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E-book Early Christians Adapting to the Roman Empire : Mutual Recognition

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Penilaian

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As far as is hermeneutically possible, scholars should allow the text to com-municate its own intentions, even if its message is strange or displeasing—and there is at least one displeasing passage in the New Testament, Romans 13:1–7. Roland Boer aptly states that it is “the stumbling block ... for those who inter-pret the New Testament as an anti-imperial and anti-colonial collection of texts.”7 The discomfort of scholars reading this passage is almost tangible. I once again take Crossan and Reed as an example. In their book of 450 pages, they discuss these verses in just two pages. There is good reason to limit this discussion to a minimum. If one wants to write of an apostle opposing the Roman Empire, there is not much to say about Romans 13:1–7. It is another matter, however, for the reader to get an accurate picture of what Paul thought of the Empire without a close look at Romans 13:1–7. This passage is the only one in Paul’s epistles where he intentionally speaks about the state.The anti-imperial reading finds its home mainly in the USA. In my opinion, such a reading reflects the American political tradition. Stephen Kalberg (refer-ring to Max Weber) notes that the Puritan tradition, which is so effective in the USA, is suspicious or even hostile toward human authority. The Protestants of the 17th century believed that “should rulers violate God’s decrees, the faithful stood under religious obligation to protest against and overthrow such illegiti-mate and unjust authority.” One can easily see the same tradition behind the US Declaration of Independence. The Declarationsupports Americans to maintain sharp eyes to see any limi-tations placed on their freedom. It promulgates the continuous “Right of the People” to alter or to abolish governments. I suggest that American eyes also explain the recent anti-imperial reading of the New Testament. For those raised in American culture, anti-imperialism is the given position. Crossan and Reed were educated into this same culture, but their American eyes have turned a critical gaze toward the USA. These are self-critical eyes, but they are still the same culturally American eyes in search of freedom from tyranny. Europe trusts more in the centralized state, although it has had its own turmoils. It is noteworthy that the Declaration blames the king of Great Britain for establish-ing “an absolute tyranny.” Such hard words naturally had a reason within the historical situation in which they were composed, but they also reflect certain differences in the political culture on both the western and eastern banks of the Atlantic Ocean.

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

225 HUT e

Penerbit

: BRILL., 2020

Deskripsi Fisik

293 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9789004428249

Klasifikasi

225

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

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Subjek

New Testament

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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