Customer Reviews

Jesus' Plan for a New World: The Sermon on the Mount

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I've read a lot of Rohr's books, but somehow I've only now gotten around to this one. Immersing myself in it was like jumping into an icy mountain pond: stunning, bracing, invigorating, renewing. It's a courageous book that dares to challenge "religious culture," that institutionalization of Christ's gospel that renders it meek and mild and safe, and to persuasively defend instead the original subversive character of Christ's life and teaching. Jesus, according to Rohr, was much more of a threat to the social and moral status quo than he's usually reckoned to be. In challenging the cultures of money, power, and religionism, he offered a radically counter-cultural model of right relationship that he called "God's Kingdom." This Kingdom grows not by the sword or by power (that would be to fall into the trap the prevailing cultures), but by love and powerlessness. It subverts the established order by simply ignoring it and building the shell of the new within the old. That's one of the reasons Jesus so favored the poor, the marginalized, and disenfranchised: because they fell outside the "system," they hadn't been corrupted by it and were capable of working with God to build the Kingdom.

Richard Rohr's reminder of God's great vision of justice, peace, and fulfillment, a vision preached and died for by Jesus, is a challenge to all of us who call ourselves Christians but have fallen into the habit of "loving Jesus" without acting accordingly. Highly recommended as a tonic to laypersons and clergy alike. Would that Christians would take its message to heart. Then the world might once again marvel at "how these Christians love!"

Richard Rohr is one of the foremost spiritual writers of ourtimes. His extensive theological background and his many years ofinterpersonal experience with many different peoples (from teenagers to Native Americans) and his vast retreat master experiences gives him the wisdom to speak with authority about the Sermon on the Mount...Jesus' plan for our lives. Rohr cuts through political, cultural and religious structural facades and unmasks them for what they are...self serving units which need 'us' to keep them afloat. He shows where the core message of Jesus 'hides' within the Universal religions of the world and sometimes gets missed because of ego serving humans. Just the ones Jesus is looking for to show his compassionate mercy to. Fr. Rohr tells us that Jesus came to be with and encourage those who are suffering, those who have not, those who are regarded as marginal and not accepted in todays society. His liberal bible references helped me to see the deeper meaning in many of the Gospel pasages. He also gives the Jewish background to help me understand why Jesus said what he said and what it meant for the people of 2,000 years ago AND for all of us today in the year 2,000.

I have been with Fr. Rohr on retreats and days of prayer. I've followed his spiritual growth for some 20 years and have read his books on the Enneagram. His clear insight is pure gift from God. And he would be the first to tell you so.

Fundamentalists like the last reviewer may not like the fact that Jesus was as much a social as a spiritual revolutionary, but Rohr forces the reader to confront this fact. It is truly bizarre that so many modern day conservatives proclaim Jesus as "Savior" while discounting or ignoring almost everything he ever said. The Sermon on the Mount is a political and spiritual discourse that undercuts almost everything that right wing Evangelicals and Catholics stand for; todays "conservative Christian" was yesterday's Pharisee.
Rohr is a gifted teacher who knows how to get at the heart of Christ's teaching. The last time I checked he was not a member of the Jesus Seminar, but was a member and leader of several congregations that were devoted to taking Jesus at his word and living out his truth in thought and deed. As Rohr himself has pointed out, Jesus was murdered for his teaching, and anyone who dares to take up His cross and pass that teaching on will be slandered and opposed at every turn. If you just talk about being "born again" (like the current president) people will think of you as a nice religious person; if you dare to preach what Jesus actually preached you we be attacked as a "liberal". I am a teacher and preacher and have found Rohr's work to be invaluable in putting together sermons and lessons. It is unfortunate that this sort of serious Bible teaching is not as widely available in Christian bookstores and over the airwaves as is the cultic nonsense of Tim LaHaye and Pat Robertson.

