God’s Reign & the End of Empires

by González, Antonio

• ISBN13: 9781934996294
• ISBN10: 1934996297
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-09-15
• Publisher: Convivium Press

Summary

In this book, Antonio González analyzes the nature of global empires since the time of Babylon. His premise is that empires maintain power by any means necessary, including exploitation, injustice and idolatry. It is in this context of empire-specifically the Roman empire-that Jesus proclaimed the reign of God as opposed to the reign, of Caesar. Within God's reign, God alone rules, with mercy, love, justice, and special concern for the oppressed. Imbued with this faith, a new community of believers developed, who lived what Jesus proclaimed, sharing resources and practicing equality and forgiveness. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Lt;Gonzlez masters a vast variety of economic, political, sociological and theological issues with a high degree of scholarly command, clarity, and elegance. He offers a meaningful way forward and the courage not to lose hope-for those of us who have theoretically and academicaly struggled for quite some time with the structural, cultural, psychological, and overt violence of imperial capitalism... and for those of us who simply feel in our hearts that something is basically going wrong in our society, culture and world and are looking for meaningful alternatives. This is social theology at its bestGt;.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 15
The Globalized Empire	p. 21
The Need for Social Theology	p. 23
Problems of the Global Village	p. 26
The Meaning of Globalization	p. 26
Poverty and Inequality	p. 28
The Ecological Crisis	p. 31
Lack of Democracy	p. 33
The Influence of Ideologies	p. 35
From Symptoms to Diagnosis	p. 37
The Economic System	p. 38
The Nature of Capitalism	p. 38
The Capitalist Cycles	p. 40
The Latest Cycle	p. 42
The Concentration of Capital	p. 43
The Expansion of Capital	p. 44
Global Problems Revisited	p. 45
Poverty in the System	p. 46
Ecological Crisis in the System	p. 47
The Crisis of the State in the System	p. 48
The Ideologies in the System	p. 48
The Problem of Alternatives	p. 49
Worldwide Social Democracy	p. 49
Real Socialism	p. 51
Economic Democracy	p. 52
Conclusion	p. 54
The Biblical Diagnosis	p. 57
The Recourse to Scripture	p. 59
The Logic of Babel	p. 63
The Sin of Adam and Eve	p. 64
The Consequences of Sin	p. 66
Relations with God	p. 67
Relations of Human Beings among Themselves	p. 69
Relations with Oneself and with Creation	p. 71
Biblical Radicality	p. 73
The Roots of Evil	p. 73
The Victim is to Blame	p. 74
The Structures of Babel	p. 77
Are There Alternatives?	p. 80
Escaping from Empire	p. 81
The Election of Abraham	p. 83
The Story of the Exodus	p. 86
The Strategies of Social Change	p. 87
The New Society	p. 89
The Universal Function of Israel	p. 92
Election and Faith	p. 93
The Permanence of the Logic of Adam	p. 95
The Reign of God	p. 99
God Reigns Victorious	p. 99
The Monarchy in Israel	p. 100
God's Future Reign	p. 102
Conclusion	p. 105
The Strategy of the Messiah	p. 107
The Reign of God	p. 111
The Reign of the Poor	p. 114
The Root of Oppression	p. 114
The Faith of the Poor	p. 116
The New Social Relations	p. 118
The Community of Disciples	p. 122
The Symbol of All Israel	p. 122
The Feeding of the Multitudes	p. 123
Incorporation into the Community	p. 127
The Conflict	p. 130
The Conflict with the Law	p. 130
The Conflict with the Temple	p. 131
The Political Conflict	p. 133
The Execution of Jesus	p. 137
Remove this Cup from me	p. 138
However not What I Desire but what you Desire	p. 140
