Which Kingdom of God are you?
I'm on facebook, and you get those all those ridiculous surveys, right? The ones where you answer some simplistic questions and find out all sorts of critical life-lessons about yourself. Like...
- Are you an Introvert or an Extrovert?
- Which Lord of the Rings character are you?
- Which Bible character are you?
- What 80s song are you?
Which Kingdom of God are you?
- What is the nature of God? (a) Violent (b) Non-violent?
- What is the nature of Jesus’ message? (a) Exclusive (b) Inclusive
- What is faith? (a) Literal belief (b) Trust in God
- What is deliverance? (a) Salvation from hell (b) Liberation from injustice
If you chose (a) for three or more, Congratulations! You have...
- A THEOLOGY OF EMPIRE shaped by the Roman Empire's notion of "Peace through Victory." When Jesus returns, only those with the right beliefs will be saved, and when Jesus claims victory over the devil, then there will be peace.
- A THEOLOGY OF KINGDOM shaped by Paul and Jesus' notions of "Peace through Justice" where the kingdom is found in the continuing struggle for compassion and justice. When all live in harmonious relationships, then there will be peace.
- THE THEOLOGIES IN THE BIBLE, as both of the above theologies are prevalent and strands can be traced throughout the entire bible.
What hacks do is draw the connecting points between two divergent points of view. If they can exist simultaneously in the bible, then they can exist peacefully in contemporary theologies as well. And that's what we're doing here at HX.net: finding those connecting points to better bridge the divide between people with very different notions of what the Kingdom of God looks like...and especially who is in it!
Indulgences to John Dominic Crossan and his work on theologies of Empire and Gaia Rising for the idea.
1 comments:
i like me some crossan.
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