"The Parables of Subversive Speech".....(No Matter Where they Come From)

[KoKo]

The great eye-opener for me was a book published in 1994 by New Testament scholar William Herzog II, who spent his scholarly career studying, teaching and writing about the parables of Jesus. The title of the book is Parables as Subversive Speech, with the subtitle, “Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed.”

The book placed Jesus in the role of a brilliant but untrained teacher who was shaped by his commitment to God and to Jewish Old Testament law (Torah). His teaching tool was his parables through which he demanded justice. I have not read the parables in the same way since reading Herzog’s volume.

The Jesus parables that we have in the Gospels and the movement of the Zealots dovetail into a scathing denunciation of the economic, political, social and religious conditions of the day. But there was one huge difference between Jesus and the Zealots. Zealots were committed to overthrowing by violence. Jesus was calling for revolution through non-violent justice. Nearly every Zealot man carried a large hidden knife and was ready to use it. Jesus told Zealots “Put up your sword.”

Putting together the puzzle pieces of an historical Jesus is not complete. It is a work still in process. But enough has been done to show that there was a Jesus of history who vigorously attacked the religious, economic, social and political powers of his day in the name of justice.

The tragedy is that most people in the pews are completely unaware of the historical Jesus and its implications for what it means to be a Christian and to be a follower of Jesus. Why are they ignorant of this information? Their pastors have not told them.

Why have they not told them? I can think of at last three reasons. First, many American churches are led by untrained, poorly educated clergy who simply don’t know the facts. Second, even those with quality seminary training have neglected their responsibility to continue reading and studying.

Third, there are a huge number of clergy who know the truth about Jesus but are afraid to tell their congregations because the clergy are not willing to ask their parish members to become involved in the real world and its issues. They are fearful of being involved themselves in the justice issues of our own day – and they are fearful of losing their jobs

Clergy are too comfortable with a sweet Jesus who waits to take people to heaven.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is [e-mail].
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http://consortiumnews.com/2014/11/08/christians-who-ignore-the-real-jesus/

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Reminds me of the Latin American Catholics' "liberation theology"

that was proposed during the '60s and thereabouts and which was criticised and condemned as Marxist by then Cardinal Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict.

[KoKo]

2. I wondered if this couldn't be a DISCUSSION....

This Post on Consortium News resonated with me..for Progressive Democrats working for Justice for All...because there is really so LITTLE Justice in our world today except Privatized Prisons..and Militarized Police ...and the other Ill's that we Dems on the Left deal with.

I was going to post this in "GD" but realized this would end up "Locked" and put in the Religious Forums....which really is a great place for it....but, DU'ers don't seem to Frequent DU Groups.

So what do we do? Shouldn't we work to Revitalize ALL DU GROUPS........for Discussion?

I don't know...just throwing this out......

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. There are a fair number of people who don't like religious stuff in GD

and will just use the post to rant about the evils of religion, so it's probably safer in the Religion forum. We shall see.

[KoKo]

4. Yes...yet they will fall all over other "Truth Tellers" like Mendela and Dali Lama

Gandi and so Many Others...Even those who rejected their Religious Roots.......but, in fact, it shaped their opinion.

I'm no religious fanatic. But, this post just hit my Gut...of my wondering how can "Taking Care of the Poor" and the fight against "Oligarchs" FIT..into Today's Society?

When "All else fails" maybe the "Spiritual Other" needs another look for "Group Involvement?" The Good of the "COMMONS" the RIGHT for ANYONE to Have an Existence to SUSTAIN against Corporate Owners to Clean Water & Air, Property Rights, Freedom from Abuse by Police/Military and Right to Privacy and, lastly, the Freedom from Commercialization of our Air Waves and Sexual & Reproductive Rights to Choose.



The World's Greatest Religious Movements seem to have SOMETHING in COMMON:

Relief to the Poor and Fighting Injustice for the Many. The "Good of the Commons" to even own property and create Protected Spaces for Sustainability during "hard times" not subjected to Corporate Ownership...