'Victory over Violence' This book, 'Victory over Violence', deals with Òpolitical theologyÓ - as it developed within Palestinian Judaism between 334 B.C. and the time of Christ, and as it is being advocated now by radical theologians and groups within the Christian community. The book is, therefore, not simply an academic discussion of a bygone era. It is an attempt to bridge the gap between New Testament theology and contemporary Christian social ethics. Hengel clearly intends to speak to the contemporary situation, which forces Christians to debate the possible use of violence in revolution. He is appalled that those who advocate a Òtheology of revolutionÓ pay so little attention to the political situation of Jesus and primitive Christianity. According to Hengel's interpretation, the position of Jesus and the early Christians on the question of violence was radically different from that of the Zealots: Jesus was the model of nonviolence who demanded of his followers that they renounce violence and love their enemies. Further, since the situation today is similar to the situation in Jesus' time, Hengel argues that the Christian response should be similar too. 'Was Jesus a Revolutionist?' Jesus has often been portrayed as a forerunner of modern revolutionary movements. Martin Hengel believes that this judgment must be scrutinized carefully to determine if revolutionists are reading their own views back into Jesus. The author considers the political background at the time of Jesus, especially the Zealot movement, then looks at key passages in the Gospels that seem to support the revolutionist label. This study shows that Jesus' ethical system was revolutionary, but his political actions were not. Students of politics and religion will want to read Hengel's comments on Jewish movements, depth psychology, and today's theology of revolution.

The response of the Jews to foreign domination at the time of Christ, and some modern parallels.

This study offers fresh insight into the place of (non)violence within Jesus' ministry, by examining it in the context of the eschatologically-motivated revolutionary violence of Second Temple Judaism. The book first explores the connection between violence and eschatology in key literary and historical sources from Second Temple Judaism. The heart of the study then focuses on demonstrating the thematic centrality of Jesus’ opposition to such “eschatological violence” within the Synoptic presentations of his ministry, arguing that a proper understanding of eschatology and violence together enables appreciation of the full significance of Jesus’ consistent disassociation of revolutionary violence from his words and deeds. The book thus articulates an understanding of Jesus’ nonviolence that is firmly rooted in the historical context of Second Temple Judaism, presenting a challenge to the "seditious Jesus hypothesis"—the claim that the historical Jesus was sympathetic to revolutionary ideals. Jesus’ rejection of violence ought to be understood as an integral component of his eschatological vision, embodying and enacting his understanding of (i) how God’s kingdom would come, and (ii) what would identify those who belonged to it.

Over the centuries, New Testament texts have inspired both peace activism and violence towards others. Most Christians, including New Testament scholars, continue to find peace at the core of these scriptures, and consider that the use of violence misrepresents basic Christian beliefs. This challenging study contends that the New Testament promotes violence as strongly as it promotes peace. Through close analysis of a wide range of texts, Desjardins shows how foundational both peace and violence are in the New Testament, and then suggests that the leading interpretative theories in this area do not do justice to the complexity of the primary sources.

While much work has been done on the role of Jews in the crucifixion of Jesus in post-Holocaust biblical scholarship, the question of violence in subsequent community formation remains largely unexamined. New Testament passages suggesting that early Christ-believers were violently persecuted--the "stone throwing" passages from John, the "persecuted from town to town" passages in Matthew, the stoning of Stephen in Acts, Paul's hardship catalogue in II Corinthians, etc.-- are frequently read positivistically as windows onto first century persecution; at the other extreme, they are sometimes dismissed as completely a-historical. In either case, scholars up until now have provided little in the way of methodological reflection on how they have reached such conclusions. A further problematic issue in previous readings of passages suggesting such violence is that the perpetrators of violence are frequently cast as "Jews" while the violated are cast as "Christians," in spite of the growing consensus that it is impossible to tease out these two distinct and separate religious identities, Jew and Christian, from first century texts. This volume takes up crucial methodological questions about how to read passages suggesting violence among Jews in texts that eventually became part of the New Testament canon. It situates this intra-religious violence within the violence of the Roman Imperial order. It provides new readings of these texts that move beyond the "Jew as violator"/"Christian as violated" binary.

Originally published in 1984, this extraordinary work has until now been available only in an expensive library edition. The present edition has been completely updated and redesigned, and includes an extended new introduction by Marcus Borg that relates the book's central arguments to subsequent Jesus scholarship. A foreword by N.T. Wright characterizes the book as one of the foundational works in the "third quest" for the historical Jesus. In the book, Marcus Borg argues that conflict between a politics of holiness and a politics of compassion, and their implications for Israel, resides at the center of Jesus' activity and teaching. He emphasizes several features that have since become central to Jesus scholarship: the importance of Jesus' inclusive meal practice, a non-apocalyptic paradigm for understanding Jesus, and Jesus as a social prophet and boundary-breaker. Marcus J. Borg is Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture in the Philosophy Department at Oregon State University. He is the author of nine books, including Jesus in Contemporary Scholarship, also published by Trinity Press.

10 of 11 contributions were published previously (4 in German, 6 in English).