Description
Part 2 of Jesus and the Disinherited. He quotes from Russell Gordon Smith from "Fugitive Papers." Thurman argues that the Jews had a sense of destiny, which was hindered by the fact of Roman rule and created a constant turmoil and sense of danger. What made Jesus, then, different? The common belief was that anyone who upends that which blocks destiny, becomes a righteous arm of God as the enemy is destroyed. The Zealots want to appear Roman, then kill it from the inside. The Essenes wanted to withdraw completely, feeling the Roman Empire to be totally polluted, and hoping that through shear naked spirituality God would overthrow Rome without anyone having to resort to violence.
In the religion of Jesus, each person is responsible for their own actions in response to the environment they find themselves. Education can make God less personal and, ironically, we become more pessimistic about our destiny. God used that Jewish/Roman/Greek environment in which to shape Jesus and his community.
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