Richard Rohr has a wonderful gift of bringing the truth of the Gospel out in this work.Every word is well chosen & relevant to our human situation.For example the section on the "Three World Views" is so simply expressed & yet so profound in depth.It is a book I have recommended to many of my colleagues in the faith.It's refeshing & challenging theology.

I am reading this book for the third time. Thus, it pains me to read the one-star reviews below. These prove the points that Richard makes in this book:

"The human need for clarity and certitude leads fundamentalists to use sacred writings in a mechanical, closed-ended and authoritarian manner. This invariably leaves them trapped in their own cultural moment in history, and they often totally miss the real message along with the deepest challenges and consolations of Scripture."

And,

"Unless you're willing to let go of your self-created ego worlds, you will not see the Kingdom in your midst. The ego, by nature, is conservative. It strives to conserve, to maintain itself. That translates into seeking a comfort zone to live within and staying there. Once we find that place where we feel secure, we may do [and say] anything to maintain it!"

Rohr is a much-needed voice, one that counters the suffocating, and spiritless/heartless religious atmosphere that prevails in this country. This book offers fresh, clean, invigorating air; it will spur you on!

Fr. Rohr is not your Sister Mary from 4th Grade Catechism class. He challenges you with some soul-searching concepts that will mature your relationship with the Lord. Not for the faint-hearted.

G.D.

Richard Rohr and John Feister present a clear analysis and useful meditations on the sermon on the mount. First they help us prepare to hear Jesus, by increasing our understanding of the culture and world order at the time of Jesus so that we may better understand the man.
Second they analyze the sermon itself in its transformative guidance and attitudes. In only 175 pages this spiritual book directs the reader to numerous spiritual concepts. Jesus Plan for the World discusses the symbolism and meaning of the sermon on the mount, and presents worthy insights relevant to our journey of faith. In this review I will address a few of those insights.

The authors clarify the way of Jesus by writing that;
First, many religions view conversion as the "old self on a new path". The new path focuses upon adopting new language, new practices and new behavior that "is sincere". The old self, however, keeps our anger and our prejudices. Often we may begin to condemn anyone who does not agree with our new "way".
Second, they suggest that Jesus called for "the new self on a new path". We "transform" our feelings and motivations. Our "new self" begins to focus upon the boundless love of God. Our goals and motivations become "transformed". This is the conversion asked by Jesus.

Rohr and Feister discuss four great themes of scripture.
1. Exodus and Easter: life and death is growth and transformation if we truly trust God.
2. Emphasis upon the "bottom": the scriptures "reverse " human expectations by focusing upon the downtrodden, the slave, the poor, and the sinner.
3. Correlation between gifts and worthiness: it is not that we are worthy but that God is good. We focus upon acceptance instead of attainment, upon surrender instead of hard work.
4. Letting go: we must let go of "control". We let go of fear (be not afraid). We let go of self (god will be your strength), And we let go of hurts through forgiveness.

This is an excellent book. I recommend it for anyone wanting to enhance their journey of faith.

I loved reading Rohrs Great Themes of the Old and New Testament and though much longer to read and get through than this book they are still incredible to make sense of scriptures that often have me confused and sometimes turned off when one reads scripture litereally. Jesus' Plan for the New World, has been put together so simply, (much easier to read than Hidden Things) that I get it. It is a much quicker read than the "Great Themes" yet quickly gets to what Jesus really meant to tell us.

Even so, what Rohr seems to be saying that we should do in following Jesus's message it stills seems so impossible for myself and the world to do follow. But Rohr gives great commentary to help understand that this is not all or nothing. I understand that middle of the road, if I can manage it, helps to work the message from the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus has laid it out. I squirm, but heartly agree with his critisim of the Catholic Church as an institution and its past performance as well as his judgements of all organized religion. He does seem to say, which I try to follow, "don't throw the baby out with the bath water". Magnify the good and recognize the bad in all things but do not reject everything because of some flaws.

