From: Steve Peterson (speterson@fast.net)
Date: Wed Oct 16 2002 - 01:19:14 BST
Kevin:
> Interesting topic. I think it might be important to differentiate the
> message of Jesus from the movement that became Christianity. If you
> stick to the ideas attributed to Jesus in the New Testament...
Steve:
Rather than to the Christian tradition which is by definition a social
pattern... Let's do that. I'd also like us to keep in mind that the
authentic teachings of Jesus are likely to be different than the ideas
attributed to Jesus by the Christian establishment which include editing and
misunderstanding.
I invited disagreement, but only because I felt obliged to. I am personally
not so interested in looking at how Jesus supported the social order, but in
what ways he represented an intellectual challenge to the social order
(though I am sure that just a strong a case could be made for a Jesus that
affirms the social moral order of his day.)
Kevin:
> OTOH, I'm reminded of the scene in Monty Python's LIFE OF BRIAN where
> the members of the radical separatists from the Judean People's Front
> are walking away after listening to the Sermon on the Mount and one
> says, "Well, Jesus has just blessed everyone with a stake in preserving
> the status quo."
That's because they misheard him to say, "blessed are the cheese-makers." ;)
IMO the challenges are more likely to be authentic teachings, and
interpreting passages as challenges to society is a more authentic reading
than interpreting them as preserving the social order.
Steve
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