Teaching the Way of Jesus: Educating Christians for Faithful Living

by Jack L. Seymour

Overview

Christian religious education provides the content, processes, and
settings to empower the church’s mission in the world—a mission that
includes health care, peace with justice, and disciple-making
ministries. Today, the field Christian Education is clear about its
tasks of helping form and nurture faith that is then embodied in
faithful practices. Research studies on Christian faith practices show
how participating in Christian community undergirds and complements
thoughtful living through one’s life.

With an emphasis on practices and mission, this book offers readers
concrete ways to empower vital faith formation in congregations as it
describes current trends, which include richer diversity,
entrepreneurial spirit, and interfaith dialog. This book will also help
prepare students for leadership in the Church universal and in the field
of Christian Education.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426766855
Publisher:	Abingdon Press
Publication date:	03/18/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	881 KB

About the Author

Jack L. Seymour is Professor of Religious Education at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois and Editor of Religious Education.

Read an Excerpt

Teaching the Way of Jesus

Educating Christians for Faithful Living

---

By Jack L. Seymour

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 2014 Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4267-6685-5

---

CHAPTER 1

Following Jesus: Naming a Vocation

Jesus returned to his home and was invited to read at the Sabbath gathering (Luke 4). The people had heard news about his miracles of healing. In a world where Roman taxes and the oppression of the Roman military drove people to hide, traditional village patterns built on community sharing and responsibility were breaking down. Spies fueled this division as they traversed villages, searching for people and communities that resisted Roman taxation. When villages were found hiding their little wealth or even bountiful harvests from Roman taxation, they were subdued and punished. In places, crosses of execution lined the roads to provide public examples of the consequences of resistance. In other places, Romans took prisoners and burned villages to the ground, as in Sepphoris. Roman terrorism divided people, forced resistance underground, and caused religious leaders in Jerusalem to compromise so as not to lose what they had left—the ability to worship their God in their own way. Healing was what the people desired. Healing and offers of new life were what they heard this son of a local tradesman was offering.

Jesus taught, as did his followers, amid this context of oppression and social upheaval. For example, the prayer Jesus taught his disciples points to this reality. He pleads, "Give us this day our daily bread [the bread we need]. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial" (Matt. 6:11-13 NRSV). The people needed bread, the search for bread and goods divided people from each other, debts piled high, and the time of "trial" was near, seeing much evidence of Rome's retribution. The people hoped for an eschatological time when the banquet of God would replace the present time of terror. The "way of Jesus" attends to this division and poverty:

• People without bread, for whom he seeks the endless bread of the kingdom

• Debtors who have lost all, for whom he prays for restoration

• A culture torn by oppression and subjugation, for which he pleads for release

Teaching the way of Jesus fundamentally points to how we educate for all of life—in families, communities, and the wider public.

Educator Duane Huebner reminds us that all education is fundamentally about "openness" to the future. We teach because we want to affect the ways that people are formed so we can build the world into a home for living together. We teach because together we are creating the future. For Jesus, hope in the future was grounded in his prayer—recognition of the brokenness of life and hope for God's realm.

This chapter begins to explore what scholarship from biblical, historical, and theological sources are teaching us about the way of Jesus. It first offers a summary of the time of Jesus, clarifying the pervasive Roman oppression and the various responses to it in the Jewish community, including that of the Jesus movement. Second, Luke 4 is examined as source pointing to the vocation Jesus chose and the one he offered those who followed him. Last, the chapter points to the vocation of Christian religious education.

The Galilean World: Understanding the Context

Contemporary historical research has taught us much about the time of Jesus and the emergence of the Christian community. The context of Jesus' life and ministry and the spread of the Jesus movement occurred in a world of conflict and crisis. Throughout their history, the Hebrew people had lived at the intersection of great warring nations. Except for a few years here and there, they were subjugated or challenged by external forces—the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, and the Romans. The three hundred years between 165 BCE and 130 CE were a particularly difficult period of oppression, revolt, and messianic dreams.