The Meaning of the Cross	p. 141
The Cancelation of the Sin of Adam	p. 141
God was in Christ	p. 142
Reconciling the World with Himself	p. 144
The Spirit of Liberty	p. 146
Conclusion	p. 149
The Messianic Communities	p. 151
The Imperial Society	p. 153
An Agrarian Society	p. 154
The Social Stratification of the Empire	p. 157
The Ruling Elite	p. 158
The Lower Strata	p. 160
The Irruption of God's Reign	p. 163
The Sovereignty of the Messiah	p. 164
The Reign is God's	p. 168
The Social Level of the First Christians	p. 170
The State of the Discussion	p. 171
Ruling Strata	p. 173
The Aristocratic Elite	p. 173
Other Members of the Upper Strata	p. 174
Members of the ≪Retinue≫	p. 176
The Lower Strata	p. 177
Critical Considerations	p. 181
The Transformation of Social Relations	p. 186
The Autonomy of the	p. 186
Christian ≪Communism≫	p. 188
The Victory that has Overcome the World	p. 190
Neither Jew Nor Greek	p. 192
Neither Slave nor Free	p. 194
Neither Male nor Female	p. 199
The Persistence of the Christian Model	p. 205
Conclusion	p. 212
The Communities and the Empire	p. 215
The Universal Function of the New Society	p. 217
The Continuity of the Universal Mission of Israel	p. 217
The New Quality of the Christian Alternative	p. 219
The Meaning of Christian Love	p. 220
The Messiah and the Powers	p. 224
The Basis of the Powers	p. 225
Different Types of Powers	p. 226
Elements of the Universe	p. 227
Religious Powers	p. 227
Riches	p. 228
Devils, Illnesses, Death	p. 229
The Power of the State	p. 231
The Positive Function of the State	p. 233
The State as the Beast	p. 235
The Victory over the Powers	p. 237
The Messianic Communities and the State	p. 240
Contrast	p. 240
Subordination and Disobedience	p. 241
Independence	p. 241
Conflict	p. 243
Patient Resistance	p. 244
The Final Sovereignty of God	p. 247
Christian Participation in the State?	p. 249
The Model Provided by Joseph, Esher, and Daniel	p. 250
The Novelty of the Christian Position	p. 251
The Testimony of Primitive Christianity	p. 253
The Meaning of History	p. 256
The Revelation of the Meaning of History	p. 257
The Empire	p. 257
The Lamb	p. 259
The People of the Lamb	p. 260
The Final Judgment According to Matthew	p. 261
The New Society	p. 262
The Judgment of the Nations	p. 263
A Final Consideration	p. 266
Conclusion	p. 267
The Signs of Our Times	p. 269
The Problem of the ≪Signs of the Times≫	p. 272
The End of ≪Constantinianism≫	p. 274
The Significance of Constantinianism	p. 274
The Forms of Constantinianism	p. 278
The Crisis of Constantinianism	p. 280
The New Forms of Dissidence	p. 286
The Relevance of Identity	p. 286
The ≪Network Society≫	p. 286
The Question of Identity	p. 287
The Identity of Christians	p. 290
Latin American Pentecostalism	p. 292
Toward the Future	p. 298
The ≪New Popular Economy≫	p. 299
An Emerging Reality	p. 299
Popular Economy and Social Change	p. 302
Neither State nor Sect	p. 302
Economy of Solidarity	p. 303
Economy of Solidarity and Economic Democracy	p. 305
Popular Economy and Christian Faith	p. 306
The Relevance of Nonviolence	p. 309
A Long Struggle	p. 309
The Meaning of Nonviolence	p. 312
Conclusion	p. 317
Toward a New Society	p. 319
With All Peoples	p. 321
Christian Pluralism	p. 321
Collaboration	p. 324
Convergences	p. 327
Christian Effectiveness	p. 331
Concrete Practices	p. 335
Educational Institutions	p. 337
Non-Governmental Organizations	p. 339
Politics	p. 343
The Character of Our Proposal	p. 349
It is not Communitarianism	p. 350
It is not Biblicism	p. 351
It is not Ecclesiocentrism	p. 353
It is not Sectarianism	p. 355
Conclusion	p. 359
General Conclusion	p. 361
Bibliography	p. 367
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