The way of imagination

       The “gospel” – whether proclaimed in the first-century Roman world or in any “secular” contemporary context – is irreducibly strange.   You have heard that it was said, “The truth is stranger than fiction”, but I say to you that the gospel makes “madmen” of those who are embraced by it (cf. 1 Cor. 1.20-21; 2.2-5; 4.9-10). “…‘Where did God go?...We have killed him – you and I! We are all his murderers! But how did we do this?...What did we do when we unchained this earth from its sun?...Where are we heading? Away from all suns? Are we not constantly falling? Backwards, sidewards, forwards, in all directions? Is there still an above and below?...God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we, the most murderous of all murderers, ever console ourselves?...Must we not become gods ourselves, if only to appear worthy of it?’...” [1]      Nietzsche’s madman, as it happens, is an unwitting evangelist, proclaiming ...

  Re-imagining Paul: grumpy patriarch or a new Moses?      Far from being an individualistic, how-to-get-to-heaven scheme, Paul’s gospel was, primarily, what God had done in Jesus’ death and resurrection to save both his people Israel and all the nations of the world (cf. Rom. 1.1-5; Gal. chapters 3-4; Rom. chapters 1-11), as well as being about how those who had faith in Jesus should share life together.      When it comes to discerning how to live as a church community of both mercy and holiness, Paul is often seen as something of a problem – dare I say, some interpret him as being the Jordan B. Peterson of the first century, i.e. a rather troubled, slightly misogynistic, polarizing character who was always upset about something and ever ready to berate those whom he perceived as a threat. [1]   This “cranky characterization” of Paul is perhaps understandable, since Paul is a very transparent correspondent (could he have imagined t...

       Prophets have always been critical of “religious” institutions – in ancient Israel, this meant the cultic life of the tabernacle/temple which was overseen by priests and which was intimately associated with the Israelite monarch from the time of King Solomon.   Of course, a formalized liturgical life could easily lead to hypocrisy and a “cultural/civic religion” which, as Marx would denounce many centuries later, [1] could simply lend itself to the maintenance of the status quo, as opposed to producing real justice in society (cf. Micah 6.8; Jer. 7.1-15, etc.).   As opposed to religious practice that was merely “ritualistic”, prophetic religion was always concerned with faithfulness to the covenant with Yahweh – i.e. living a life of justice vis-à-vis God and your fellow humans (cf. Dt. 6.5; 11.13; 13.3; Lev. 19.18, 34).   The prophets of Israel were ruthless in their critique of religious observance that was not accompanied by a passionate con...