The New Testament is immersed in the often hostile world of the Roman Empire, but its relationship to that world is complex.What is meant by Jesus' call to ‘render unto Caesar’ his due, when Luke subversively heralds the arrival of a Savior and Lord who is not Caesar, but Christ? Is there tension between Peter's command to ‘honor the emperor’ and John's apocalyptic denouncement of Rome as ‘Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots’?Under the direction of editors Scot Mc Knight and Joseph B. Modica, respected biblical scholars have come together to investigate an increasingly popular approach in New Testament scholarship of interpreting the text through the lens of empire. The contributors praise recent insights into the New Testament's exposé of Roman statecraft, ideology and emperor worship. But they conclude that rhetoric of anti-imperialism is often given too much sway. More than simply hearing the biblical authors in their context, it tends to govern what they must be saying about their context. The result of this collaboration, Jesus Is Lord, Caesar Is Not, is a groundbreaking yet accessible critical evaluation of empire criticism.Contributors include:
– David Nystrom on Roman ideology
– Judith A. Diehl on the state of empire scholarship
– Joel Willits on Matthew
– Dean Pinter on Luke
– Christopher W. Skinner on John's Gospel and Letters
– Drew Strait on Acts
– Michael F. Bird on Romans
– Lynn Cohick on Philippians
– Allan R. Bevere on Colossians and Philemon
– Dwight Sheets on Revelation
Зміст
Foreword by Andy Crouch
Introduction
Scot Mc Knight and Joseph Modica
1. We Have No King But Caesar: Roman Imperial Ideology and the Imperial Cult
David Nystrom
2. Anti-Imperial Rhetoric in the New Testament
Judith A. Diehl
3. Matthew
Joel Willitts
4. The Gospel of Luke and the Roman Empire
Dean Pinter
5. John’s Gospel and the Roman Imperial Context: An Evaluation of Recent Proposals
Christopher W. Skinner
6. Proclaiming Another King Named Jesus? The Acts of the Apostles and the Roman Imperial Cult(s)
Drew J. Strait
7. ‘One Who Will Arise to Rule Over the Nations’: Paul’s Letter to the Romans and the Roman Empire
Michael F. Bird
8. Philippians and Empire: Paul?s Engagement with Imperialism and the Imperial Cult
Lynn H. Cohick
9. Colossians and the Rhetoric of Empire: A New Battle Zone
Allan R. Bevere
10. Something Old, Something New: Revelation and Empire
Dwight Sheets
Conclusion
Scot Mc Knight and Joseph Modica
Author Index
Subject Index
Scripture Index
Про автора
Andy Crouch (MDiv, Boston University School of Theology) is senior strategist for at the John Templeton Foundation. For more than ten years he was an editor and producer at Christianity Today, including serving as executive editor from 2012 to 2016. He serves on the governing boards of Fuller Theological Seminary and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Andy is the author of books such as Strong and Weak, Culture Making, and Playing God. His writing has appeared in Time, the Wall Street Journal and several editions of Best Christian Writing and Best Spiritual Writing.From 1998 to 2003, Andy was the editor-in-chief of re:generation quarterly, a magazine for an emerging generation of culturally creative Christians. For ten years he was a campus minister with Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship at Harvard University. He studied classics at Cornell University and received an MDiv from Boston University School of Theology. A classically trained musician who draws on pop, folk, rock, jazz, and gospel, he has led musical worship for congregations of 5 to 20, 000. He lives with his family in Pennsylvania.