The Word Before the Powers

by Campbell, Charles L.

• ISBN13: 9780664222338
• ISBN10: 0664222331
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-11-01
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Pr

Summary

There is much to applaud in a book such as this. Campbell does an excellent job bringing to the surface an important facet of Christian practice that has often gone unnoticed by those writiers that have been drawing attention to the biblical concept of the principalities and powers (Wink, et al). Campbell shows how the Christian practices of preaching forms the church as a community capable of resisting the powers and how preaching is itself, one of the forms of resistance the church engages in. This is a helpful complement to many recent contributions to political theology which center on the Eucharist as a resource for the church confronting the powers. Campbell helps to reintegrate word and sacrament through a fresh focus on how the proclamation of the word is always a challenge to the powers that be (despite how we may fall short of that vision).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(5)
``Not against Enemies of Blood and Flesh''	6	(18)
Encountering Monsters	8	(3)
The Powers Are Legion	11	(2)
The Powers Are Material and Spiritual	13	(7)
The Powers Are Created by God	20	(4)
The Rebellious Powers	24	(20)
Strategies of the Powers	33	(11)
Jesus and the Powers	44	(24)
Resisting the Powers: The Temptation	45	(3)
Jesus' Ministry and the Powers	48	(10)
Preaching	48	(3)
Table Fellowship	51	(3)
Exorcisms and Healings	54	(4)
The Cross and the Powers	58	(6)
Resurrection and the Powers	64	(4)
An Ethic of Preaching: Nonviolent Resistance	68	(21)
Preaching as a Fundamental Ethical Option	70	(12)
A Certain Ambiguity	82	(4)
A Condition for Integrity: Nonviolent Resistance	86	(3)
Vision, Ethics, and Preaching	89	(16)
The Sermon on the Mount	94	(2)
Vision and Ethics	96	(4)
Vision and Preaching	100	(5)
Exposing and Envisioning	105	(23)
Exposing	106	(13)
Direct Speech	107	(3)
Memory	110	(2)
``Big Pictures''	112	(2)
``Radicalizing Moments''	114	(2)
Burlesque	116	(3)
Envisioning	119	(9)
The Example of the Parables	120	(3)
``Tokens of the Resurrection''	123	(2)
``Hyperbolic Imagination''	125	(3)
Preaching What We Practice	128	(29)
Practices	134	(5)
Preaching and Practices	139	(18)
Redescribing the Routine	141	(4)
Exposing Accommodation	145	(2)
Nurturing Faithful Practices	147	(6)
A Biblical Example: The Practice of Dislocation	153	(4)
Practicing What We Preach	157	(32)
A Community of Friends	159	(10)
Preaching Among Friends	161	(3)
Friendship and Character Ethics	164	(3)
Friendship and Resistance	167	(2)
Virtues of the Preacher	169	(20)
Truthfulness	169	(7)
Anger	176	(2)
Patience	178	(5)
Hope	183	(6)
Select Bibliography	189	(8)
Index of Biblical Passages	197	(2)
Index of Names and Subjects	199