Jesus and the Powers: Conflict, Covenant, and the Hope of the Poor

by Richard A. Horsley

Refusing a false dichotomy between "politics" and "religion" in Jesus' world (and our own), Jesus and the Powers rediscovers Jesus' response to the imperial power of his day. Richard A. Horsley describes the relevance of political realities under great empires for understanding the rise of covenantal theology and apocalyptic vision in Israel's history. Then he explores aspects of Jesus' activity in the context of the Roman Empire. Horsley examines Jesus as an exorcist and prophetic figure and the character of his death by crucifixion. He also shows how the community life in the early Pauline assemblies gave form to a new response to imperial powers--and stimulus to contemporary readers to re-imagine their own response to political realities in our own day.

Genres: Theology

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[Walt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book on Jesus (other than the synoptic gospels) that I've read- putting him in the context of Galilean and Judean society rather than as an isolated figure and understanding his actions and speech through that context. It reveals a deeply religious as well as deeply political prophet, healer, and "community-organizer" whose life and death sparked a major social reform movement. It also calls to attention the Western social structures that deeply color modern gospel interpretations and how re-imagining the stories through a contextual lens can enhance our reactions to the stories of good news.

[Sagely · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm eager to read people's history approaches to the Gospels, so I appreciated Horsley's project in a general way. But the further I read, the more I felt Horsley wasn't attending closely to the texts he was working with. More often than not, I felt he was picking and choosing the bits that supported his thesis while ignoring any bits that complicated it. I plan on tracking down some of his more scholarly work. Perhaps his cherry-picking is due to the semi-popular nature of this book. Maybe his scholarship per se will be better. We'll see.

[Lowell AfdahlRice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me 10 months to get to Page 87 where the analysis of Jesus against the powers begins. From 87 to the end the read was enlightening and dare I say fun.