For the Nation: Jesus, the Restoration of Israel and Articulating a Christian Ethic of Territorial Governance
Ebook
Overview
The nature of the kingdom Jesus proclaims in the Gospels has long been a subject of intense theological debate. More recently the lines of this debate have dramatically shifted as several leading historical Jesus scholars and Christian social ethicists have argued that Jesus’ kingdom proclamation most likely expresses a first century Jewish hope for Israel’s restoration. Yet while several are now sanguine that Jesus’ kingdom vision constitutes nothing less than a full-throated restoration of Israel’s nationality, they are just as certain it rejects a restoration of Israel’s land. As such it has become increasingly fashionable to say that an authentic practice of the “kingdom” ethic that Jesus enunciates must necessarily be a-territorial. The purpose of this work is to respond to these arguments and show why this can and indeed should not be the case. Through a careful and detailed process of historical investigation, biblical exegesis, theological exploration, and ethical analysis we will come to see that not only is the kingdom that Jesus proclaims inextricably landed, but also why such a kingdom is integral to articulating a Christian ethic of territorial governance.
”A bravura performance by a promising young scholar, For the
Nation challenges my own and other work in Christian ethics for
not taking seriously Israel’s land when speaking of God’s kingdom
as proclaimed by Israel’s Messiah, Jesus. The work moves on from
there to consider the ethical issues raised by territoriality in
human existence. Strongly recommended."
--David P. Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian
Ethics, Director, Center for Theology & Public
Life, Mercer University; Vice President, American Academy of
Religion; Columnist, Religion News Service; President-Elect,
Society of Christian Ethics
“Nicholas Brown here offers a powerful challenge to the reigning
scholarly consensus regarding the territorial implications of
Jesus’ message of the kingdom. Skillfully integrating the
disciplines of historical Jesus scholarship and Christian
theological and ethical reflection, Brown presents a compelling
vision of Jesus as a figure committed to Israel’s territorial
restoration but just as concerned about the ethical conditions and
consequences of Israel’s restored national life."
--Mark S. Kinzer, President Emeritus, Messianic Jewish Theological
Institute
"We are a long way from recovering the landed nature of Jesus’ life
and work as the Christ. In For the Nation, Nick Brown
points us in the right direction. He exposes how influential
Christian interpretation of the Gospels has been dismissive of land
and place, and he offers a welcome plea for Christians to
scrutinize our ethics of land by attending to Jesus’ commitment to
the land of Israel."
--Tommy Givens, author of We the People: Israel and the
Catholicity of Jesus
"With an impressive command of New Testament scholarship regarding
the historical Jesus, ethicist Nicholas Brown works to dismantle
Christian anti-materialism to show that Jesus’ preaching of the
kingdom was deeply concerned with the
theological and territorial significance of Israel. This
book will be the basis for a whole new theo-political discourse
about structural supersessionism and the moral legitimacy of states
and state-building."
--Love L. Sechrest, Ph.D., Associate Professor of New Testament,
Co-chair, SBL African American Biblical Hermeneutics Section,
Fuller Theological Seminary
Product Details
- Title : For the Nation: Jesus, the Restoration of Israel and Articulating a Christian Ethic of Territorial Governance
- Authors:
- Brown, Nicholas R.
- Willitts, Joel
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications
- Publication Date: 2016
- ISBN: 9781498279048
Nicholas R. Brown is a part-time professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and a part-time professor of Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.