Assuming that you are using the fine book God of Justice in a study group. I would like to add three more chapters to the twelve in the book. God of Justice is strong on the OT but only fair on justice in the NT. As Wolterstorff asserts, all English translations have been dejusticized; in the KJV, there is not a single reference to justice in the NT. The NIV has only 16 references whereas Spanish, French, Portugese, Italian, Latin translations of the NT have around 100 references to justice. German translations though not as good as Romance language translations are far superior to English translations.
Also American theology is weak on the biblical teaching on oppression and the kingdom of God. So I will try to fill in the gaps with my three additional chapters.
Chapter 13 A Two-pronged, Holistic Gospel
Before you read to your group Acts 8:12; 28:23, 28:31, before you make any comments whatsoever to bias the definitions, ask each student to write down a one sentence definition of the kingdom of God. Without comment, ask participant to read her or his definition out loud; it is important for each member of the class to hear other definitions.
I have done this exercise with hundreds of persons over the years from many different denominations, with blacks and whites, young and old, with the same results. Nine out of ten create shallow, superficial, imprecise definitions of one of the most important concepts in the NT; most definitions are spiritual and future oriented; seldom have a strong present and social emphasis.
Next step. Hand out a copy of the Messianic passages---9:7; 11:1-4; 16:5; 28:16-17; 42:1-4; 61:1-4.
Then ask each participant to rewrite their definition of the kingdom of God based solely on these passages. Again have the definitions read aloud to the class. Compare and discuss the definitions. Then compare the first and second definitions.
Back to the Scriptures from Acts 8:12; 28:23; 28:31 where Philip summarizes the gospel he was preaching to the Samaritans, Paul was summarizing the gospel he was preaching to the Jews in Rome; and then the gospel he preached to the Gentiles. Most American churches do quite well on the Jesus Christ half of the gospel---the cross and resurrection, justification by grace and faith. But these same churches are weak in the kingdom of God gospel; seldom do they preach and practice the kingdom of God as Jubilee justice for the oppressed poor.
Next some comments based on my short review of the book The Soul of Hip Hop by Hodge. The best of Hip Hop music---there is the best and the worst---is a scream about oppression and an intense desire for justice. Oppression hurts deeply so it is only human to cry out. In Exodus, we hear the Hebrew slaves crying out to God for deliverance from their endless and ruthless oppression.
Hip Hop is sometimes a vulgar scream. White evangelicals too often hear the vulgar part, but seem to miss the oppression part of the scream. Black urban youth scream about their oppression; white evangelicals are silent about urban oppression. Is it because of ignorance, of guilt, of neglect of justice and the love of God?
Are evangelicals spiritually deaf? Do they deliberately close their ears to the scream? Do they misinterpret the scream because they are biblically illiterate about oppression and justice? Are they a part of the system of oppression? Does biblical illiteracy lead to social illiteracy? Is the evangelical silence and inaction on urban oppression more obscene than the vulgar urban scream?
Craig Detweiler says: "Daniel White Hodge engages in deep listening, hearing the authentic cry for justice inherent in Hip Hop?"
It is somewhat understandable why remote suburban white evangelicals might misinterpret the scream and call it evil, but it also seems that much of the institutional black church, even many located in the ghetto, also miss the authentic cry for justice. Does all of American Christianity have some fundamental biblical flaws?
Michelle Alexander in her 2010 book, The New Jim Crow, states that civil rights organizations are missing the boat; they are engaging is trickle-down justice. They have not yet understood the magnitude of the unjust mass incarceration of young black and Latino males. They recognize the continuing racial bias in the criminal justice system, but not that it is a new racial caste system, a new system of oppression akin to slavery and segregation.
Few people in America are listening deeply, it seems. Most religious folk talk before they listen; they offer solutions before they understand the problem. Do our seminaries teach people how to listen to God, but not how to listen for the cries of the oppressed? If whites talk before they listen, whites will usually blame the oppressed victim, not focus on releasing the oppressed. Whites are quick to blame, slow to understand, slow to release.
Another true story. My wife and I lived in West Jackson for 15 years. In West Jackson, now almost entirely black, was a roughly 12 square block area bounded by Robinson, Rose, the Parkway and Prentiss. Sometimes I would conduct a tour of this area in silence. I would ask each person to observe; then report their observations at the end of the tour.
This was a deteriorating area with some shotgun houses (poor shacks) dominated by three black churches in good condition. No one got the point---the hallowed halls were well maintained but they were surrounded by mostly poor housing.
Just to the east of Rose was a solution---Habitat for Humanity; twelve houses built for the poor. None of the three churches copied this nearby model.
None of the persons on the various tours I conducted including a Perkins Center board member, Perkins Center staff, visitors from out-of-town, understood what was going on. A John 3:16 gospel was divorced from a Luke 4:18-19 gospel, a Kingdom gospel.
Chapter 14---From Ethnocentrism to Reconciliation---coming next.
No comments:
Post a Comment