Empire Subversion In Colossians Summary
Emmanuel School of Religion
Empire Subversion in Colossians: a review of Colossians Remixed
RJ Powell
For New Testament Theology
Dr. Ramsaran
15 May 2006
Johnson City, TN http://www.larynandjanel.com/blog/book_review_colossians_remixed_subverting_the_empire.html I have often found myself in a dilemma here in seminary, struggling between the polarized Christian sub-culture of conservative vs. liberal, biblical literalism vs. biblical anecdotalism, immersionists vs. non-immersionists. I find myself among friends who reject the hard-nosed biblical literalism, yet hold the Bible to be genuinely authoritative. Sylvia Keesmaat and Brian Walsh present a refreshing alternative …show more content…
They ask the reader to imaginatively consider the parallels of the empire Paul preached against, and the various forces in our world that act in similarly oppressive ways. The Roman empire kept their control over the world and gained their wealth by means of economic oppression, so too we live in an ‘empire’ of global systemic capitalism in which the rich continue to gain wealth only to the detriment of the poor. The peace (Pax Romana) that the empire preached was only a myth that convinced the people of the world they were not really being militarily and economically oppressed. We have similar myths today. “The myth that we are moving as a culture toward increasing wealth and technological control, and that this is invariably good, provides the justification for all the economic and military policies of the North.” (62) In very similar ways, the systems of power of today, like Rome in the past, seek to bombard us with idyllic images (e.g. advertisements, corporate logos, patriotic slogans, etc.) in order to “achieve the monopoly of our imaginations”, just as the empire used images of the Caesar and Roman victory to capture the imaginations of the public of the Roman empire. …show more content…
This is why Paul preached against such imagery, and teaches a story that is grounded in the Old Testament scriptures and in the life of Christ, in order that the church might begin to actually think differently and imagine a world that is different than the one rammed down their throats by the Roman empire. By refusing to give in to the empire’s imagery, we subvert the empire itself, thus ushering in a new Kingdom.
Walsh and Keesmaat note a certain tension between certain sections of the Colossians text. In certain parts, Paul alludes to meaning that may or may not be clear, while in other sections he is quit blunt with his subversive overtones. Walsh and Keesmaat reflect this in Colossians Remixed, though perhaps a bit more aggressively than Paul. They make effective use of targums, which were first used by rabbinic scholars to extensively paraphrase the Hebrew scriptures in order that their meaning might be easier understood by the congregations for whom they
Empire Subversion in Colossians: a review of Colossians Remixed
RJ Powell
For New Testament Theology
Dr. Ramsaran
15 May 2006
Johnson City, TN http://www.larynandjanel.com/blog/book_review_colossians_remixed_subverting_the_empire.html I have often found myself in a dilemma here in seminary, struggling between the polarized Christian sub-culture of conservative vs. liberal, biblical literalism vs. biblical anecdotalism, immersionists vs. non-immersionists. I find myself among friends who reject the hard-nosed biblical literalism, yet hold the Bible to be genuinely authoritative. Sylvia Keesmaat and Brian Walsh present a refreshing alternative …show more content…
They ask the reader to imaginatively consider the parallels of the empire Paul preached against, and the various forces in our world that act in similarly oppressive ways. The Roman empire kept their control over the world and gained their wealth by means of economic oppression, so too we live in an ‘empire’ of global systemic capitalism in which the rich continue to gain wealth only to the detriment of the poor. The peace (Pax Romana) that the empire preached was only a myth that convinced the people of the world they were not really being militarily and economically oppressed. We have similar myths today. “The myth that we are moving as a culture toward increasing wealth and technological control, and that this is invariably good, provides the justification for all the economic and military policies of the North.” (62) In very similar ways, the systems of power of today, like Rome in the past, seek to bombard us with idyllic images (e.g. advertisements, corporate logos, patriotic slogans, etc.) in order to “achieve the monopoly of our imaginations”, just as the empire used images of the Caesar and Roman victory to capture the imaginations of the public of the Roman empire. …show more content…
This is why Paul preached against such imagery, and teaches a story that is grounded in the Old Testament scriptures and in the life of Christ, in order that the church might begin to actually think differently and imagine a world that is different than the one rammed down their throats by the Roman empire. By refusing to give in to the empire’s imagery, we subvert the empire itself, thus ushering in a new Kingdom.
Walsh and Keesmaat note a certain tension between certain sections of the Colossians text. In certain parts, Paul alludes to meaning that may or may not be clear, while in other sections he is quit blunt with his subversive overtones. Walsh and Keesmaat reflect this in Colossians Remixed, though perhaps a bit more aggressively than Paul. They make effective use of targums, which were first used by rabbinic scholars to extensively paraphrase the Hebrew scriptures in order that their meaning might be easier understood by the congregations for whom they