Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
The Upside Down Kingdom: Chapter Two: Mountain Politics

The Upside Down Kingdom: Chapter Two: Mountain Politics

Last updated on: September 18, 2023 at 6:39 am by Roger E. Olson

0 Comments

The Upside Down Kingdom: Chapter Two: Mountain Politics 2023-09-18T06:39:50-05:00 Roger E. Olson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Just before re-reading The Upside Down Kingdom my wife and I watched the TV series “The Man in the High Castle.” It’s based on a book of the same title. The various plots of both the book and the series rest on the fiction that Germany and Japan won World War 2 and occupied America. Much of the story has to do with various resistance fighters against the Japanese and German occupiers. But there is one small subplot that doesn’t get much attention: A group of “Christians” construct an intentional Christian community in the mountains of Colorado (a so-called “Neutral Zone” between the German and Japanese colonies of America) to shelter Jews. The sheltered Jews get a lot of attention but the Christians who shelter them get almost none. But the point is—The Man in the High Castle made me think of Donald Kraybill’s “Mountain Politics” and vice versa. There’s a lot of violence in the former and the latter claims that Jesus refused to lead a violent resistance against the Roman occupiers, preferring to promote an entirely new and controversial social order based on love of enemies.

This chapter spends much time/space on the political crises in Palestine before, during and after Jesus’s lifetime on earth. One has to get through all that information to get to the point of the chapter. According to Kraybill’s, the devil tempted Jesus to become a political ruler using violence (which is a kind of tautology as all political rulers must use violence). Jesus declined saying “Get behind me, Satan.” Instead he taught a radical message of an alternative social order without violence and even without traditional rulership.

Did Jesus mean this ONLY for the church? Many say that. Reinhold Niebuhr among them. Baptist theologian Walter Rauschenbusch disagreed (before Niebuhr) and argued for a “Christianized social order” based on love. Niebuhr came along after Rauschenbusch and Pooh-poohed that as naive. Then, recently, along came Stanley Hauerwas who sort of bridged that gap, arguing that the church is meant by God to be an alternative social order within the godless, secular, pagan social orders of this world for the sake of the world, to be a shining example of how God intends humans to live together.

We will yet “see” where Kraybill lands in this 20th century debate about Christians and culture, but going by what he says in this chapter it appears that he will argue that Christians were never meant by Jesus to be political—in the sense of attempting to grab power to control the social order.

Whether Kraybill would agree more with Rauschenbusch, Niebuhr or Hauerwas may be unclear, but one thing is crystal clear to me: Kraybill is arguing against Christian Reconstructionism, Dominion Theology, merging MAGA with Christianity. Is he a pacifist? We will see; it’s not clear yet.

One question a person might (and some probably will) ask Kraybill is about the prophesied future in biblical apocalyptic literature, assuming it is prophesying the future. Doesn’t it point to a time when God, even Jesus, will violently destroy his enemies in order to set up a political kingdom, whether on earth (the millennium) or in a new heaven and new earth? Isn’t the God, Jesus, of The Book of Revelation (The Apocalypse of John) violent? We’ll see if he addresses that question later in the book.

For now, however, one thing is clear: Kraybill believes Jesus COULD HAVE become a political ruler who defeated the evil, occupying Romans, but chose not to. And yet he taught a different kind of social order that threatened both the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and the Roman occupiers of Palestine because it challenged their rule by violence. What should contemporary America (and other) Christians think, then, about participating in rule by violence?

(I will comment on Chapter Three on or about Monday, September 25. Please don’t comment about that chapter or any later one until I have commented on it/them.)

*Note: If you have not read this chapter, don’t comment but only ask a question. If you have read the chapter, feel free to comment but keep it relatively brief (no more than 100 words), on topic, addressed to me (or Kraybill), civil and respectful (not hostile or argumentative) and devoid of pictures or links.*

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 15, 2023

Belong, Believe, Behave?

Next Post

September 20, 2023 The Almost Forgotten Story of Non-Liberal Feminist Christian Women Influences

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"“Secular” means non-religious. No religion is embraced by American society anymore. Christianity remains the leading ..."

Roger Olson

Billy Graham’s Successor?

"I will look him up. Never heard of him."

Roger Olson

Billy Graham’s Successor?

"Where and when and how did I “support” a leader or church…? I said I ..."

Roger Olson

I’m Proud of Adam Hamilton (and ..."

"4-5% of the population is atheist or literally 'secular' not the entire country.Thats a really ..."

davidt

Billy Graham’s Successor?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Against Liberal Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the name of the Roman governor who sentenced Jesus to death?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Tiberius Pontius Pilate Herod Antipas Caesar Augustus