Bible as Left-of-Center?
December 20, 2010 4:30 PM Subscribe
I am looking for a scholarly, tightly reasoned work that sets out to explain how the fundamental moral/socio-ethical message of the Bible validates the values held by left-of-center politics.
This is harder to do with the Old Testament, obviously. So this book must not gloss over or explain away the OT away, but rather account for the Bible as a philosophically integrated (preferably divinely inspired) whole.
If it's helpful, the reason I ask is because I can't help but wonder if Democrats would have much more consistent success if they could only a)speak with earnestness and conviction the language of "traditional america" and b) be able to justify their politics with a narrative as structured and deep-reaching as the one used by conservatives (i.e. God-->Founding Fathers-->Constitution-->Us, Free Market Capitalism as the only ideology consistent with Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness, permitting the Land of Opportunity)
This is harder to do with the Old Testament, obviously. So this book must not gloss over or explain away the OT away, but rather account for the Bible as a philosophically integrated (preferably divinely inspired) whole.
If it's helpful, the reason I ask is because I can't help but wonder if Democrats would have much more consistent success if they could only a)speak with earnestness and conviction the language of "traditional america" and b) be able to justify their politics with a narrative as structured and deep-reaching as the one used by conservatives (i.e. God-->Founding Fathers-->Constitution-->Us, Free Market Capitalism as the only ideology consistent with Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness, permitting the Land of Opportunity)
I'd suggest reading James H. Cone, especially God of the Oppressed.
posted by 4ster at 4:47 PM on December 20, 2010
posted by 4ster at 4:47 PM on December 20, 2010
The Bible is hardly a single ethical view point. It was written by many people, from different periods of history, in different cultures. There is no single ethical stance in it, and there are clear contradictions in some cases.
You can use the Bible to defend nearly any political position. Spanish Conquistadors were deeply religious men, believing whole heartedly that they were doing the Lord's work. It all depends on which parts of the Bible you focus on.
posted by Flood at 4:48 PM on December 20, 2010 [6 favorites]
You can use the Bible to defend nearly any political position. Spanish Conquistadors were deeply religious men, believing whole heartedly that they were doing the Lord's work. It all depends on which parts of the Bible you focus on.
posted by Flood at 4:48 PM on December 20, 2010 [6 favorites]
God's Politics by Jim Wallis would probably help as well.
posted by 4ster at 4:54 PM on December 20, 2010
posted by 4ster at 4:54 PM on December 20, 2010
Look for works that discuss the gospel of Matthew, especially the Sermon on the Mount. This is where Jesus is at his most ... I don't know what you'd call it. Progressive?
For example, the Sermon on the Mount is the origin of "judge not, lest ye be judged."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:57 PM on December 20, 2010
For example, the Sermon on the Mount is the origin of "judge not, lest ye be judged."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:57 PM on December 20, 2010
The work of John Shelby Spong would probably be very useful to you.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:20 PM on December 20, 2010
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:20 PM on December 20, 2010
I was just coming in to recommend God's Politics as well.
It's not "scholarly" or "tightly reasoned," but it's a good start, and it's the closest thing going that might achieve the political goal you mention in your question. Frankly, I think you're going to have a hard time finding a "scholarly" or academic work that does what you're looking for, for the reason that Flood points out. Serious students of the Bible (at least in academe) recognize that it's not really plausible to describe the entire Bible as being "philosophically integrated."
That said, though, and speaking as a member of the clergy from a liberal denomination, some perspectives that might be helpful to you (or to members of the political left) might include the following:
posted by AngerBoy at 5:26 PM on December 20, 2010 [2 favorites]
It's not "scholarly" or "tightly reasoned," but it's a good start, and it's the closest thing going that might achieve the political goal you mention in your question. Frankly, I think you're going to have a hard time finding a "scholarly" or academic work that does what you're looking for, for the reason that Flood points out. Serious students of the Bible (at least in academe) recognize that it's not really plausible to describe the entire Bible as being "philosophically integrated."
That said, though, and speaking as a member of the clergy from a liberal denomination, some perspectives that might be helpful to you (or to members of the political left) might include the following:
- What is the most often-repeated commandment in the Hebrew Bible? It's not anything about believing in God, or even about upholding God's law. In fact, it is to "love the stranger," which seems to me to be a pretty terrific biblical mandate about ensuring the rights of marginalized people and/or immigrants.
- Virtually all of Leviticus 19, which is known as the "Holiness Code," asserts that true "holiness," and God's favor, can be realized by living a life which is ethical and fair - not about upholding ritual commandments or the like.
