To: Michelle Alexander
From: Lowell Noble, lowellnoble@gmail.com 206-724-7215
Re: Writing a book on the kingdom of God
Date: Oct. 5, 2016
Michelle Alexander:
I am a 90 year old white male who had to have a second conversion to begin to understand the depth of white America's oppression of African Americans. This conversion led to an extensive study of the biblical teaching on oppression, then to the biblical teaching on justice, then to a study of the present and social dimensions of the kingdom of God. My second conversion happened when MLK was assassinated. So I have been on a 50 year pilgrimage to understand oppression, justice and the kingdom of God, first biblically, then historically, then sociologically.
My conclusion: The American church has no comprehensive theology of oppression, justice and the kingdom of God, only fragments.
Thomas Hanks, Hebrew scholar: we have only fragments, small fragments, of a biblical theology of oppression, therefore;
Karen Lebacqz, injustice-justice scholar: we have only fragments of a full biblical theology of justice (we first need to begin with injustice), therefore:
Marcus Borg and Donald Kraybill: we have only fragments of a full biblical theology of the kingdom of God; therefore, the American church can only occasionally do reform, never revolution, transformation; therefore, it will not be any more effective in ending racial profiling, mass incarceration and the War on Drugs than the civil rights organizations, lawyers and politicians, therefore;
The first task is to develop a complete and comprehensive, clear and compelling, theology of oppression, justice and the kingdom of God.
Who best to do this? Michelle Alexander, a brilliant, black woman scholar who already through both personal experience and scholarly analysis has a keen understanding of past and current systems of oppression. Therefore, you will, once exposed, understand the biblical teaching on oppression.
Biblically, the place to begin to understand oppression is where the Bible begins, Exodus chapters 1-6. Taking Exodus 1-6:9 as my larger context, this is my paraphrase of 6:1-9 with a special focus on 6:9:
"When Moses delivered the message that came straight from God's own mouth about their soon coming deliverance from centuries of ruthless oppression, the Hebrew slaves could not even begin to grasp/believe the good news. Because generations of endless oppression have left them bruised, battered, and broken in both body and spirit."
Or another paraphrase: "Generations of oppression caused social death; all social institutions were dysfunctional."
Or another paraphrase: "Generations of oppression caused mass PTSD/PTSS; individuals, families, communities and cultures were traumatized."
This is why Isaiah 58 and Amos 5 insist on tying spirituality and justice together as the way to release the oppressed. This is why Jesus quotes Isaiah 58:6 in Luke 4:18. This is why there are 555 references to oppression and its synonyms in the Hebrew OT.
When a person turns to the NT, on the surface, the concept of oppression seems to disappear---from 555 references in the OT to 2 or 3 in the NT. But if the Greek word thlipsis is translated oppressed rather than afflicted, the word oppression is found more widely.
For example, James 1:27: "Visit the widows and orphans in their affliction." This verse would be better translated: "Visit the oppressed widows and orphans." Who is oppressing the widows and orphans? According to James 2, it is the rich. James issues a scathing rebuke to the church that was honoring the rich oppressors and dishonoring the oppressed poor. The biblical calling for a Christian church is to combine faith and works---works of justice that release the oppressed poor.
In the NT, especially in Luke, the oppressors are most often identified as the rich, and far too often the religious rich. They are scorched by Jesus---"Woe to the rich" and the holy Temple he called "a den of robbers." He condemned the Pharisees as ones who loved money and neglected justice and the love of God.
Justice
Now to the biblical concept of justice.
There are those scholars who assert that in the NT the OT concept of justice disappears and is replaced by an emphasis on personal salvation. On the surface, this appears to be true; there are no references to justice in the NT in the KJV, and few in the OT. Even the modern NIV has only 16 references; a typical French, Spanish or Latin NT has around 100 references to justice. Why? More on this later.
Back to the OT and justice.
Leviticus 25: The Sabbath laws and the Jubilee principles were designed to not only release the oppressed---slaves and debtors---but also to prevent lifelong or even generations of oppression from getting deeply entrenched. Slaves and debts had to be freed every seven years.
