NT Wright and Michael Bird have done us a favor with the forthcoming Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies. Here are some things, just from chapter one, that make this book worthwhile.
They take the biblical narrative seriously. We cannot over emphasize the importance of taking the biblical narrative seriously. When we fail to do this, we too easily wind up in some unrecognizable para-biblical land emphasizing things the Bible is less interested in.
They articulate the complexities of the people of God and their relationships with the God of Israel and the surrounding empires. This is helpful, not only on a historical level, but because we still find ourselves navigating these complex relationships.
They acknowledge that for most of the biblical storyline, the people of God experience worldly empires as threats. The people often find themselves as victims. This has less to do with the power of the local empire and more to do with Israel’s faithlessness.
They highlight that, despite Israel’s penchant for imitating idolatrous nations, God’s mercy is always greater than their disobedience. And that, Israel’s God is always more powerful than even the most powerful empires.
By the time we enter the New Testament, Rome is the known powerful empire. Wright and Bird point out how Jesus stirs things up by announcing “God’s Empire is near.” (This announcement still stirs things up). In their words, Jesus was not “offering people four spiritual laws or a road to heavenly bliss.” Rather, “God was coming and coming as king.”
They point out that the New Testament does not call for “a palace coup” or to “make Christianity legal” or “to promote it to a privileged position in the empire.” Rather the New Testament declares that the world “rightfully belonged, not to the son of Augustus, but to the Son of David.”
They point out that unlike our biblical ancestors, the people of God have now found themselves residing in the empire as privileged guests. This dynamic has brought with it new problems and complications. Problems we obviously have yet to figure out.
hermeneuts 