Jesus Social Revolutionary

An attempt to open a debate about the meaning of Christian faith and the obligations that belong to the Christian community towards the less fortunate.

Who was Jesus? And how was this first-century political revolutionary, whose teachings are meant to lead the way to freedom, turned into a meek and mild servant of the status quo? How is it possible to profess a belief in Jesus, yet ignore the suffering of the poor and the needy? Just how truly faithful to the vision of Jesus are the many politicians who claim to be Christian? These are the kinds of questions Obery Hendricks, a biblical scholar, activist, and minister, asks in this provocative new book. In this day and age of heated political debate, Hendricks’s The Politics of Jesus stands out as much for its brilliant re-creation of the life and mind of Jesus of Nazareth as for its scathing critique of modern politicians “of faith.”

"If anyone was ever a socialist, it was Jesus."—Kelley Rose, Democratic Socialists of America Economist and historian Lawrence W. Reed has been hearing people say "Jesus was a socialist" for fifty years. And it has always bothered him. Now he is doing something about it. His new book demolishes the claim that Jesus was a socialist. Jesus called on earthly governments to redistribute wealth? Or centrally plan the economy? Or even impose a welfare state? Hardly. Point by point, Reed answers the claims of socialists and progressives who try to enlist Jesus in their causes. As he reveals, nothing in the New Testament supports their contentions. Was Jesus a Socialist? could not be more timely. Socialism has made a shocking comeback in America. Poll after poll shows that young Americans have a positive image of socialism. In fact, more than half say they would rather live in a socialist country than in a capitalist one. And as socialism has come back into vogue, more and more of its advocates have tried to convince us that Jesus was a socialist. This rhetoric has had an impact. According to a 2016 poll by the Barna Group, Americans think socialism aligns better with Jesus's teachings than capitalism does. When respondents were asked which of that year's presidential candidates aligned closest to Jesus's teachings, a self-proclaimed "democratic socialist" came out on top. Sure enough, the same candidate earned more primary votes from under-thirty voters than did the eventual Democratic and Republican nominees combined. And in a 2019 survey, more than 70 percent of millennials said they were likely to vote for a socialist. Was Jesus a Socialist? expands on the immensely popular video of the same name that Reed recorded for Prager University in July 2019. That video has attracted more than four million views online. Ultimately, Reed shows the foolishness of trying to enlist Jesus in any political cause today. He writes: "While I don't believe it is valid to claim that Jesus was a socialist, I also don't think it is valid to argue that he was a capitalist. Neither was he a Republican or a Democrat. These are modern-day terms, and to apply any of them to Jesus is to limit him to but a fraction of who he was and what he taught."

It is often observed that no historical figure has had a greater impact on the world than Jesus Christ. Why is that? And what difference does his impact make to the world today? It is also often said that Jesus was a 'revolutionary', and numerous books have appeared in recent years claiming just that - from the wild and sensational to the serious and respectable. This book, written by influential authors reflecting a diversity of expertise and points of view, considers the claims that continue to be made about Jesus, whether by believers or nonbelievers. Contributors: Julian Baggini Philosopher, journalist and co-founder of The Philosophers' Magazine. Author of The Godless Gospel: Was Jesus a Great Moral Teacher? (Granta 2020). Terry Eagleton Distinguished Professor of English Literature, Lancaster University. Author of Radical Sacrifice (Yale 2018). Robin Gill Emeritus Professor of Applied Theology, University of Kent. Editor of the journal Theology and of The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics (CUP 2011). Amy-Jill Levine University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies, Vanderbilt Divinity School and College of Arts and Science. Author of The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus (HarperOne 2006). Tarif Khalidi Professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies, American University of Beirut; formerly Professor of Arabic and a fellow of King's College, Cambridge. Translator of The Qur'an (Penguin Classics 2013),and author The Muslim Jesus (Harvard 2003). Nick Spencer Senior Fellow, Theos, London Author of The Evolution of the West (SPCK 2016). Joan E. Taylor Professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism, King's College London. Author of What Did Jesus Look Like? (Bloomsbury 2018). Rowan Williams Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge and 104th Archbishop of Canterbury (2002-12). Author of God With Us: The meaning of the cross and resurrection - then and now (SPCK 2017). A. N. Wilson Novelist, journalist and broadcaster. Author of The Book of the People: How to read the Bible (Atlantic 2015).

Are you a ""revolutionary""? Are you curious about exploring issues of race and social justice from a Christian perspective? This book by UCLA Professor and Pastor, Robert Chao Romero, is for you! Topics covered include: a biblical framework for understanding poverty, race, and gender; undocumented immigration; politics; affirmative action; mixed race issues; Christian social justice pioneers; and, an introduction to the Christian world of social justice and community development.

After an explosion of conversions to Pentecostalism over the past three decades, tens of millions of Nigerians now claim that “Jesus is the answer.” But if Jesus is the answer, what is the question? What led to the movement’s dramatic rise and how can we make sense of its social and political significance? In this ambitiously interdisciplinary study, Ruth Marshall draws on years of fieldwork and grapples with a host of important thinkers—including Foucault, Agamben, Arendt, and Benjamin—to answer these questions. To account for the movement’s success, Marshall explores how Pentecostalism presents the experience of being born again as a chance for Nigerians to realize the promises of political and religious salvation made during the colonial and postcolonial eras. Her astute analysis of this religious trend sheds light on Nigeria’s contemporary politics, postcolonial statecraft, and the everyday struggles of ordinary citizens coping with poverty, corruption, and inequality. Pentecostalism’s rise is truly global, and Political Spiritualities persuasively argues that Nigeria is a key case in this phenomenon while calling for new ways of thinking about the place of religion in contemporary politics.

What exactly is a disciple, and how will we know if we have made one? There are three core values that a disciple embodies: undiluted devotion to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, a Kingdom of God worldview, and a missional lifestyle. In Revolutionary Kingdom: Following the Rebel Jesus, author and Pastor Mike Slaughter explores why we must exchange comfortable cultural worldviews and values for the radical requirements of living out the Kingdom of God on Planet Earth. When God’s people get serious about this call, it’s revolutionary. Jesus himself was the most radical revolutionary who ever lived and provided us a vision of a kingdom worth dying for. Welcome to the revolution! Additional components for a six-week study include a DVD featuring Mike Slaughter and a comprehensive Leader Guide.

Living as an Ordinary RadicalMany of us find ourselves caught somewhere between unbelieving activists and inactive believers. We can write a check to feed starving children or hold signs in the streets and feel like we’ve made a difference without ever encountering the faces of the suffering masses. In this book, Shane Claiborne describes an authentic faith rooted in belief, action, and love, inviting us into a movement of the Spirit that begins inside each of us and extends into a broken world. Shane’s faith led him to dress the wounds of lepers with Mother Teresa, visit families in Iraq amidst bombings, and dump $10,000 in coins and bills on Wall Street to redistribute wealth. Shane lives out this revolution each day in his local neighborhood, an impoverished community in North Philadelphia, by living among the homeless, helping local kids with homework, and “practicing resurrection” in the forgotten places of our world. Shane’s message will comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable . . . but will also invite us into an irresistible revolution. His is a vision for ordinary radicals ready to change the world with little acts of love.