The Politics of Jesus : Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus' Teachings and How They Have Been Corrupted (Hardcover)

by Obery M. Hendricks Jr. (Author)
Key Phrases: malkuth shamayim, fullest fruits, aristocratic priests, United States, White House, Ronald Reagan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Thundering like a biblical prophet against social and economic injustice, racism and political deceit ("Jesus did not establish a bureaucratic institution, weekly social gatherings, or houses of religious entertainment"), Hendricks, professor of biblical interpretation at New York Theological Seminary, proclaims Jesus as a political revolutionary who overturned the unjust social policies of his day. Rather unoriginally, Hendricks suggests that Jesus employed seven political strategies (e.g., "treat people's needs as holy"; "give a voice to the voiceless"; "expose the workings of oppression") in his challenge to the status quo. With cunning insight, however, Hendricks fervently examines the politics of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush—two U.S. presidents who have professed to be following the politics of Jesus—and argues that these leaders fall woefully short of living out Jesus' message of justice, righteousness and steadfast love. Hendricks also indicts church leaders for their complicity with these political figures, condoning unjust wars and corrupt economic practices and not calling judgment on them in Jesus' prophetic voice. Overall, Hendricks echoes the call to Christian social justice that John Howard Yoder proclaimed over 30 years ago in his own book of the same title. (Aug. 29)
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From The Washington Post
"It is," the Anglican Archbishop William Temple once remarked, "a mistake to suppose that God is only, or even chiefly, concerned with religion." The prelate's words would resonate with Obery M. Hendricks Jr., who, in the beginning of his new book The Politics of Jesus, recalls a childhood spent in the church. He was, he puts it, "a son of the Christian Church. Raised in the Church. Nurtured in the Church." His family was thick with ministers and lay elders; he started singing in the choir at age 5, and accepted Christ five years later. The Jesus he offered his life to was a messiah drained of controversy, a kind of air-brushed savior. "I was raised on the bland Jesus of Sunday School and of my mother's gentle retellings," Hendricks writes, "the meek, mild Jesus who told us, in a nice, passive, sentimental way, to love our enemies, and who assured us that we need not worry about our troubles, just bring them to him."

As it turned out, this Jesus was too gentle and too serene -- and Hendricks left the church as a young man, only to return once he discovered what he calls "Jesus the political revolutionary." Now a minister and professor of biblical interpretation at New York Theological Seminary, Hendricks found that, for him, the figure of Jesus resonated powerfully when understood through the prism of politics. "To say that Jesus was a political revolutionary is to say that the message he proclaimed not only called for change in individual hearts but also demanded sweeping and comprehensive change in the political, social, and economic structures in his setting in life: colonized Israel," Hendricks writes. He goes on to argue that the proper Christian posture in political life should be one of loving one another as Jesus loved us, feeding the hungry, comforting the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, tending to prisoners.

Hendricks's Christian manifesto for a politically liberal vision of America and of the world arrives at an especially rich moment in the long-running debate over the role of religion in the nation's public life. After roughly three decades of largely ceding the language of faith to political conservatives, liberals are mounting an aggressive and often intellectually stimulating counterattack. The Politics of Jesus joins John Danforth's Faith and Politics and Jim Wallis's God's Politics as essential reading for Americans trying to move beyond the corrosive standoff between the religious right and the secular left. One need not agree with Hendricks's liberalism to appreciate that his book is a useful contribution to a conversation that seems ever more urgent: how to manage and marshal religion's influence over our public lives.

Some secular extremists will probably object to Hendricks's argument on the grounds that we ought to keep Jesus out of politics altogether, but in my view such an absolutist stand is not really helpful. We are a nation full of religious people, and faith has been interwoven with our politics from the start. Yes, church and state are rightly separate, but it is impossible, I think, to separate religion from politics, for both are about what people value. Religion may not be the only thread in the tapestry, but is a significant one, and to argue that religion is a fairy tale and believers are dupes does virtually nothing to lead us forward.

Hendricks is right to use the gospel as a way of measuring the gap between the words and deeds of openly religious presidents. Or at least of openly religious Republican presidents: He treats Bill Clinton very kindly while sternly taking Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush to task.

