Jesus and the Disinherited, Part 4, February 1, 1959

Description

Part 4 of Jesus and the Disinherited. Reads 2 pieces by Clive Benson: "The Brothers" and "The Phoenician Woman." This talk is on "brotherhood" or inclusiveness. He argues that Jesus considered someone included by their relationship with God, whereas to Paul it was one's relationship to Christ. The church has followed the Paul model. He points out that Paul had a different viewpoint than Jesus. Both were Jews, but Paul had Roman citizenship and could claim that for protection whereas Jesus could be treated as trash. He claims it made Paul look at the Romans as "not so bad," and he likens it to him being given complete freedom in Mississippi to live like a white person even though he was black. He talks of his grandmother, who was a slave, refusing to read Paul because twice yearly the master would have the preacher come and lead services always using Paul's text of "slaves obey your masters." He argues that Paul's definition of brotherhood, or who's included and who's excluded, is different than Jesus'. And once we have any reason to exclude anyone, then we can then make up any reason we want for excluding someone. Hence, church and civilization divide people up, but true brotherhood is based on our universal connection to God.

Item Relations

This item has no relations.

Suggest a Correction to the Transcript