RENDER TO CAESAR: JESUS, THE EARLY CHURCH, AND THE ROMAN SUPERPOWER BY CHRISTOPHER BRYAN

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Find more experiences and understanding by checking out the book entitled Render To Caesar: Jesus, The Early Church, And The Roman Superpower By Christopher Bryan This is a publication that you are trying to find, right? That's right. You have actually concerned the ideal website, then. We always offer you Render To Caesar: Jesus, The Early Church, And The Roman Superpower By Christopher Bryan and also one of the most favourite e-books in the world to download and install as well as appreciated reading. You may not disregard that seeing this set is a function or also by accidental.

Review "For those interested in religion and politics (and who is not?), Bryan can help us grasp the clarity of the perspective that runs through the whole Bible. This kind of New Testament theology illumines both historical context and theological significance." --America "...a fine book, readable, closely argued, and assidusously documented. Render to Caesar is a valuable correction of certain forms of political theology, and also of pacifist and other abdications of political responsibility. It is, at the same time, a compelling call for the Church to muster the wisdom and courage to do its public duty." --First Things "With admirable learning and balanced judgment, Bryan covers a wide range of ancient texts pertaining to religion and politics. In showing that the prophets, Jesus, and the NT writers were mainly concerned with the origin and purpose of political power, he clarifies in what sense the biblical tradition is and is not political. While providing sensible correctives to overstatements by other scholars, Bryan also presents an accurate picture of the early church's place in the Roman empire."--Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., author of The Church According to the New Testament: What the Wisdom and Witness of Early Christianity Teach Us Today "Bryan cogently and elegantly argues that the biblical tradition confronts human power structures not to displace them, but to insist that they recognize their origin in God and their purpose of serving God by promoting justice and peace."--Christian Century "...a fine book.... Render to Caesar is a valuable correction of certain forms of political theology, and also of pacifist and other abdications of political responsibility. It is, at the same time, a compelling call for the Church to muster the wisdom and courage to do its public duty."--First Things "The interface between the gospel of Jesus and the empire of Caesar has suddenly become a hot, and disturbingly relevant, topic in biblical studies. Christopher Bryan's new book, full of his characteristically shrewd and original observations and scholarly insights, cuts across much current thinking and raises questions which cannot be ignored, either by historians or by those keen to rediscover the relevance of the gospel in today's world."--N.T. Wright, Bishop of Durham and author of the three-volume Christian Origins and the Question of God

"Were Jesus and the first Christians political revolutionaries? Given the chance, would they have replaced the Roman imperium with some other social and political order? Against several strands of recent exegesis, Christopher Bryan thinks not. In my view, he makes his case. But almost as important, he does it with clear arguments and in literate English. Render to Caesar is a good read, which lamentably can now be said of few scholarly works."--Robert W. Jenson, author of Systematic Theology, Volume 1: The Triune God and Volume 2: The Works of God About the Author Christopher Bryan is the C. K. Benedict Professor of New Testament at the School of Theology, University of the South.

RENDER TO CAESAR: JESUS, THE EARLY CHURCH, AND THE ROMAN SUPERPOWER BY CHRISTOPHER BRYAN PDF

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RENDER TO CAESAR: JESUS, THE EARLY CHURCH, AND THE ROMAN SUPERPOWER BY CHRISTOPHER BRYAN PDF