There is no doubt that America falls far short of the kingdom of God, and it is nearly impossible to argue with Hendricks's bottom line, that "in the politics of Jesus, then, every policy and policy proposal must be judged by Jesus' yardstick of love and justice." (What reasonable person would dispute that love and justice are useful standards?) Yet such admonitions, while commonsensical (at least for Christians), raise profound theological questions. Jesus does not vote; God is neither Republican nor Democrat.

It can do no harm to ask the question Hendricks suggests when we are pondering policies and politics, but there is always a danger that we may come to think our own answer to the "What Would Jesus Do?" test is not merely our own best effort, but is in fact the only answer. We need more humility in our public life, remembering that, for now, we see through Saint Paul's "glass, darkly." To practice the politics of Jesus means practicing humility, an exercise that might well begin by bearing this story from the gospel of Mark in mind: The disciples had been traveling to meet Jesus, debating among themselves "who should be the greatest" -- a classically political undertaking. Learning of the bickering, Jesus would have none of it, saying: "If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all." And so may our politics, whether connected to the examples and words of Jesus or of Plato or of Machiavelli, be informed by charity and grace, not by self-righteousness. Then, and only then, will we come close, I think, to anything like "the politics of Jesus."

Reviewed by Jon Meacham
Copyright 2006, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Religion (August 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385516649
• ISBN-13: 978-0385516648
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #495,350 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Book about Christianity that deserves Widespread Discussion, October 27, 2006

By	Gerard D. Launay (Berkeley, California) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This volume is divided into two parts. First, is the construction of a viable framework for understanding Jesus' immediate political and social message. Second, is the measurement of Ronald Reagan's and George W. Bush's conduct in light of that framework. I give 5 stars for the first part for its objectivity but only 3 stars for the second because it reads
like so many anti-Bush books that have already been written.

Nevertheless, I do agree with the central thesis that many Christians misunderstand Jesus message...ask not what God can do for you, ask what you can do for God. And what people can do for God is "dedicate their entire being to struggling to bring the world in line with a vision of love, liberation, and justice" to all of humanity, including the dispossessed, the forgotten, and the hungry. In other words, Jesus was as concerned about an individual's citizenship on earth as an individual's
citizenship in heaven.

You might say that there is nothing new in this book. (After all, it is a restatement of well accepted principles of "liberationist theology") True, but I still recommend reading the volume because the author presents his arguments as well, if not better, than others who have argued logically from the new testament texts.

If every Christian read this book..and chose to follow Jesus revolutionary program, all of us would have a chance for a better world.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a landmark book, October 13, 2006

By	John Inman "Learning Conversations" (Redmond, OR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Regardless of your politics or religion, this book is thought provoking. If you are a "ditto head" you probably will not like that it will challenge your paradigm and push your buttons, but it is a challenge you should take on as should every other person concerned about greed, wealth accumulation, and the perversion of the teachings of Jesus. It even pushed some of my buttons but I needed to have my horizons expanded. I believe that a copy should be required reading for every religious and political figure in our world.

The theology and research behind this book is outstanding and I suspect that it will generate the types of conversations that we should start having in our places of worship and in our political circles. Do you really know why you are a conservative or a liberal? I though I was well educated on political topics but here I was enlightened. My son and our pastor are going to read next and we are going to use as the foundation of a theological conversation to broaden understanding of how we can focus on helping those in the world who are the least among us. How anyone can find fault with this is beyond me. Read this book. Be prepared to create learning conversations around the book. We need to have this book be a catalyst to guide our actions in light of the teachings of this great man we as Christians call Christ. All I can say in summary is thank you Obery for one of the most important works of our time.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gift of Consciousness, September 20, 2006

By	S. J. Berry "Knowledge Lover" (Maryland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is not the usual "my-side-is right/their-side-is-wrong" book. Obery Hendricks assesses conservatives, liberals, politicians, and Christian leaders against the same criteria, a criterion based on the politics of Jesus. Hendricks details the politics, economics, and religion that influenced Jesus ministry and politics. He outlines the political strategies Jesus used to affect a corrupt political and religious leadership and structure, and to address injustice and oppression. Hendricks reminds us of and introduces us to individuals and peoples that successfully used those strategies to fight for justice and empower the powerless. Then Hendricks does what many refuse or fail to do, he challenges the reader to hold those leaders/groups who claim to act as agents of God/Jesus/right to the standards they herald. This book is educational, enlightening, and moving. It enlists the reader to demand accountability from government, and to engage in a new and different dialog!