It is interesting concept that the four Gospels delineate the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, with little attention giving to his life and development as a leader. Matthew and Luke’s Gospels trace Jesus’ genealogy. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is introduced as a grown man whereas John focus on His Divinity. Granted, we scrutinize, dissect, exegete and preach his teachings and ministry, but we never consider the sociopolitical dynamics of his early life’s that shaped and formed his ministry. Hendricks emphatically contends that churches have adopted a modern form of Docetism, which he coined as Political Docetism. As Hendricks maintains, it is the “refusal to acknowledge the importance of the political circumstances of Jesus’ earthly life
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Some didn’t believe that Jesus was a man of flesh and blood. Therefore, there was never a crucifixion or salvation. It was an illusion perpetrated using His divine power (Hendricks. p.77). Hendricks posits that Paul misinterpreted Jesus ' purpose, ministry and teachings is a reason that today’s churches are unaware of political message. This was the reason that the Christian movement shifted from a collective conscience to personal deliverance. Instead of a radical, calculating and determined Jesus, Paul paints a picture of a meek and docile leader of the movement. While I am inclined to agree with Hendricks ' argument that Paul gave birth to the nonpolitical Jesus, but I contend that Paul presented Jesus ' ministry and teachings through the lens of a Pharisee. This is not to suggest that Paul had ulterior motives, but in as much as Jesus was influenced by his early life experiences, the same can be said about …show more content…
He is the quintessential writer of the New Testament with fourteen letters and epistles being ascribed to him. With the exception of Jesus, Paul was the most influential preacher of the Gospel. Yet, as Hendricks contends, Paul’s shifted Jesus’ ministry from collective consciousness to personal piety and deliverance from sin (Hendricks p.85). Yet, Christians are fixated with an incomplete perception that confines Jesus as the Lamb of God who was offered as a sacrifice for man’s sinful nature. The issue with Christians today is that they have allowed their exalted savior perception to censure the fact that Jesus was a
Some didn’t believe that Jesus was a man of flesh and blood. Therefore, there was never a crucifixion or salvation. It was an illusion perpetrated using His divine power (Hendricks. p.77). Hendricks posits that Paul misinterpreted Jesus ' purpose, ministry and teachings is a reason that today’s churches are unaware of political message. This was the reason that the Christian movement shifted from a collective conscience to personal deliverance. Instead of a radical, calculating and determined Jesus, Paul paints a picture of a meek and docile leader of the movement. While I am inclined to agree with Hendricks ' argument that Paul gave birth to the nonpolitical Jesus, but I contend that Paul presented Jesus ' ministry and teachings through the lens of a Pharisee. This is not to suggest that Paul had ulterior motives, but in as much as Jesus was influenced by his early life experiences, the same can be said about …show more content…
He is the quintessential writer of the New Testament with fourteen letters and epistles being ascribed to him. With the exception of Jesus, Paul was the most influential preacher of the Gospel. Yet, as Hendricks contends, Paul’s shifted Jesus’ ministry from collective consciousness to personal piety and deliverance from sin (Hendricks p.85). Yet, Christians are fixated with an incomplete perception that confines Jesus as the Lamb of God who was offered as a sacrifice for man’s sinful nature. The issue with Christians today is that they have allowed their exalted savior perception to censure the fact that Jesus was a