- The books of the Prophets (which constitute the theological foundation of today's liberal Judaism) teach repeatedly that social justice - more than faith, more than observance, more than ethnic protectionism - is what God demands of Israel (and, by extension, of religious people throughout the ages). See Amos, Isaiah, Micah.
- Many of the civil laws from Leviticus have parallels in the Laws of Hammurabi and other ANE law codes. Scholars have pointed out, though, that before they were integrated into Israelite law, many progressive changes were instituted, such as extending protection to all people (not just citizens), to women (not just men), etc. There are plenty of books on Amazon about this subject if it's the kind of thing you want to pursue.
posted by AngerBoy at 5:26 PM on December 20, 2010 [2 favorites]
You will be interested in liberation theology. I wish I knew of a book in particular to recommend.
posted by artlung at 5:32 PM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by artlung at 5:32 PM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
Many would disagree that the "Old" testament supports right-of-center political perspective.
Dr. David Luchins, who is the chair of the political science department at Touro College in New York is a Torah-observant Jew and screamingly proud self-described liberal. Although I can't find any scholarly papers by him online, he has written numerous web/magazine articles for both Chabad and Aish haTorah (which is unusual, considering the typical split between Chassidic and Mitnaged groups), and makes several compelling arguments that the Torah should inspire a more liberal social perspective.
There are several audio lectures of his available online, which are extremely engaging even if, on occasion, Dr. Luchins takes full advantage of the more conversational tone of his setting and veers (far) off course.
I'm sure you could contact him to get some good resources (see contact info on the Touro.edu page).
posted by holterbarbour at 5:33 PM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
Dr. David Luchins, who is the chair of the political science department at Touro College in New York is a Torah-observant Jew and screamingly proud self-described liberal. Although I can't find any scholarly papers by him online, he has written numerous web/magazine articles for both Chabad and Aish haTorah (which is unusual, considering the typical split between Chassidic and Mitnaged groups), and makes several compelling arguments that the Torah should inspire a more liberal social perspective.
There are several audio lectures of his available online, which are extremely engaging even if, on occasion, Dr. Luchins takes full advantage of the more conversational tone of his setting and veers (far) off course.
I'm sure you could contact him to get some good resources (see contact info on the Touro.edu page).
posted by holterbarbour at 5:33 PM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
A few years ago my father gave me this book by Peter Gomes, in hopes that it would sway me back into religious practice. It actually convinced me that Christianity isn't for me, once and for all. Whoops. But it's definitely exactly what you're looking for here.
posted by Sara C. at 6:10 PM on December 20, 2010
posted by Sara C. at 6:10 PM on December 20, 2010
Read God's Politics by Jim Wallis, but you're not going to find "tightly reasoned" scholarly work. That's ok, though, because it's not what the conservatives have. The Right does not have "structured and deep-reaching" rationale based in theology or scripture. They don't even have this:
God-->Founding Fathers-->Constitution-->Us, Free Market Capitalism as the only ideology consistent with Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness, permitting the Land of Opportunity
They have a population of voters who mostly believe in God one way or another (there's a surprising degree of variation among politically conservative Christians), who think the Constitution is really awesome, who can't imagine a different way of economic life, who are culturally American and thus fairly conservative, and who can be mobilized around a few controversial issues (tax cuts good, abortion bad).
But that said, read God's Politics--the subtitle gets at what you're not getting: "How the Right gets it wrong, and the Left doesn't get it." Also, Wayward Christian Soldiers is a similar book that addresses similar issues to Wallis's book. I prefer it slightly to God's Politics, but both are good.
(I don't mean this in a snarky way. Believe me, I spent a long time thinking the way you're thinking. It would be really awesome if we could just say, "The Bible clearly says XYZ" and have people do the right thing: but the fact is, the Bible doesn't say anything clearly, and even if it did, people would still find ways to justify ignoring it.)
posted by Meg_Murry at 6:18 PM on December 20, 2010
God-->Founding Fathers-->Constitution-->Us, Free Market Capitalism as the only ideology consistent with Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness, permitting the Land of Opportunity
They have a population of voters who mostly believe in God one way or another (there's a surprising degree of variation among politically conservative Christians), who think the Constitution is really awesome, who can't imagine a different way of economic life, who are culturally American and thus fairly conservative, and who can be mobilized around a few controversial issues (tax cuts good, abortion bad).
But that said, read God's Politics--the subtitle gets at what you're not getting: "How the Right gets it wrong, and the Left doesn't get it." Also, Wayward Christian Soldiers is a similar book that addresses similar issues to Wallis's book. I prefer it slightly to God's Politics, but both are good.
