Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Most American Christians dont know how to read the Bible well. And they dont know how to read the Bible well because they are Americans before they are Christians!
* Stanley Hauerwas


Se det intressant klippet om när Hauerwas tolkar Romarbrevet 13. Ovan är ett citat från denna video.

*EDIT*
Jag hittade en intervju med Hauerwas där han svarar på en del frågor som rör samma ämne som filmsnutten ovan.

Q: In the scriptures we have statements such as Christ’s “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”, and we have Paul talking about the “powers that be.” How does the Christian faith draw the line between those statements and admonitions with Christian teachings that are often inconsistent with our own nation?
Hauerwas: Well I don’t think Romans 13; people read Romans 13 and don’t read Romans 12. Paul would have thought that the emperor should also forgive his enemies and so I think that chapter division is just a disaster. “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, unto God the things that are of God.” I treat that in the new commentary that has just been published on the gospel of Matthew and I think it’s pretty clear that that wasn’t saying, “Oh, well Caesar gets to do what Caesar does.” I mean you know when Jesus says let me see the coin, the very fact that the people that had asked him the question handed him the coin already indicated that they were complicit with Rome in a way that was incompatible with being Jewish. So I think that the assumption that, oh well Caesar is Caesar and the church is church and we can get along, well you know Caesar wants it all and I think the idea that we got that straightened out by separation of church and state is just crazy.

Q: If that’s the case, can Christians be engaged politically?
Haeurwas: Of course. It depends on the politics that’s around but nothing about my position prevents Christians from being engaged in politics as long as they are Christians. What bothers me is when they want to say well as a Christian I couldn’t kill anyone but as a congressman or senator I have to do it. Well I don’t think that works.

Q: How then should Christians be engaged politically? What should we be doing as Christians?
Hauerwas: You shouldn’t let anyone tell you, you need to privatize your faith. You say: No, I’m going to vote this way because I’m a follower of Jesus and that’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus. So that’s what I would think is necessary.