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Thursday, 29 Jul 2010 Comparing the politics of Jesus' time to the politics of today... Dear Friends,  I hope you will forgive the lengthy commentary today from Dr Brian Gleeson as he explores the Jewish world in which the historical Jesus lived. It's just over 4,000 words including the end notes but I sense those readers particularly interested in this exploration of the context in which Jesus operated will appreciate the central section of Dr Gleeson's study being presented as a whole. If you think the politics of the world in which we live is complicated spare a thought for Jesus and the politics of the world in which he found himself operating. This commentary sits with the parallel series of commentaries we are running by Vynette Holliday and should also be considered within the context of the interesting discussions opening up on our forum exploring the Jewishness of Jesus and the implications for our thinking today. The commentaries, and the forum discussions, might help open up to the intelligent lay reader a more nuanced way of interpreting what we read or hear in the Scriptural accounts of the life of Jesus. Don't come here looking for "neat, simple answers" that explain Jesus. This is a conversation about the difficulties in peering back through history to deepen our understanding of what Jesus was driving at.
Wishing you a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life and in our world. Catholica |
