A Political Theology
Happy Independence Day to all! ... what a grand thing to celebrate one of the finest nations in which the Kingdom of God has ever sojourned. Hooray for celebrating the proper filial love of our nation, for which we pray, and which we respect and serve as the resident aliens of another Home.
Professor Jones is a contemporary theologian who reflects on the Christian's relationship to the state; I respect (and tend to follow!) his work in every way. In a recent sermon/essay entitled "Is Jesus Lord in Time of War?," he put the dilemma so well:
"In my judgment our steadfast refusal to put any common and shared conceptual meat on the mantra of ‘Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and Savior and Lord’, is at the heart of the widespread disarray and even discouragement in our political tradition today. Our discourses and therefore also our practices in regard to Jesus are in chaotic discord. This leaves us vulnerable to having the center of our faith occupied by idols of the moment, whether those idols are the politics of the state or the fear of enemies far and wide. When the discourses and practices of the church are in disarray, then we can also conclude that the way its members construe themselves, construe Jesus, and construe the world may be in stark contrast to how the New Testament and earlier traditions have construed Jesus and the reality of God and the destiny of the world."
Read the rest here.
posted by MM at 11:02 PM
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