God, Neighbor, Empire: The Excess of Divine Fidelity and the

God, Neighbor, Empire: The Excess of Divine Fidelity and the Command of Common Good

Justice, mercy, and the public good all find meaning in relationshipâ€”a relationship dependent upon fidelity, but endlessly open to the betrayals of infidelity. This paradox defines the story of God and Israel in the Old Testament. Yet the arc of this story reaches ever forward, and its trajectory confers meaning upon human relationships and communities in the present. The Old Testament still speaks.

Israel, in the Old Testament, bears witness to a God who initiates and then sustains covenantal relationships. God, in mercy, does so by making promises for a just well-being and prescribing stipulations for the covenant partnerâ€™s obedience. The nature of the relationship itself decisively depends upon the conduct, practice, and policy of the covenant partner, yet is radically rooted in the character and agency of Godâ€”the One who makes promises, initiates covenant, and sustains relationship.

This reflexive, asymmetrical relationship, kept alive in the texts and tradition, now fires contemporary imagination. Justice becomes shaped by the practice of neighborliness, mercy reaches beyond a pervasive quid pro quo calculus, and law becomes a dynamic norming of the community. The well-being of the neighborhood, inspired by the biblical texts, makes possibleâ€”and even insists uponâ€”an alternative to the ideology of individualism that governs our societyâ€™s practice and policy. This kind of community life returns us to the arc of Godâ€™s giftsâ€”mercy, justice, and law. The covenant of God in the witness of biblical faith speaks now and demands that its interpreting community resist individualism, overcome commoditization, and thwart the rule of empire through a life of radical neighbor love.
Country USA
Manufacturer Baylor University Press
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2016-10-18
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Baylor University Press
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2016-10-18
Format	Kindle eBook

God, Neighbor, Empire: The Excess of Divine Fidelity and the Command of Common Good

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