(I don't mean this in a snarky way. Believe me, I spent a long time thinking the way you're thinking. It would be really awesome if we could just say, "The Bible clearly says XYZ" and have people do the right thing: but the fact is, the Bible doesn't say anything clearly, and even if it did, people would still find ways to justify ignoring it.)
posted by Meg_Murry at 6:18 PM on December 20, 2010
Response by poster: @Flood: Yes, I know. If finding a "single ethical pov" was easy or obvious I'd have no reason to ask if it had been done before.
@Meg_Murry: By structured, I mean engineered for head-nodding. By deep-reaching, I mean stimulating the reptilian brain. Sorry, my frame of reference is unusual.
posted by blargerz at 6:53 PM on December 20, 2010
@Meg_Murry: By structured, I mean engineered for head-nodding. By deep-reaching, I mean stimulating the reptilian brain. Sorry, my frame of reference is unusual.
posted by blargerz at 6:53 PM on December 20, 2010
Ah, gotcha. I still second others' recs of Jim Wallis--particularly his explanation of how the Left "doesn't get it." I think from Wallis you could sort of reverse engineer what you're looking for.
posted by Meg_Murry at 7:13 PM on December 20, 2010
posted by Meg_Murry at 7:13 PM on December 20, 2010
I don't have a perfect answer to your question, but I bet some of the places listed in the answers to this question would be a good starting point.
posted by shesbookish at 7:38 PM on December 20, 2010
posted by shesbookish at 7:38 PM on December 20, 2010
I would recommend "Widen the Prison Gates" by Phillip Berrigan. Other terms to guide your search - "catholic workers," Gregory Boyle (founder of Homeboy Industries), School of the Americas Watch, liberation theology (in particular, how it was applied to people's movements in central and south america in the 70s and 80s).
posted by entropone at 7:40 PM on December 20, 2010
posted by entropone at 7:40 PM on December 20, 2010
An oldie but goodie: Ronald Sider's Rich Christians in a Age of Hunger.
posted by zompist at 7:41 PM on December 20, 2010
posted by zompist at 7:41 PM on December 20, 2010
Not sure how you mean "left-of-center" particularly, so these authors may not meet your "progressive" sniff tests, but I would look into the following:
Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder's The Politics of Jesus, which is pretty solidly the scholarly book on post-Niebuhr Christian Pacifism.
From this bit on the Jesus Radicals, "[Yoder] followed most Anabaptists in arguing that while the early church subscribed to Christian pacifism, the fourth century church compromised with Constantine and went to war. The church succumbed to Constantinianism. Constantinianism is an arrangement in which the church’s attitude towards violence and money shifts away from the New Testament pattern of pacifism and suspicion of wealth, towards a “responsible” ethic suitable to dominating and ruling people who do not confess Jesus as Lord. Yet Yoder located the most prominent sign of unfaithfulness in the early pacifist church, which shunned the Jewishness of its faith in favor of respectability and power."
Mennonite (I think?) theologian Stanley Hauerwas picks up Yoder's work on nonviolence and runs with it in interesting ways that emphasize the Christian obligations to solidarity with the poor, the oppressed, and the outcast. His entire ouevre is interesting: I would probably start with The Hauerwas Reader but his critique of the concept of a "Christian nation" is compelling and may be found in Resident Aliens and its follow-up After Christendom.
Again from Jesus Radicals: "Hauerwas believes that American Christians have, for far too long, defined themselves as Americans first, and only secondarily as Christians, leading to idolatrous nationalism and Christians going off to war. Instead, he argues, Jesus calls Christians to be a pilgrim people, resident aliens who are never completely subsumed into the political climate within which they find themselves. “Christian nonviolence,” he has said, “basically means you have an anarchist view of the world”"
I should warn you, these two are not necessarily interested in conforming their work to the ideals of, for instance, Saul Alinsky, and there is much to confront the left-wing Christian in there as well, but on the main I think that these writers are confronting a Church that errs on the side of power and respectability and political authority, and perhaps that will scratch your itch.
You might also be interested in Catholic Social Teaching, particularly Papal encyclicals starting with Rerum Novarum, which discuss the ways the Church is supposed to support the dignity of the oppressed. The contemporary Church in America is perhaps as obsessed with sex as the rest of the culture, but it is a grave mistake to reduce Catholic ethics to a series of prohibitions about contraception, abortion, and same-sex marriage; this is a mistake that, sadly, both the Church and the culture seem very willing to make.
posted by gauche at 7:48 PM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder's The Politics of Jesus, which is pretty solidly the scholarly book on post-Niebuhr Christian Pacifism.
