The Social Gospel of Jesus: The Kingdom of God in Mediterranean Perspective.The Social Gospel Social Gospel, liberal movement within American Protestantism that attempted to apply biblical teachings to problems associated with industrialization. It took form during the latter half of the 19th cent. of Jesus: The Kingdom of God in Mediterranean Perspective. By Bruce J. Malina. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Augsburg Fortress is the official publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and also publishes for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) as Augsburg Fortress Canada. , 2000. xiii and 178 pages. Paper. $19.00. Malina stands at the forefront of those who utilize social-scientific criticism of the New Testament. Besides general studies of the Jesus world, he has examined specific New Testament writers such as Paul and John. Having frequently examined the economic and political nature of the New Testament world, in this volume he tackles a more theological problem: the implications of Jesus' preaching of the kingdom of God. First Malina gives a short overview of his method followed by a brief description of social structures at the time of Jesus. He describes the means used by the elitist e·lit·ism or é·lit·ism n. 1. The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources. group to maintain the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. , types of violence to people (dissidents) he calls vigilantism Taking the law into one's own hands and attempting to effect justice according to one's own understanding of right and wrong; action taken by a voluntary association of persons who organize themselves for the purpose of protecting a common interest, such as liberty, property, or (pp. 37-69). In a major section he also describes modes of social control: (1) face-to-face, or fictive kinship Fictive kinship is the process of giving someone a kinship title and treating them in many ways as if they had the actual kinship relationship implied by the title. People with this relationship are known as fictive kin. Fictive kinship is also known as relatedness. ; (2) face-to-grace, or a relationship maintained by agents (patron/client); (3) face-to-mace, or relationship maintained by institutional authority; and (4) face-to-space, a cosmological authority in which relationship is missing. Malina rightly understands that Jesus' preaching of the kingdom must have economic and political repercussions repercussions npl → répercussions fpl repercussions npl → Auswirkungen pl , and he rightly perceives that the kingdom of God must be a face-to-face fictive kinship or collective social relationship. As such the kingdom of God offers ever new possibilities in more impersonal or authoritarian types of social relationships. The reader who knows the work of Malina will find here extensions of prior thinking. As in other of his works the language comes from social science and may sometimes be difficult to assimilate (what he says is not all obscure--just a language that differs from most New Testament studies). Furthermore, because it derives from his Rauschenbush lectures the language and thought patterns reflect lecture language from time to time--e.g., the use of rhyme. Apart from the primary thesis readers will find both stimulating ideas and questionable affirmations. One puzzle for me is his pattern of connecting ancient circumstances with modern situations. Like many others I found his Windows on the World For the theme park in Shenzhen, China, see Window of the World. For the novel by Frederic Beigbeder, see Windows on the World (novel). Windows on the World was an elegant restaurant and adjoining bar that operated between 1976 and September 11, 2001 in New York City of Jesus (1993) provocative, but I often wonder if the social characteristics Malina attributed to Jesus and his world actually applied to our world in the same way. I had the same problem with The Social Gospel of Jesus. While I could affirm most of Malina's insights into the New Testament world, I thought his connections with modern politics were all too facile. At least a more extensive analysis of current economic and political institutions would be necessary to be convincing. Graydon F. Snyder Chicago, Illinois |
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