At the end of the 20th century, "postcolonialism" described the effort to understand the experience of those who had lived under colonial rule. This kind of thinking has inevitably brought about a reexamination of the rise of Christianity, which took place under Roman colonial rule. How did Rome look from the viewpoint of an ordinary Galilean in the first century of the Christian era? What should this mean for our own understanding of and relationship to Jesus of Nazareth? In the past, Jesus was often "depoliticized," treated as a religious teacher imparting timeless truths for all people. Now, however, many scholars see Jesus as a political leader whose goal was independence from Roman rule so that the people could renew their traditional way of life under the rule of God. In Render to Caesar, Christopher Bryan reexamines the attitude of the early Church toward imperial Rome. Choosing a middle road, he asserts that Jesus and the early Christians did indeed have a critique of the Roman superpower -- a critique that was broadly in line with the entire biblical and prophetic tradition. One cannot worship the biblical God, the God of Israel, he argues, and not be concerned about justice in the here and now. On the other hand, the biblical tradition does not challenge human power structures by attempting to dismantle them or replace them with other power structures. Instead, Jesus' message consistently confronts such structures with the truth about their origin and purpose. Their origin is that God permits them. Their purpose is to promote God's peace and justice. Power is understood as a gift from God, a gift that it is to be used to serve God's will and a gift that can be taken away by God when misused. Render to Caesar transforms our understanding of early Christians and their relationship to Rome and demonstrates how Jesus' teaching continues to challenge those who live under structures of government quite different from those that would have been envisaged by the authors of the New Testament. ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Sales Rank: #1459020 in Books Published on: 2005-08-25 Original language: English Number of items: 1 Dimensions: 6.40" h x .90" w x 9.30" l, 1.02 pounds Binding: Hardcover 200 pages

Review "For those interested in religion and politics (and who is not?), Bryan can help us grasp the clarity of the perspective that runs through the whole Bible. This kind of New Testament theology illumines both historical context and theological significance." --America "...a fine book, readable, closely argued, and assidusously documented. Render to Caesar is a valuable correction of certain forms of political theology, and also of pacifist and other abdications of political responsibility. It is, at the same time, a compelling call for the Church to muster the wisdom and courage to do its public duty." --First Things

"With admirable learning and balanced judgment, Bryan covers a wide range of ancient texts pertaining to religion and politics. In showing that the prophets, Jesus, and the NT writers were mainly concerned with the origin and purpose of political power, he clarifies in what sense the biblical tradition is and is not political. While providing sensible correctives to overstatements by other scholars, Bryan also presents an accurate picture of the early church's place in the Roman empire."--Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., author of The Church According to the New Testament: What the Wisdom and Witness of Early Christianity Teach Us Today "Bryan cogently and elegantly argues that the biblical tradition confronts human power structures not to displace them, but to insist that they recognize their origin in God and their purpose of serving God by promoting justice and peace."--Christian Century "...a fine book.... Render to Caesar is a valuable correction of certain forms of political theology, and also of pacifist and other abdications of political responsibility. It is, at the same time, a compelling call for the Church to muster the wisdom and courage to do its public duty."--First Things "The interface between the gospel of Jesus and the empire of Caesar has suddenly become a hot, and disturbingly relevant, topic in biblical studies. Christopher Bryan's new book, full of his characteristically shrewd and original observations and scholarly insights, cuts across much current thinking and raises questions which cannot be ignored, either by historians or by those keen to rediscover the relevance of the gospel in today's world."--N.T. Wright, Bishop of Durham and author of the three-volume Christian Origins and the Question of God "Were Jesus and the first Christians political revolutionaries? Given the chance, would they have replaced the Roman imperium with some other social and political order? Against several strands of recent exegesis, Christopher Bryan thinks not. In my view, he makes his case. But almost as important, he does it with clear arguments and in literate English. Render to Caesar is a good read, which lamentably can now be said of few scholarly works."--Robert W. Jenson, author of Systematic Theology, Volume 1: The Triune God and Volume 2: The Works of God About the Author Christopher Bryan is the C. K. Benedict Professor of New Testament at the School of Theology, University of the South. Most helpful customer reviews 22 of 23 people found the following review helpful. "Our Citizenship is in Heaven." By James H. Toner Professor Christopher Bryan clearly, cogently, and concisely explains or amplifies this Pauline notion of citizenship (Phil 3:20) by pointing out that "the biblical tradition challenges human power structures not by attempting to dismantle them or replace them with other human power structures but by consistently confronting them with the truth about their origin and purpose." "The prophetic tradition," he insists, "subverts the `powers that be' by insisting at every point that they should do their job" (p. 9; his emphases; cf. Jer 29:7). Bryan's argument-which he corroborates by substantial and fair-minded scholarship-is, in many ways, a study of another Pauline text which instructs us that the state "is a servant of God for your good" (Rom 13:4). Carefully grounding his argument in ancient texts as well as refined biblical exegesis, Bryan is at pains to explain the roots of the enduring tension which exists between "Caesar" and "God," between Christians who live in an "already" but also in a "not yet" (see p. 128-meaning that we have been redeemed but we are still exiles meant to "work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling" [Phil 2:12]).

