Jesus and the Powers by Richard A. Horsley

In the gospel traditoins of Jesus' words and deeds, we can observe the kingdom present in the experience of the people in distinctive ways. The principal thrust of Jesus' practice and preaching, however, was to manifest and mediate the presence of the kingdom of God. In modern parlance that would be labeled a 'revolution.' That is, God was imminently and presently effecting a historical transformation. That is, he had utter confidence that God was restoring the life of the society, and that this would mean judgment for those who oppressed the people and vindication for those who faithfully adhered to God's will and responded to the kingdom. Jesus' understanding of the 'kingdom of God' is similar in its broader perspective to the confident hopes expressed in then-contemporary Jewish apocalyptic literature. The focal concern of the kingdom of God in Jesus' preaching and practice, however, is the liberation and welfare of the people.

Horsley describes his view of the historical Jesus in these words ( Jesus and the Spiral of Violence, pp.

Jesus and the Spiral of Violence : Popular Jewish Resistance in Roman Palestine (Fortress Pr 1992).

The Liberation of Christmas : The Infancy Narratives in Social Context (Continuum 1993).

Sociology and the Jesus Movement (Continuum 1994).

Galilee : History, Politics, People (Trinity Press Intl 1995).

Archaeology, History, and Society in Galilee : The Social Context of Jesus and the Rabbis (Trinity Press Intl 1996).

Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs : Popular Movements in the Time of Jesus (Trinity Press Intl 1999).

Whoever Hears You Hears Me : Prophets, Performance, and Tradition in Q (Trinity Press Intl 2000).Hearing the Whole Story : The Politics of Plot in Mark's Gospel (Westminster John Knox Pr 2001).Issues include the nature of the historical Jesus, the nature of the early Christian documents, and the origins of the Christian faith in a risen Jesus Christ. The purpose of this web page is to explain and explore some of the theories offered up by contemporary scholars on the historical Jesus and the origins of the Christian religion.

Jesus and the Powers by Richard A. Horsley