Dr. Benjamin L. Corey claims that Jesus didn't resurrect to kick ass and take names. He came back to offer peace.
I sat down with Ben to talk about Jesus's nonviolence. The resurrection confirms Jesus's nonviolent life and death. The early Christians followed Jesus in this pattern. They gave their lives to follow the resurrected Jesus in nonviolent love that offers peace to all people.
Watch or listen below as Ben and I discuss the radical implications of the Resurrection.
Ben is a popular blogger, author, and speaker. You can read his blog Formerly Fundie and his book Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus. His upcoming book, Unafraid: Moving Beyond a Fear Based Faith, will be released this September.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7pB5ngju_g
Show Highlights
Shalom and the Resurrection: We need a practical theology of Shalom. Shalom is life the way it intended it to be. Physical and spiritual needs are cared for. In this way, the bodily resurrection is at the center of Christian belief. A bodily resurrection means that the material world matters. Shalom matters, creation matters, our bodies matter, this world matters. This new thing that God is doing in the resurrection is for the material world.
Jesus, Resurrection, and Nonviolence: Jesus doesn’t come back to kick ass and take names. He comes back to offer peace. Jesus’s nonviolence is emphasized during his interrogation with Pilate. Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it was, my disciples would fight.”
Today we live in a world where people need to listen to the nonviolence of Jesus. The endless cycle of retaliation in our world today doesn’t work. The only way to win that game is to refuse to play it.
We fight not against flesh and blood. We fight against really bad ideas. – Bruxy Cavey
Fear Not: One of the most frequent verses in the Bible is “Fear not.” We should not allow fear of others, fear of death, and fear based on greed to run our lives and our wars.
Jesus Ordained Women to Preach: The first people to preach the full Gospel of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus were women. The resurrected Jesus commissioned Mary to preach! But for 2,000 years, patriarchy and misogyny have tried to stop women from doing what Jesus has called women to do.
The Resurrection Life is Risky and Hopeful: Like the early Christians, if you stand up for what is right, you will find yourself in bad predicaments. After all, 11 of the 12 disciples were martyred as they fought for justice with nonviolence. But when God is part of the story, death is never the end. It gives birth to things we never thought possible before.
Benjamin L Corey is an author and speaker who discusses faith and culture on his Patheos blog Formerly Fundie. He contributes to TIME, Sojourners, Red Letter Christians, Christian Weekly, Mennonite World Review, and The Good Men Project. He earned his doctorate in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. Benjamin is the author of the book, Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus.
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