It is commonly said that the Hebrews never applied these Sabbath laws. I disagree. Read Nehemiah 5. Almost overnight, Nehemiah ended oppression and demanded restitution; a reasonably just society was restored.
The Law and the Prophets were built upon the principles of love and justice. The Messianic passages from Isaiah---9:7; 11:1-4; 16:5; 28:16-17; 42:1-4; and 61:1-4---contain a description of the coming kingdom; the themes are: the Spirit, the kingdom, justice and the oppressed poor. Follow the NRSV 61:1 which uses the word oppressed, not poor.
Next to the NT and justice. The brilliant Reformed philosopher-theologian, Nicholas Wolterstorff, declares brashly that the English NT has been 'dejusticized'. Joseph Grassi asserts that the Sermon on the Mount has been dejusticed, that the Greek word dikaiosune which is usually translated righteousness should be translated justice. The English NEB does translate Matthew 6:33 correctly: "Set your mind on God's kingdom and his justice above everything else."
6:33 is the key verse for the Sermon on the Mount; the kingdom of God and justice are the two main themes in the Sermon. 5:6 should be translated as : "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice." The poor in spirit, the crushed in spirit, the broken in spirit desperately need the justice of the kingdom. The Law and the Prophets are fulfilled when Jubilee justice is done in behalf of the oppressed poor.
One of the most important verses in the NT can be found in Mark 1:15, also in Matthew 3:3 and 4:17: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is near/here." This is how Jesus begins his ministry. Matthew and Luke elaborate on the place and importance of repentance; repentance includes restitution, fundamental change, ending oppression, doing justice; this is how the church incarnates the kingdom.
But Matthew and Mark do not define the content of the kingdom leading some scholars to say the NT is vague on the content of the kingdom of God. If Luke 4:18-19 is a statement about the kingdom as I believe, then the kingdom is tied to the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit who enables the church to release the oppressed poor by practicing Jubilee justice---Spirit, poor, oppressed, Jubilee justice define the kingdom.
Acts 1:1-8 tie the Spirit and the kingdom together; this combination will reconcile Jew and Gentile, Jew and Samaritan. It will also prompt the rich to give away surplus houses and lands so that the needs of the poor will be met.
Acts 8:12; 28:23 & 31 summarize the essence of the two-pronged gospel---Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. The Jesus part provides justification by faith---deals with personal sin. The kingdom part provides justice for the oppressed---deals with social evil.
A suggestion: a quick way to produce A Kingdom of God Manifesto: Oppression and Justice.
Assign in a class the following: a series of 5 page papers, two students or more per paper:
1. Oppression in the OT
2. Oppression in the NT
3. Justice in the OT
4. Justice in the NT
5. The Messianic passages from Isaiah and the kingdom of God.
6. The NT kingdom of God
7. Application to the American Church
8. Application to American Society
9. Application to Mass Incarceration
10.
These 5 page papers put together would amount to around a 50 page manifesto primarily from a direct study of the Bible needing little documentation in the traditional scholarly tradition. At a later stage, a scholarly book could be produced.
Key books to read:
1. God So Loved the Third World: The Biblical Vocabulary of Oppression by Thomas Hanks.
2. The Upside-Down Kingdom by Donald Kraybill.
3. W.E.B. Du Bois: American Prophet by Edward Blum.
4. Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome by Joy Leary.
5. "Biblical Faith and the Reality of Social Evil," Christian Scholar's Review, Stephen Mott.
Another suggestion: A simple exercise that I have found surprisingly revealing. At a faculty meeting or through an email to all faculty, ask each to write down one sentence definitions (no more than 12 words) of the three following biblical concepts---What do the Scriptures teach that:
1. oppression is
2. justice is
3. the kingdom of God is
Instruction to faculty: no research, do not open Bibles, no internet search; answer quickly, spontaneously, off the top of your head.
Would you then email me the faculty responses? Do the same with students in class; have each student share his/her definition with the class.
On my blog "Lowell Noble's Writings", I have discussed in greater detail biblical, historical and sociological perspectives on oppression, justice and the kingdom of God.
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