If I were to choose a single passage which reflects the book's well-constructed thesis, this would be it: "Jesus does not question the authority of the pagan Caesar, within the spheres that God has allotted to him . . . , but still he sets that authority firmly within the sphere of God's overarching providence and power: `Render to God the things that are God's' (Mark 12:13-17; compare John 19:11). Caesar, like all who rule from Pharaoh onward, would ignore or oppose that providence at his peril" (p. 51). Political decision and debate are always squarely within, and necessarily informed by, moral tradition. Some of Bryan's readers, by the way, will be prompted to recall the best work of Eric Voegelin. This necessarily brief review would, if it could, defend Bryan against the slings and arrows which will come his way, for he will, at points and places, no doubt be misconstrued, perhaps even malevolently. For instance, he does not say that we have no king but Caesar (cf. John 19:15c); he does not say that Christ was uninterested in how power is used (p. 127); he does not say that Paul was absorbed in a fight to end Roman rule (pp. 93, 105); and he does not say that God's will can never be fulfilled by violence (128). These convictions are, of course, out of step with the procrustean view of certain tendentious theologians who insist, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, that we owe nothing to the state, that Christ had only contempt for politics generally and for Rome particularly, that Paul was an insurrectionist, and that applied military power is always evil. In fact a key argument of his is that "Luke more than any other of the evangelists appears to be saying that Jesus' unjust condemnation comes about not because Pilate is Roman, but because of Pilate's failure to uphold Roman order (Luke 23:3-16)" (p. 101). Similarly, he contends that "there is scarcely any evidence at all . . . that Jesus or his followers regarded themselves or were regarded as security threats" (p. 115; cf. p. 63). It is, he says, "as a false prophet that Jesus is reviled (Mark 14:64-65; Matt. 26:66-68; Luke 22:63-65). And false prophets are to die (Deut. 18:20)" (p. 59). In an argument that will remind some of Augustine or even, in some measure, of Niebuhr (perhaps of both Reinhold and H. Richard), Bryan makes a strong case that failure "to use one's gifts and powers, to act as if one did not have them or was not responsible for them, is merely to `bury' them, and that is to incur God's wrath (Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27)" (p. 127). One regrets only that Bryan chose to confine some of his most discerning analysis (references to Dante and expanded commentary about King Lear) to the notes (see pp. 172-173). Professor Bryan may not be familiar with the writings of the late international relations theorist Hans J. Morgenthau, but Morgenthau was a scholar who would have understood Bryan's arguments about both power and purpose, about might and right. Similarly, Vatican Council II, in Gaudium et Spes, held that "It follows also that political authority, both in the community as such and in the representative bodies of the state, must always be exercised within the limits of the moral order and directed toward the common good--with a dynamic concept of that good--according to the juridical order legitimately established or due to be established. When authority is so exercised, citizens are bound in conscience to obey. Accordingly, the responsibility, dignity and importance of leaders are indeed clear" (74, 4; cf. 1 Pt 2:11-17). Bryan may also be unaware of this passage, but it seems entirely consonant with (and rather a fair summary of) the arguments he has developed with great skill in this extraordinarily well-done volume. It deserves a wide and attentive audience. 14 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Good Citizens as Gadflies By George R Dekle One popular picture of Jesus back in the Sixties was "Jesus the Revolutionary," a sort of a "preincarnation" of Che Guevara whose attempt to overthrow Roman rule ended on a Roman

