[Larval Subjects May 6, 2009 The Monstrosity of Christ Posted by larvalsubjects under Ethics, Politics, Religion [46] Comments
Nathan Schneider has an excellent review of Eagleton’s Reason, Faith, and Revolution, and David Bentley Hart’s Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies over at The American Prospect. For the record, I certainly wouldn’t deny that the Christian tradition has a lot of emancipatory potential within it. I don’t think Zizek and Badiou have been misguided in their appropriations of Paul, though I do think they are wrong in their dismissals of Jesus.]
[Nathan Says: May 6, 2009 at 2:12 am
Glad you appreciated my review. What troubled me most about Eagleton’s approach (though initially I was highly receptive to it) was the sense in which he hoped to mobilize Christ for a political aim. Certainly the politics of Christianity cannot be evaded, but what I would hate to see eviscerated is the anti-political element of it all—precisely related to the monstrosity that you focus on here. Going back to Augustine at least, the Christian “imaginary”—and I do suspect there is one, in the “Kingdom” Jesus spoke of—is one never to be realized in politics, or at least never yet. It is something else, it yearns for something else.
As a result, Eagleton’s effort to offer Christianity as a political regime, while it may have some benefits like honor for the poor and brotherly love, is missing something quite central.
The text that drives a lot of my thinking on this issue is Philip Rieff’s The Triumph of the Therapeutic. Against those who would wish to marshal religious legacies in the service of therapy, he insists that the transcendent is not to be possessed, it possesses us. 10:23 AM]
[Jon Cogburn Says: May 7, 2009 at 10:15 am
I’m with larvalsubjects on this one.
It’s a lot easier to know about the historical Spinoza or Caesar or Socrates than about the historical Jesus, just because that whole part of the world was set on fire in the AD 60s. None of the extant Gospels date before the Judean revolt, and some people (a minority, though it could be the case that religious belief has blinded the scholarship of the majority) argue that they are actually hundreds of years older, given the lack of early secondary discussions of the gospels.
The oldest manuscript of Jesus’ words is probably one that doesn’t now exist, the Q gospel which scholars have pieced together as a source by looking at the material that is word-for-word identical in Mathew and Luke. And something like Q (and unlike the Gospel of Mark) is discussed by Pappias and attributed to Mark in 150 AD, which is one of the earliest mentions of such texts... Anyhow, given this content and the fact that Q is arguably the closest we are going to get to the historical Jesus, I think that larvalsubjects’ account of the monstrous content of Christian thinking does get to a heart of the matter.]
[May 8, 2009 Messianic Politics: The Real, The Imaginary, and the Symbolic Posted by larvalsubjects [14] Comments
Much to my surprise and delight, I have been exceedingly pleased by the discussion my post “The Monstrosity of Christ” has generated. For me, Jesus is an incredibly important political thinker who proposes a new vision of communal relations. What has been so great about this discussion, apart from a few bumps here and there, is the manner in which the religious and the atheist have been able to discuss these issues, without the question being one of debunking the other. ]
[Troy Polidori Says: May 8, 2009 at 10:55 am
Levi, just a quick thought: Is it possible that placing a sharp distinction between 1)Jesus’ socio-political role (breaking down identificatory boundaries) and 2) his (or at least John’s version of) claim to be the Son of God and worthy of worship.]
[Pope: Church and Jews share 'inseparable bond'
Pope says Middle East visit a reminder of 'inseparable bond' between church and Jewish people... Read More... Pope in Jordan presses inter-faith reconciliation AMMAN (AFP) — Pope Benedict XVI called on Saturday for reconciliation between Christians and Jews, a day after stressing his "deep respect" for Islam on his first trip to the Holy Land as pontiff.
"The ancient tradition of pilgrimage to the holy places also reminds us of the inseparable bond between the Church and the Jewish people," Benedict said at Mount Nebo, where the Bible says God showed the Promised Land to Moses... But he also told journalists that inter-faith dialogue was "very important for peace," adding: The Church "is not a political force but a spiritual force which can contribute to the progress of the peace process" in the Middle East. Pope makes visit to Jordan mosque
BBC News - Pope Benedict XVI is visiting Jordan's largest mosque on the second day of his visit to the Middle East. The pontiff prayed at the King Hussein Mosque in ...]
They are still discussing Jesus after more than two millennia. So, there is no reason why we should foreclose imagining multifariously the divine manifestation of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo so soon. Though affirmations such as "Their force" and "They don't need our protection" introduces a fresh tenor of devotionalism into an otherwise dreary factional war of words, there is scope for a more flexible reflective atmosphere and elastic eclecticism if we stay attuned to nuances that The Real, The Imaginary, and the Symbolic signify. [TNM]
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