These events affected the life and ministry of Jesus and the subsequent development of the Jesus movement. The time was one of Roman oppression, diverse groups in Judea and Galilee sought to deal with this oppression, and desire for liberation and self-determination fueled the expectations of many people.

165 BCE to 130 CE: The culmination of this period is 130 CE, the scattering of the Jewish people. A Roman victory in the Roman-Jewish war of the late 60s and early 70s CE resulted in the destruction of the magnificent temple in Jerusalem and intensified conflicts among Jewish groups: on the one hand, rebels, and on the other, those seeking to preserve the nation. The final Roman Jewish war in the 130s CE led by the messianic figure Simon bar Kochba, who even gained the support of the high priest, resulted in the total destruction and depopulation of "Jewish" Judea and Galilee. The people were scattered, and furthermore, the Romans outlawed circumcision in an attempt to excise all Jewish allegiance.

In turn, the year 165 BCE is the beginning of this period of unrest and messianic hopes. In 165 BCE, the Jewish people were led in a successful revolt by the family of the Maccabees (Judas and his brothers) against the cruel rule of Antiochus Epiphanes, the leader of the Seleucid Empire. While for over two hundred years prior to this revolt, Greek ideas and practices had been spreading in Judea, the actions of Antiochus Epiphanes were an abomination to Jews (1 Macc. 1). Seeing internal conflicts between Hellenistic Jews and traditional Jews, Antiochus sought to force the assimilation of the Jewish people. He outlawed circumcision, set a statue of Zeus on the Temple Mount, and demanded an end to Jewish worship practices, including an outlawing of Shabbat worship and Torah reading. As the books of Maccabees describe, through a guerrilla struggle, Antiochus was defeated, the temple was cleansed, and Jewish rule was restored. Such a victory fueled apocalyptic visions of divine intervention. Had not God freed the people from the Egyptians, had not God returned exiles from Babylon and given the people the scrolls of the Torah, and had not God again intervened to free the people from oppression, restoring faithful worship and expectations of just living?

For approximately one hundred years, from 165 to 63 BCE, the dreams of a restored Israel seemed fulfilled. Temple worship expanded and Jewish groups calling for righteous living grew (like the Pharisees). However, incompetence and infighting within the ruling family made few of these years really stable. A final struggle for kingship between two brothers in the 60s BCE resulted in a Roman takeover of Judea and the surrounding territories. The Roman general, Pompey the Great, desecrated the Holy of Holies in the temple and claimed the lands for Rome. Again, the people were enslaved and their traditions violated. With dreams and hopes of freedom from Egypt, Babylon, and Greece in their minds, they lived under the control of the brutal regime of the Roman military.

63 BCE to 130 CE: From 63 BCE until 130 CE, Jewish groups were forced to seek faithfulness in a world controlled by Romans. The Romans defined leaders who would do their bidding and collect their tribute. The family of Herod, partially Jewish, was given control over the lands. In a compromise with religious authorities, the Romans allowed the people to worship their God, yet they demanded the right to determine who would serve as high priest and collect tribute taxes. The Roman military stood in wait to control any expressions of freedom from the people.

The father, Herod the Great, a "great" builder, strengthened the hold of the Romans in Judea and Galilee, and at the same time he directed the expansion of the temple in Jerusalem, making it one of the most beautiful structures in the world (to be completed three decades after his death). He furthermore built other magnificent structures throughout Judea and Galilee, including the port town of Caesarea Maritima (named in honor of the emperor), from which later Pontius Pilate and the bulk of his military forces would control Judea. He cruelly took advantage of the people.

With Herod the Great's death, in approximately 4 BCE, his provinces were divided among his sons. Two are important for our story: Herod Antipas ruled Galilee, and Herod Archelaus ruled Judea. At Herod the Great's death, there were revolts against Rome; one example occurred in Sepphoris in Galilee. These revolts were inspired by hopes of messianic leaders to restore self-rule. The Romans joined "the Herods" in responding brutally, in fact, crucifying many of the rebels and destroying the city of Sepphoris.

