The Exodus story, which was the basis of my Sunday reflection this week, lies at the heart of both Judaism and Christianity. But, as we've seen time and time again over the past couple of months, while Christianity presents a strong challenge to the spirit of Empire, it breaks from Exodus by not telling the … Continue reading A “Spiritual Liberation”: Does Christianity lose the plot?
Over the past few weeks, while we've been working through Paul's vision of Christian life and community in Romans 12-13, the Sunday lectionary has simultaneously been working through another story of the confrontation between God's people and Empire, that great paradigmatic story at the heart of both Judaism and Christianity: the Exodus. The part of … Continue reading The God of the Hebrews: A Reflection on Exodus 14.19-31
For most of this series on Empire and Spirit, we've seen how the stories of our Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus and Paul challenged Rome's power and authority. But as I noted last week, this isn't the whole story. In that post, I looked at Jesus' famous teaching, to "Render unto Caesar what is … Continue reading A Tyrant’s Dream? (Disarming Romans 13.1-7)
So far this series on Empire and Spirit has looked at how the Gospel teachings of Jesus and Paul challenged the thought world of the Roman Empire. We've seen how disciples of Jesus are to reject the might-is-right Roman models of authority, but are instead to lead through humility; Christians likewise shake up the normal … Continue reading Render unto Caesar
For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is from faith to faith, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith'. (Rom 1.17) Paul could hardly have imagined the impact these words would have on the world and on Christian thought. To generations of Protestant interpreters, this verse … Continue reading Justice, Faith, and Empire
Matthew Root 