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christ and caesar
Sep. 23rd, 2005 01:58 pmLast night's class gave me some insights into Christianity as a phenomenon in the Roman Empire, things that had never sunk in before.
Particularly it helped me to understand how Christ was seen as an answer to Caesar. Caesar Augustus was widely proclaimed as the "Son of God" and as a savior of humankind. Jesus was said to be descended from King David and was called "annointed," like the old kings of Israel. The use of royal imagery with regards to Christ constitute a direct challenge to Caesar's authority. In this light, the Da Vinci Code idea of Jesus as the exiled heir to the Davidic dynasty almost seems a little more feasible.
...Except that Christ is not a parallel to Caesar, he is in most ways the exact opposite of royalty. Caesar stood at the top of a kyriarchal pyramid of patron/client and owner/slave relationships which permeated the empire. Jesus belonged to a low class, as a displaced peasant. In the empire, citizens had more rights than non-citizens. Nationalism ran deep. The Emperor's will was backed my military might, and dissent was brutally suppressed. Women had less power than men. Wealth and privilege ruled. The basilia tou ouranou, in contrast, was seen as a peaceful and egalitarian society, where patron/client, slave/owner, gender, and nationalistic identities were cast away, and where sharing and communal property were valued.
The pneumatic Christ, whose body was made up of the members of the basilia tou ouranou, seems to have been thought of as the "patron" of everyone in the church -- perhaps this is what was meant by the phrase "Jesus is Lord." The authentically Pauline writings do not seem to describe Jesus as divine, but rather as one who was touched or chosen by God.
Particularly it helped me to understand how Christ was seen as an answer to Caesar. Caesar Augustus was widely proclaimed as the "Son of God" and as a savior of humankind. Jesus was said to be descended from King David and was called "annointed," like the old kings of Israel. The use of royal imagery with regards to Christ constitute a direct challenge to Caesar's authority. In this light, the Da Vinci Code idea of Jesus as the exiled heir to the Davidic dynasty almost seems a little more feasible.
...Except that Christ is not a parallel to Caesar, he is in most ways the exact opposite of royalty. Caesar stood at the top of a kyriarchal pyramid of patron/client and owner/slave relationships which permeated the empire. Jesus belonged to a low class, as a displaced peasant. In the empire, citizens had more rights than non-citizens. Nationalism ran deep. The Emperor's will was backed my military might, and dissent was brutally suppressed. Women had less power than men. Wealth and privilege ruled. The basilia tou ouranou, in contrast, was seen as a peaceful and egalitarian society, where patron/client, slave/owner, gender, and nationalistic identities were cast away, and where sharing and communal property were valued.
The pneumatic Christ, whose body was made up of the members of the basilia tou ouranou, seems to have been thought of as the "patron" of everyone in the church -- perhaps this is what was meant by the phrase "Jesus is Lord." The authentically Pauline writings do not seem to describe Jesus as divine, but rather as one who was touched or chosen by God.