In Galilee, Herod Antipas continued his father's practices. He rebuilt Sepphoris into a Roman city, with grandeur and opulence. It was Herod Antipas who encountered the challenges of John the Baptist for purity and return to traditional Jewish values. Herod Antipas brutally put down any challengers to the authority of Rome or himself. Messiahs, prophets, and revolutionary leaders were silenced. Heads rolled, like that of John; others were impaled on spears by the side of the road as symbols of who was in power—Rome.

In Judea, the rule of Herod Archelaus was even too brutal for the Romans. After he sought even more control over temple worship, many Pharisees, Sadducees, and others protested. When a group of Pharisees broke the Roman eagle he had set in the temple, he unleashed a murderous reign of terror, killing more than three thousand people. A delegation of Jewish people met the Roman emperor and pleaded for relief. In response, Roman leaders removed Archelaus and took direct control over Judea (and Samaria and Idumea), installing a Roman prelate to rule.

Compromises still kept Jewish worship flourishing in the temple, as well as the continued construction and expansion of the temple. Many Jewish leaders were very wise in negotiating. They preserved religious traditions and secured a portion of self-determination. Yet the Romans maintained control. A Roman garrison was built beneath the Temple Mount—to guard and control Roman interests. Furthermore, the Romans approved the person appointed to the office of high priest; the vestments of priests were held under Roman control so that priests were always beholden to the Romans, even to perform religious rites; and prayers daily were demanded from the priests for the welfare and life of the Caesar (known as a god by the Romans).

Jerusalem thrived for some, while others were impoverished by taxes to support Roman expansion throughout the world. As historian Seth Schwarz has described, Roman imperialism benefited some in Jerusalem. The temple was one of the most amazing structures in the ancient world. Not only did Jews conduct pilgrimages to it, to fulfill religious rituals, but other worshippers from across the empire visited, awed by its grandeur and religious power. An industry emerged in Jerusalem that funded up to half of the population with religious writing, vendors, and hospitality to support pilgrimages. The surplus income that was earned by many was wisely invested, often to buy plots of land in Galilee taken from their peasant owners for inability to pay taxes. These actions further enraged feelings Galileans had about Judeans. When entrepreneurs combined these plots, estates grew, producing grapes for wine and olives to sell to the Romans. Furthermore, the waters of the Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee were fished while other industries dried the fish for purchase to feed the Roman war machine.

New Testament scholar John Dominic Crossan calls this social and political scene where some benefited from Roman power and others were impoverished a "domination system." Power is clear. The only response left to the powerless was to comply, hide, or resist. In Galilee, in particular, the domination system worked in the following manner:

1. Military political rulers demanded tribute.

2. Political dependent rulers collected tribute.

3. Aristocracy and priests supported rulers. In fact, the Romans forced the office of the high priest to collect the tribute.

4. Tax collectors and spies were sent to gather the tribute and also to report violations, which would be addressed with swift punishment—from increased tax to crucifixion and to destruction of homes and villages.

5. For peasants, who farmed the fields, taxes increased. Many borrowed to gather seed and to raise crops for family and income. Borrowing, they risked falling into debt and losing their land, the consequences of which were to become renters on land they once owned, or, even worse, to become "day laborers" working at another's largess.

6. Typical village patterns of common sharing and common responsibility were disrupted as people were forced to work as individualists seeking their own fortunes. In many places this led to the development of an economy of selfishness, hoarding, and secrecy.

7. Great estates were built in Galilee from foreclosed plots of land, and they grew rich and subservient to the Romans.

8. The process was repeated over and over.

This is the world into which Jesus was born and where he lived, ministered, and was ultimately murdered as a threat both to the power of Rome and to the risky compromises in effect in Jerusalem.

Groups Responding to Roman Control: Those in Galilee and Judea developed multiple strategies to live and to deal with Roman colonization. Their responses ranged from despair on the one hand to resistance on the other. Five distinct groups can be identified.