From this bit on the Jesus Radicals, "[Yoder] followed most Anabaptists in arguing that while the early church subscribed to Christian pacifism, the fourth century church compromised with Constantine and went to war. The church succumbed to Constantinianism. Constantinianism is an arrangement in which the church’s attitude towards violence and money shifts away from the New Testament pattern of pacifism and suspicion of wealth, towards a “responsible” ethic suitable to dominating and ruling people who do not confess Jesus as Lord. Yet Yoder located the most prominent sign of unfaithfulness in the early pacifist church, which shunned the Jewishness of its faith in favor of respectability and power."
Mennonite (I think?) theologian Stanley Hauerwas picks up Yoder's work on nonviolence and runs with it in interesting ways that emphasize the Christian obligations to solidarity with the poor, the oppressed, and the outcast. His entire ouevre is interesting: I would probably start with The Hauerwas Reader but his critique of the concept of a "Christian nation" is compelling and may be found in Resident Aliens and its follow-up After Christendom.
Again from Jesus Radicals: "Hauerwas believes that American Christians have, for far too long, defined themselves as Americans first, and only secondarily as Christians, leading to idolatrous nationalism and Christians going off to war. Instead, he argues, Jesus calls Christians to be a pilgrim people, resident aliens who are never completely subsumed into the political climate within which they find themselves. “Christian nonviolence,” he has said, “basically means you have an anarchist view of the world”"
I should warn you, these two are not necessarily interested in conforming their work to the ideals of, for instance, Saul Alinsky, and there is much to confront the left-wing Christian in there as well, but on the main I think that these writers are confronting a Church that errs on the side of power and respectability and political authority, and perhaps that will scratch your itch.
You might also be interested in Catholic Social Teaching, particularly Papal encyclicals starting with Rerum Novarum, which discuss the ways the Church is supposed to support the dignity of the oppressed. The contemporary Church in America is perhaps as obsessed with sex as the rest of the culture, but it is a grave mistake to reduce Catholic ethics to a series of prohibitions about contraception, abortion, and same-sex marriage; this is a mistake that, sadly, both the Church and the culture seem very willing to make.
posted by gauche at 7:48 PM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
Consider Exodus and Revolution by Michael Walzer. It's scholarly, and fascinating, but is more politically descriptive than prescriptive.
posted by zxcv at 9:01 PM on December 20, 2010
posted by zxcv at 9:01 PM on December 20, 2010
Response by poster: Thank you all for your suggestions, some are very promising.
Relating to some of your feedback, does anyone know a book that argues that the seeds of the Gospel message (as summed up in the Sermon on the Mount) can found in the Old Testament? If not, a book around the concept, "lessons from the OT about proper/just/moral society"?
posted by blargerz at 10:39 PM on December 20, 2010
Relating to some of your feedback, does anyone know a book that argues that the seeds of the Gospel message (as summed up in the Sermon on the Mount) can found in the Old Testament? If not, a book around the concept, "lessons from the OT about proper/just/moral society"?
posted by blargerz at 10:39 PM on December 20, 2010
You will be interested in liberation theology. I wish I knew of a book in particular to recommend.
posted by artlung at 5:32 PM on December 20 [1 favorite +] [!]
Gustavo Gutiérrez is one of the key defining thinkers in liberation theology. His work A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, Salvation (1971) is a seminal text, central to academic and religious debates about liberation theology, and also central to the praxis of the movement.
It is not an easy read. You might wish to chase down reviews of it before you read it. Expect some of those reviews to have extreme slant in one direction or another.
For further follow up, check out the author list at the bottom of the Wikipedia article, or the catalog of Orbis books. (Download current pdf catalog). Note that Orbis is maybe not as radical as they once were. They got some criticism from the Vatican a while back. So if you want the good stuff, search "Orbis liberation theology" and be prepared to buy second hand books from the late 70s through early 90s.
posted by Ahab at 10:42 PM on December 20, 2010
posted by artlung at 5:32 PM on December 20 [1 favorite +] [!]
Gustavo Gutiérrez is one of the key defining thinkers in liberation theology. His work A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, Salvation (1971) is a seminal text, central to academic and religious debates about liberation theology, and also central to the praxis of the movement.
It is not an easy read. You might wish to chase down reviews of it before you read it. Expect some of those reviews to have extreme slant in one direction or another.
For further follow up, check out the author list at the bottom of the Wikipedia article, or the catalog of Orbis books. (Download current pdf catalog). Note that Orbis is maybe not as radical as they once were. They got some criticism from the Vatican a while back. So if you want the good stuff, search "Orbis liberation theology" and be prepared to buy second hand books from the late 70s through early 90s.
posted by Ahab at 10:42 PM on December 20, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by skypieces at 4:42 PM on December 20, 2010