Vive la Révolution!

714 Views | 4 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by BusterAg
PacifistAg
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AG
Vive la Revolution!


Quote:

The coinage of the Roman economy bore the image of the "august" Caesar with imperial titles like, Son of God, Savior of the World, King of Kings, Prince of Peace. Sitting in his palace on Palatine Hill, Augustus could never have imagined that in less than forty years these titles would be re-appropriated for a Galilean peasant who had suffered a state sponsored execution under the jurisdiction of a Roman governor. Much less could Caesar Augustus have imagined that within a few centuries millions of people throughout the Roman Empire would pledge their allegiance to the crucified Jesus of Nazareth, calling him the risen King of all kings.

But that's what happened.

If this all sounds very political, you're right, it wasand it is.

Quote:

The early Christians weren't persecuted by the Roman Empire for spiritual reasons (Rome was remarkably tolerant of religions), but for political reasons.

The seminal Christian confession of "Jesus is Lord" was not a benign spiritual platitude, but a subversive political claim.

The intuition of King Herod and Pontius Pilate who persecuted Jesus at his birth and authorized his execution was correct this single Jew posed a threat to the present world order. And so Herod attempted and Pilate succeeded in killing this single Jewish life. But the life that the principalities and powers persecuted with death, God vindicated in resurrection. Everything Jesus ever taught or did as he announced and enacted the government of heaven was endorsed by God on Easter Sunday.

Quote:

The Kingdom of God is not the disembodied bliss of a Platonic heaven, but God's alternative arrangement for human society. Under the reign of King Jesus (whom Christians confess is Lord now, not Lord-elect) the poor are blessed, the sick are healed, sinners are forgiven, war is abolished, mercy triumphs over judgment, and love trumps everything. Of course the implementation of God's alternative society does pose a serious challenge to the status quo. Jesus plainly said so. "Many who are first will be last, and the last first." Such provocative rhetoric was enough to impel the very rich and the very powerful to conspire to kill Jesus. And thus Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate became friends on Good Friday. (See Luke 23:12)

But even though the Kingdom of God is without coercion, persuading by love, witness, Spirit, reason, rhetoric, and if need be, by martyrdom, but never by force to resist the Kingdom of God always leads to a self-inflicted Gehenna. Opposition to the Kingdom of Love is the highway to hell not the retributive hell of an angry god, but the consequential hell of going against the grain of love. If God is love, then to oppose love is to hurl oneself into a godless abyss.

Quote:

As a follower of Jesus I am not permitted to dismiss Jesus' command to care for the poor and love our enemies as "impractical in the real world." No! The world of greed and war is a fake empire, a giant falseness, a colossal lie. The real world is the world of God's unconditional love and infinite mercy it's what Jesus called the kingdom of God. So when a Roman governor in the grand fake empire asked Jesus if he was a king, Jesus affirmed that he was indeed a king and that his life bore witness to the truth of God a truth that contradicted the grand lie of Rome at every turn.

This is why, in the end, Herod and Pilate had to kill Jesus.

And this is why, in the end, God overruled Herod and Pilate and all the principalities and powers by raising Jesus from the dead!

The revolution began at Bethlehem.
The revolution culminated at Calvary.
The revolution continues wherever Christians dare to take the red letters seriously.

Vive la Rvolution!
Zobel
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AG
I dig it. Reminds me of this: Death to the World, the ancient principle of the last true rebellion.

I will say, though, that the quote of Christ to Pilate is a little edited. He did tell Pilate He was a king, but He also told him "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."


He also teaches us we will always have the poor with us. So, while I agree that the real world is the Kingdom, I also think it is important that there is no possibility of an earthly Kingdom without Christ's return. I have to disagree that the Kingdom is an alternative arrangement. His Kingdom is not of this realm.

We Orthodox do teach, and affirm, that the Kingdom is real, and is here today, when we begin every Divine Liturgy by saying "blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages". We also believe that we enter into that kingdom during the Liturgy, worshiping with "holy angels" that "enter with us, that together we may celebrate and glorify [His] goodness." But we should caution against expecting or presuming the Kingdom to become an earthly reality.
PacifistAg
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Thanks for the reply. I thoroughly enjoy your posts here. Great points.
ramblin_ag02
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But K2, what do the Orthodox do?



I kid, I kid
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Zobel
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Sorry. I try to back it up with something cuz otherwise it's just like, my opinion, man.
BusterAg
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k2aggie07 said:

Sorry. I try to back it up with something cuz otherwise it's just like, my opinion, man.
Don't be. I want to know what the orthodox's do. I have very little exposure to that line of thinking outside of R&P.

I think that people learning the orthodoxy perspective is responsible for like 30% of the traffic on this board.

I like to hear you opinion too, but I do like the way that you distinguish it from the typical or official orthodoxy position.
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