The Politics of Jesus: Vicit Agnus Noster

I had this book on my shelf for a long time before picking it up to read. After a few false starts (I think the first chapter might be a bit dull), I gave it a second try and I'm glad a did. Along with several other reviews I can say that this was one of those paradigm changing books that deserves to be referenced time and time again. One of a few 'must reads' for every Christian, certainly for pastors, the Politics of Jesus is about the radicalness of following Christ, and the concrete steps that must be taken in order to be faithful to him. Yoder writes from an Anabaptist perspective, and as North American Christianity comes perilously close to re-embracing a Constantinian view of the Church, Yoder's work (along with his disciple Stanley Hauwerwas) gives us an alternate vision of what the body of Christ should be like.

In The Politics of Jesus, John H. Yoder argues that mainline ethicists have falsely assumed that the Jesus in the gospels fails to present us with a normative social ethic. In his careful study of the gospel of Luke and other scriptures; Yoder shows us that Jesus not only showed us a social ethic, but also that Jesus' ethic was accepted as normative by the early church. In this book, Yoder touches on topics such as peace and justice, Government authority, Paul and subordination, as well as Revelation and an Eschatological theology. Yoder convincingly argues that the Power of God is given as gift, through cross and resurrection, and that the 'handles of history' are not controlled in a cause and effect relationship as is often assumed by so-called 'realist' theologies.Jesus, the slain Lamb, has conquered... him let us follow.A truly magnificient account of faithful theology.

In an age where the Western Christian church is stuggling for a relevant witness to our rapidly changing culture, John Howard Yoder makes a solid and challenging claim that Jesus is not only relevant, but normative for social Christian ethics. Yoder convincingly illustrates that Jesus was in fact confrontive socially and politically to the powers that be in that age. Throughout the text he demonstrates that the Gospel of Lukes bears witness not to just a divine Jesus, who redeemed humanity, but also a human Jesus who incarnated the nature of God through the way of the cross. By focusing his study on the cross of Christ, he develops a challenging ethic that examplifies the love of neighbor and witness that the faithful church and disciple is called to be. I recommend this text to anyone interested in a new, fresh and challenging look to the Jesus as known in 1st century Jewish culture. This book is a must read that should be on the shelf of anyone interested in honest, Christian scholarship.

Let's be frank. There is very little of modern theology that remains "relevant." Barth's "Church Dogmatics" fell stillborn from the press. Tillich seems embarrasingly "faddish." The "God is Dead" theology, itself defunct. THE POLITICS OF JESUS, first written over a quarter century ago, retains it's freshness. A combination of very thorough new testament scholarship, historic anabaptist emphasis on "separation from the world," and contemporary (i.e. "post Vietnam") concerns, it provides a comprehenive, honest, and coherent biblical theology on the subject of peace.No simplistic "theology of liberation" here. But a searching examination of biblical truth and an unsparing expose of modern illusions (left, right, and center). Love him or hate him, Yoder can not be ignored, nor can this book. The chapter on the "haustafeln" ("wives, obey your husbands...servants, obey your masters") is a quatum advance over Dibelius. And the chapter on Romans chapter 13 will likely overturn your every preconception.Not a systematic theology, but one that will be talked about and referenced four centuries hence. (*If* we have that long.)