is comprised of empire after empire promising Peace through Victory, with violence being the normalcy...
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Crossan's new book GOD AND EMPIRE cannot be properly reviewed as a standalone beacon. There is a historical momentum in Crossan's vision of God and "this world." Rodney Stark, a professor of sociology and comparative religion, in 1996 published a history THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY:How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the World in a Few Centuries. How? By nonviolence! "But perhaps all...
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