Synopses & Reviews
From Elaine Pagelss
Beyond Belief to Jim Walliss
God's Politics, investigations into the relationship between the historical foundations of Christianity and the role of religion in todays world have risen to the top of bestseller lists. Obery Hendricks, Jr., who was Pagelss first graduate student at Princeton University, adds an important new voice to the ongoing discussion in THE POLITICS OF JESUS. Filled with riveting, original insights, it confirms Cornel Wests declaration that “Obery Hendricks is not just on the cutting edge, hes the knife.”
Focusing on a powerful but little-examined aspect of the Gospels, Hendricks portrays Jesus as a political revolutionary whose teachings are meant to lead the way to freedom from the tyranny of principalities and unjust rulers in highand lowplaces. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus employs various tactics to address the social, economic, and political conditions of his day and exposes the terrible effects of oppression and poverty on the mind, body, and soul.
In an in-depth examination of Christianitys history, from its foundation through the time of Paul to the reign of Constantine to the present day, Hendricks traces how the church became a hierarchical structure, protective of the powerful and intent on maintaining the status quo. THE POLITICS OF JESUS recaptures the revolutionary implications of Christianity, and calls on Christians to embrace anew the core values of Jesus message and restore his fight to alleviate the suffering of underprivileged and abused peoples.
About the Author
OBERY M. HENDRICKS, JR., is Professor of Biblical Interpretation at the New York Theological Seminary, an Ordained Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the author of Living Water. He has served as a professor at Drew University, as visiting scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary, and as president of Payne Theological Seminary, the oldest African American theological institution in the United States. He lives in New Jersey.