Warren Carter's Jesus and the Empire of God: Reading the Gospels in the Roman Empire is a marvelously accessible book that chronicles the various ways in which the Gospel accounts of Jesus -- crucified on a Roman cross by a Roman governor -- critique and expose the structures and practices of the Roman world in the lives of the followers of Jesus. Here, Carter raises some key questions (in the form of the Discussion Questions at the end of each chapter) for those of us who read these ancient texts as "good news" for our own world.
What difference, for example, does it make to read the accounts of Jesus' life and ministry from the vantage point of an elite in Roman society as opposed to one who suffers under economic (or even military) oppression at the hands of Roman military might? How might the various social structures of Roman society have impacted the way in which early Christians shared the story of Jesus' life?
And much more: Carter then makes connections to our own world. In what ways are we culturally similar (or dissimilar) to Roman society? How might those differences or similarities shape the way in which we read these Jesus stories?
Jesus and the Empire of God is an amazing book that will challenge the way in which we Christians live and tell our stories about Jesus.
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I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review here.