Cross. This is the thesis of the Sixties era Trial of Jesus of Nazareth by S.G.F. Brandon, and it resonated on the college campuses of the Vietnam Era. Bryan sets out to show the opposite: that Christ and Christians wanted for the most part to be good citizens of the Roman Empire, which they saw as ordained by God. But their stubborn refusal to participate in the rituals of state sponsored paganism and Caesar worship ran afoul of the law and repeatedly got them into hot water. Whereas Brandon's book rode the tide of Sixties sentiment, Bryan's goes against the modern flow. In this postmodern era it is first degree political incorrectness to fasten responsibility for Jesus crucifixion on the Jewish authorities, but Bryan in effect does just that. He points out that the earliest Jewish sources on the subject name the "leading men" of the Jews as Jesus' prosecutors. He then makes the case that the Sanhedrin was not evil--merely a group of ordinary men trying to achieve a workable solution to the thorny problem Jesus presented. Bryan makes a convincing case that Jesus and the early Christians were not revolutionaries in the mode of Che Guevara, seeking to replace bad government with misrule, but reformers in the mode of Martin Luther King, Jr., supportive of the government, but seeking to have it amend inequities in the way it ruled. He further makes two salient points that should inform all Bible study, and indeed all historical study. 1. We should be careful that we do not retroject Twenty First Century sensibilities into the First Century world, and 2. The authors of the Gospels and Epistles most likely meant what they said and quite probably knew what they were talking about. 2 of 16 people found the following review helpful. Reads like a dissertation. By Lance B. Hillsinger I disagree with the other reviewers. This book reads like a disseration, I give it just two stars. Let me quote from page seven as an example, "how far can techniques of analysis that were developed in connection with the post-Enlightment colonial -- to be precise, postcolonialexperience of cultures formerly subject to nineteenth and twentieth century Western domination properly be applied to the ancient, largely Mediterranean world of the Roman Empire?" I'm never really sure that what the author wants the reader to learn about Roman imperialism and how it relates Western imperialism. He never pulls out that WWJD (What Would Jesus Do)question with respect to modern imperialism. Without that, the reference to Western imperialism is meaningless. It just sits there. There are also spurious references to slavery and the obvious point that slaves (or the vanquished) don't write history. Hey, I learned that through watching Star Trek. I did find enlightening that Christianity NEEDED the Roman Empire (does that make imperialism good?). Till I read this book, I never realzied how that without the security (safe roads, safe harbors etc.) of the Roman Empire Christianity would not have spread so quickly. The author also educated me on the nuances of the power structure between the Jewish establishment and the Roman Empire (as best as that power structure can be ascertained).

Also, on several theological points, the author takes a reasonable, middle ground. He will say biblical scholar so and so said such and such, while scholar so and so wrote the opposite. He convincingly writes why the middle ground (his position) is correct. While there is something to be gained here, unless you are well-versed in the subject matter and really want to put your thinking cap on, I would chose something else for my free reading. See all 4 customer reviews...

RENDER TO CAESAR: JESUS, THE EARLY CHURCH, AND THE ROMAN SUPERPOWER BY CHRISTOPHER BRYAN PDF

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important, he does it with clear arguments and in literate English. Render to Caesar is a good read, which lamentably can now be said of few scholarly works."--Robert W. Jenson, author of Systematic Theology, Volume 1: The Triune God and Volume 2: The Works of God About the Author Christopher Bryan is the C. K. Benedict Professor of New Testament at the School of Theology, University of the South.

Find more experiences and understanding by checking out the book entitled Render To Caesar: Jesus, The Early Church, And The Roman Superpower By Christopher Bryan This is a publication that you are trying to find, right? That's right. You have actually concerned the ideal website, then. We always offer you Render To Caesar: Jesus, The Early Church, And The Roman Superpower By Christopher Bryan and also one of the most favourite e-books in the world to download and install as well as appreciated reading. You may not disregard that seeing this set is a function or also by accidental.