Jesus vs. Caesar: For People Tired of Serving the Wrong God

Joerg Rieger

Apr 2018 · Abingdon Press

Ebook

199

Pages

Tools

About this ebook

When we observe a tension between Jesus and Caesar, we acknowledge that a fundamental tension remains at the heart of Christianity. When this tension is poorly understood, Christians face disastrous consequences. The tension is not between religion and atheism or secularism. Nor is it between organized religion and personal spirituality. The tension is located within the heart of Christianity itself because it is a radical conflict between true and false forms of Christian faith. Jesus embodies and exposes this tension in ways that illuminate both how God is with us and what must change for a world that participates in God’s life. This book serves as an indictment of the pieties of empire, whether government, corporate or any other forms of the faith that dominate and exclude. One form of Christian faith (Jesus) versus another form of Christian faith (Caesar). Whom and what will we trust and serve? What did Jesus disclose to the religious, economic, and political worlds of Israel and Rome?

This tension between true and false forms of religion is also deeply rooted in the Jewish traditions. The Hebrew prophets were gravely concerned about established forms of Jewish religion that appear to be respectable but result in oppression. The prophet Isaiah hears the voice of God pronouncing judgment: “You serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers” (Isaiah 58:3). True religion loosens “the bonds of injustice" (Isa 58:6) while self-serving religion is false religion.

This tension between true religion and false religion is a critical opportunity for those who would follow Jesus instead of “Caesar.”

Discover more

About the author

Joerg Rieger is Distinguished Professor of Theology and Cal Turner Chancellor’s Chair in Wesleyan Studies, and the Director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. His work addresses the relation of theology and public life, reflecting on the misuse of power in religion, politics, and economics. Author and editor of 27 books and over 210 academic articles, his books include Jesus vs. Caesar: For People Tired of Serving the Wrong God; No Religion but Social Religion: Liberating Wesleyan Theology; Unified We Are a Force: How Faith and Labor Can Overcome America’s Inequalities (with Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger); Faith on the Road: A Short Theology of Travel and Justice; and Occupy Religion: Theology of the Multitude (with Kwok Pui-lan).

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets

Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.

Laptops and computers

You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.

eReaders and other devices

To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.

Flag as inappropriate