Here\u2019s a sentence to get you Americans going<\/strong>;<\/p>\n\u201cgiven the detachment of faith from social ethics we should not be surprised by the way in which the large majority of Christians in the United States have been co-opted by the nationalist ideology of the Republican Party to support a war waged on the basis of lies \u2013 the war in Iraq.\u201d (191)<\/p>\n
A church without a robust theology of social ethics will:<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Have little to say to the great problems that affect mankind<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Retreat into a private morality and remain \u2018indifferent to the plight of the poor and the rape of God\u2019s creation.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fail to recognise its own captivity to ideology-culture of consumerism<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Be used by the powerful to provide religious legitimization of unjust political and socioeconomic systems.<\/p>\n
When it comes to hermeneutics, Padilla proposes that while he affirms and appreciates the historical-grammatical approach to Scripture, it does not go far enough.<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It assumes we can separate ourselves from our culture and context to read the text objectively.<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It assumes our Western context is the norm, our interpretation being equally valid everywhere<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It fails to connect the biblical concern for the impact of the text in living a life worthy of the gospel<\/p>\n
The whole thrust of the biblical narrative is to encourage and enable God\u2019s people to live in light of the story in which they belong<\/em>. What this means is going beyond a merely grammatical \/ historical hermeneutic, to \u2018hear\u2019 how the Bible confronted and subverted economic and political power structures of the ancient world in light of God\u2019s purposes and how it continues to do so today.<\/p>\nSuch a reading is faithful, says Padilla for it takes seriously the original meaning and context, but is also \u2018relevant in that it addresses the questions arising from the contemporary socioeconomic and political context in light of the moral vision of Scripture.\u2019<\/p>\n
And then he spends some time supporting this by unpacking the personal and social dimensions of Jesus\u2019 mission and the impossibility of reading a \u2018depoliticized Jesus\u2019 in light of his subversive announcement of the good news of the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt meant opting for the power of love instead of the love of power, opting for hunger and thirst for justice instead of love of money, opting for pleasing God instead of the approval of one\u2019s neighbour.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\nThe cross does \u201cnot only point to the way in which \u2018While we were still sinners, Christ died for us\u2019 (Rom 5:8), but also represents the cost of faithfulness to God\u2019s call to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly before God.\u201d (199)<\/p>\n
The church\u2019s identity and mission as God\u2019s people is to live for the cause of Jesus Christ, the Lord of all creation. And to live by and for this story will necessarily be deeply subversive<\/em> \u2013 politically, socially, economically, spiritually.<\/p>\nAnd it\u2019s no surprise here that at the end Padilla goes for Walsh and Keesmaat\u2019s Colossians Re:Mixed<\/em> as an example of how to develop a biblical social ethic that challenges and subverts the lies and injustices of modern day empires.<\/p>\nAnd all this raises a question I\u2019ve been mulling over for quite a while:<\/p>\n
What then does it mean to be a radically subversive follower of Jesus within<\/em> Western culture? What might this look like in practice?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Transforming the World 7 (by Patrick Mitchel, at IBI) The book is Transforming the World, edited by Dewi Hughes and Jamie Grant, published in the UK and as yet not available in the USA. The next chapter of Transforming the World?: the Gospel and Social Responsibility (edited by Dewi Hughes and Jamie Grant) is by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a> The next chapter of Transforming the World?: the Gospel and Social Responsibility<\/em> (edited by Dewi Hughes and Jamie Grant) is by Ren\u00e9 Padilla, \u2018The Biblical Basis for Social Ethics\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n