A profound, well researched book on the essence of Jesus's teachings both on the spiritual and the sociological level. The author, deeply influenced by the early mystics and eastern traditions,fully captures the complexity and grace of a God ever compassionate and kind. The multi-layered analysis of this book -socio-political, historical, philosophical - does not make it "easy " reading , but who ever said the "Mystery" of Being is easy to grasp? If you are looking for greater understanding of the "real" Jesus and His transformative power in your life, this is the book to read.

I know that as soon as I disagree with anything Father Richard Rohr (or his co-author John Bookser Feister) teaches that I am likely to be quickly dismissed or labeled as a close-minded Fundamentalist who "refuses to listen to what the Gospel authors are `REALLY' saying to their communities

With that said, there is "truth" to be found in the book, Jesus' Plan for a New World (Order), but that can also be said of the works of some of human history's worst oppressors. Richard Rohr is a skilled artist, brilliant in his command of language, powerful in his use of half-truths; therein lays the danger.

There is no denying that terrible atrocities have occurred in the name of Christianity, mistakenly justified by the abuse of Scripture. People have used and misused religious texts for millennia to justify their particular agendas, or so that they may more fully live into their personal bias. Rohr uses his mastery of language to confound the reader, hide his underlying message, shifting one away from the core of Jesus' teachings. Did Jesus tell us (his disciples and followers throughout human history) to stand on the side of the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized? Absolutely! Is Jesus asking us to hate oppression? Yes! But the Scriptures are so much richer than this. The Bible, as clearly stated in the introduction to this book "is the most controversial book in print."

At the very core of Jesus' teachings is the love of God and love for each other (all of humanity - including the "oppressed/ marginalized" as well as the "oppressors"); Rohr skillfully and very subtly shifts this core to loving the poor and oppressed and hating the oppressors vis a vis the "system" of big business, the "West," "patriarchal Christianity," etc. Rohr is neither the first nor the last person attempting to mold Jesus into a "new age" vision to align with his own political ideology. Between the lines of his text, Rohr seems to be suggesting that an idyllic socialism, first espoused by Babeuf and Owens, later repurposed by Engels, Marx, Stalin, Lenin, and so on is at the base of Jesus' plan for a new world order (i.e. `redistribution of wealth,' `government seizure of private property,' `blocked access to press,' and so on with undeniable horrific consequences to those who were oppressed within those systems - greater numbers of people were silenced and killed by socialist regimes than in the Holocaust of Nazi Germany).

Rohr uses slight nuances in language to distance himself from being labeled a "communist." I do agree with Rohr that Jesus cannot (and should not) be called a patriot (pg. 140), neither should he be called a communist. He uses much the same approach to distance himself from the teachings of the Jesus Seminar (i.e. John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg - both quoted in his book).

Another dangerous aspect of Rohr's teaching through this book is that there is no REALLY REAL basis for understanding good and evil, no moral ground upon which to stand, other than viewing the world through the "bias" of the "poor and oppressed," which begs the question; who ARE the poor and oppressed if, as Richard Rohr says that "the utter truth of this world....is nonetheless an acceptance that EVERYTHING except God is relative and is passing away?" (pg. 27) How do we differentiate between the truly oppressed in a system and the oppressors? How do we account for the absence of moral clarity in such a Jesus as Rohr proposes? Now please do not misunderstand me, I am not condemning anyone, but I (as do we all) have the responsibility to differentiate between good and evil, right and wrong. This is not to propose a "strictly close-minded uninformed black and white" view of the world, there is certainly a divine complexity in God's created universe beyond that which we can see, what we may call chaos or hidden order. Chaos is formed out of simple rules. Christian chaos is formed by Jesus' simple rule to love God and love our neighbors (all of humanity) as ourselves.

If you are looking for a book that gives you an understanding of why it is important to focus on Jesus rather than religion for religion's sake, I would recommend the book, More Jesus, Less Religion: Moving from Rules to Relationship by Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton.