{"id":30227,"date":"2019-06-16T05:41:34","date_gmt":"2019-06-16T09:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=30227"},"modified":"2019-06-14T09:06:06","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T13:06:06","slug":"matthews-third-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2019\/06\/matthews-third-way.html","title":{"rendered":"Jesus and Nonviolent Resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/a>\"\"I was asked a while back<\/a> about the notion that Matthew\u2019s Gospel presents a \u201cthird way\u201d between passivity on the one hand and violent resistance on the other<\/a>. This viewpoint gets mentioned from time to time<\/a>, but still seems not to be as widely known as it deserves.<\/p>\n

I have long suggested that a backhanded slap would be something reflecting a power difference, rather like the way a lord might strike a servant in an episode of Downton Abbey. But I could not think of \u00a0a clear example from the time of Jesus, and so I worried that I might be engaging in anachronism. And so I was grateful to have the text below (Mishnah Baba Kamma 8:6) drawn to my attention as I was reading Roman Montero\u2019s new book on the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus\u2019s Manifesto<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

If a man cuffed or [punched] his fellow he must pay him a sela [4 zuz]. Rabbi Judah says in the name of Rabbi Jose the Galilean: One hundred zuz. If he slapped him he must pay 200 zuz. If [he struck him] with the back of his hand he must pay him 400 zuz.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let me also\u00a0share my blurb for that book, now that it is out<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Montero\u2019s book is not simply another exposition of the \u2018sermon\u2019 of Jesus, but an exploration of how Jesus\u2019 ethical teachings compare and contrast with those of major influential figures from the Greek world like Aristotle and Plato, as well as their connections to Israel\u2019s ethical traditions as articulated by figures such as Isaiah and the rabbis of the Mishnah. The result is a powerful historical portrait of Jesus as a teacher in conversation with his contemporaries (as well as the past and longstanding cultural values), offering a radical vision for a community that has love as the \u2018central organizing principle\u2019 of its values and its practices.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Also related to this topic:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/progressivechristianity.org\/resources\/the-difference-between-a-pacifist-and-a-passivist\/<\/p>\n

A fellow Patheos blogger looked at the meaning of turning the other cheek<\/a> in context. So too did Phil Long<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Eric Reitan offered suggestions on how to fight hate<\/a>, with a \u201cdo\u201d list and a \u201cdon\u2019t\u201d list. Let me provide an excerpt from each. First, a \u201cdon\u2019t\u201d:<\/p>\n

Do not create false equivalences between the hate in the heart of anti-Semites and the reactive hate of those who have been brutalized by anti-Semitism. The call not to fight hate with hate is a reminder of how best to fight the evil of those who swim in the waters of hate. It isn\u2019t a tool to re-victimize those who have been splashed by these waters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And now a \u201cdo\u201d:<\/p>\n

Fight hate by recognizing its seeds in your own heart: the disdain, the condescension, the dismissal of others based on where they\u2019re from or what they look like or what they believe or how they respond to the struggles of life. Forgive yourself for those seeds. Forgive others for those seeds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Click through to read the whole thing<\/a>. Also relevant to this topic:<\/p>\n

Bishop Curry, Luke and Acts, and \u201cChristianity Lite\u201d<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n