Some were collaborators with Roman authority. This describes well the families of Herod and the ruling elites. From both Jewish sources and early Christian sources, we know that some sought wealth and control by serving the Romans.

A second group may have looked like collaborators, but they were merely compromisers. To protect deeply held religious practices and to carve out a place for themselves, many of the Sadducee class and the temple priests compromised so as not to lose what little they had left. They sought to be faithful to the letter of the law, but knew they had to still live in Roman-controlled society. Compromises were made when necessary.

The resistors were a third group and included the Pharisees. The Pharisees wanted to extend the gifts of God's Torah throughout all of life. Following the Torah was their highest priority. Quietly resisting Roman control, they sought to fulfill the spirit of the law and protect Jewish practices. They avoided as often as they could Roman expectations. Faithful observance was their method of resistance. In their minds, the compromising Sadducees had little faith. On the other hand, the radical groups who challenged Roman control also were problematic, for they risked unleashing the power of the Roman overlords.

Bandits and "guerrilla fighters" were a fourth group. Both thieves who were pushed off the land and rebels who sought to restore and free the lands from the Romans acted similarly. They robbed the wealthy, both Roman and Jewish collaborators; they attacked vulnerable Roman legions; and they sought to establish pockets of freedom in the midst of the Roman domination system. At moments of great change, like Herod the Great's death, or moments of great pain, apocalyptic revolutionary leaders offered visions of the immanent triumph of God over the forces of control. We have two biblical examples bookmarking the Roman era. The book of Daniel, on one end, proclaims that outside political forces, like Greeks, would be defeated. Later, the Revelation of John, on the other, speaks directly of the conflict between the forces of faith and the forces of Rome. An example is the First Jewish-Roman War, when the Sicarii, a Jewish revolutionary group, initiated the war with Rome by killing the priests of the temple, calling them pawns of the Roman Empire. As we know, when revolutionaries were caught, they were killed either by crucifixion or another method. Their supporters were scattered, silenced, or driven underground. The spirit of rebellion was always present in the landscape.

A fifth group were prophets, proclaiming God's judgment and God's way. They sought to call the people back to faithfulness—believing that faithfulness, as had been the case in Egyptian times, in Babylonian times, and in Maccabean times, would free the people. Many operated on the fringes of the wider society. One example is very familiar: John the Baptizer called for repentance and turning back again to Jewish values of justice and righteousness. As long as John remained in the wilderness, he was ignored. Yet when he directly challenged the legitimacy of Herod Antipas, the forces of power dealt swiftly and cruelly. There were others like John. Some took to the wilderness and formed communities of hope seeking to live faithfully out of sight of Roman control. This is true of the Qumran, the Essene Dead Sea Scroll community. Two other examples, described by Josephus, the Jewish historian: Jesus son of Hananiah, who prophesied against the temple and the high priest, was stoned; and Bannus the bather, who sought moral purity as a means of hope and repentance, was killed.

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from Teaching the Way of Jesus by Jack L. Seymour. Copyright © 2014 Abingdon Press. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

Contents

"Acknowledgments",
"Introduction: Christian Education for the Realm of God",
"I: CHRISTIAN FAITH IN PUBLIC LIFE",
"Chapter One—Following Jesus: Naming a Vocation",
"Chapter Two—The Imperative for Christian Education: Following Jesus into Public Life",
"Chapter Three—The People of God as Theologians: Seeking the Ways of Jesus",
"II. APPROACHES TO CHRISTIAN LEARNING",
"Chapter Four—Community and Prayer: Community-of-Faith Approach to Christian Education",
"Chapter Five—Study: Instructional Approach to Christian Education",
"Chapter Six—Missional Approach to Christian Education",
"III. INTO THE FUTURE: TEACHING THE WAY OF JESUS",
"Chapter Seven—Living the Way of Jesus",
"Chapter Eight—Teaching the Way of Jesus: An Agenda for Christian Education",