The Original Church/State Divide

[cbayer]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/05/easter-is-original-church-state-divide.html



LAW AND ORDER
04.05.15

Candida Moss


The fight over religious freedom is a lot older than the right not to bake cakes for gay weddings. Jesus was an early victim of this age-old battle.

It’s Easter, the time when Christians remember the death and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. As one of the more potent times in the religious calendar, it’s an appropriate time for the debate over “religious freedom” to bubble over into national controversy. Especially when the crucifixion is the paradigmatic example of how a single event or figure can be understood both politically and religiously.

Historically speaking, the event that precipitated the arrest and execution of Jesus was likely his actions in the Temple at the beginning of what is now called Holy Week. According to our earliest sources, after entering Jerusalem in triumph and being hailed as “King of the Jews” Jesus went to the Temple, overturned the tables, and threw out the moneychangers for turning his father’s house into a den of sinners. In the politically and religiously charged atmosphere of Passover season in First Century Jerusalem, the authorities took note and sentenced Jesus to die.

Why? From the perspective of the man who made the decision—Pilate—it was because Jesus looked and sounded like a political agitator and would-be revolutionary. His entry into Jerusalem on a donkey mimicked and mocked the triumphal entry of Roman emperors to Rome; the language of “son of God” sounded a lot like the imperial title “son of the divine Julius Caesar”; and when he talked about his kingdom he used language of power and conquest. Christians may talk about Jesus’s spiritual motivations, his religious impulses, and the theological necessity of his death for saving people, but Pilate didn’t care or think or know about any of that. For him it was a question of political order.

This is where I’d like to write something trite comparing interpretations of the crucifixion to modern America and saying that what proponents of the various Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs) see as a religious issue others see as a question of discrimination and civil rights. I could file right now (it’s 2 p.m.) and grab a cocktail (mocktail; it’s Holy Week, for goodness’ sake).

more at link

[AtheistCrusader]

1. Original?

Something something, delusions of grandeur, something.

[rug]

2. What do you consider the earliest example of a religion/state divide?

Last edited Sun Apr 5, 2015, 05:59 PM - Edit history (1)

[hedda_foil]

3. k/r for a fascinating and timely article.