Book Review by John A. Zukowski
“The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus' Teachings and How They Have Been Corrupted” by Obery Hendricks
Starting with Jim Wallis’ “God’s Politics,” several prominent left-leaning Christians have started to speak out. They’ve published books in the last few years explaining how the political and religious Right has ignored the call for social justice which is a fundamental and consistent part of The Bible.
And there’s more of that here.
This book by the Professor of Biblical Interpretation at New York Theological Seminary shows how the political policies of Ronald Reagan and the two Bush presidents clash with Jesus’ message of helping the poor. (I wish he put Democrat Bill Clinton in the hot seat too.)
No matter how many public declarations those Republican presidents made about being Christians, many of their policies weren’t in the true spirit of Christianity, Hendricks argues.
Yes, he makes a good case. But it’s been said many times. And Hendricks is probably preaching to the choir.
So there’s another reason this book is worth reading.
The best part is the first section which describes the political structure in the Biblical era. It’s fascinating to read about the political world of ancient Israel in the Old Testament. But the most important part is Hendricks’ section about the New Testament era of occupied Israel – the political backdrop for Jesus’ life.
Hendricks shows how Jesus demanded the oppressed be helped here on earth now. He reminds readers that in Matthew 25 Jesus warns people will be judged by how they treat the needy. But over time that call to arms has become diluted by many Christian churches, Hendricks writes.
In one essential chapter entitled “How Jesus The Revolutionary Became Meek and Mild”
Hendricks says it’s because of the spiritual differences between Jesus and Paul – the man who wrote several key books in the New Testament and was largely responsible for expanding the early Christian movement. And over time Christians have turned to Paul’s writings for how to run their churches – often at the expense of the Gospels.
The two men were vastly different, Hendricks points out. Jesus ministered mainly to poor rural people. And he demanded radical changes to help those people.
Paul was a well-educated Roman citizen and urbanite who was far less concerned about social justice. He didn’t see the poor in his ministry nearly as much as Jesus did.
Paul’s priority was organizing the burgeoning religious institutions of the new Christian religion. So he didn’t turn his attention to social justice as Jesus did.
Instead Paul emphasized individual morality. He wanted to build a movement of righteous church members to spread the new religion. Paul was less interested in ministering to the poor directly than building moral Christians to help establish a new religion.
Also because Paul believed an apocalypse was probably imminent in his lifetime, he wanted to morally prepare Christians for a judgment he believed was coming soon. So he didn’t think he needed to change the social structure. He believed the soon-to-be apocalypse would overturn society’s wrongs.
Of course an apocalypse didn’t arrive in Paul’s lifetime. And centuries later many Christian churches are shaped by Paul’s writings at the expense of Jesus’ call for social justice, Hendricks says.
Many modern churches are influenced by Paul and focus almost solely on individual morality (and some even still believe in an apocalypse –even though many mainstream Christians believe the Book of Revelation was a metaphor for The Roman Empire and contemporary conditions at the time Revelation was written).
Hendricks says Jesus’ requirement to help the poor is ignored by many modern Christian churches with leaders who feel uncomfortable calling for that kind of bold activism. Like Paul. the modern Christian church is concerned about building and maintaining religious institutions. And they too dwell on the afterlife as the time that social injustices will be corrected – not the here and now.
The strength of “The Politics of Jesus” is that it shows how Jesus’ radical message of social change was subverted by the powerful into a more individualistic spirituality – one that wouldn’t require the powerful to help the needy with the urgency Jesus demanded.
Hendricks shows us that trend didn’t start with Reagan and Bush. It started not long after Jesus died. And it hasn’t stopped since.
