Jesus Against Empire
“Jesus Against Empire” 11/8/20 Fall Fellowship Keynote
About C. Wess Daniels
Wess Daniels (he/him) is the Director of Quaker Studies and Friends Center at Guilford College, has served as pastor in Quaker meetings, and is active in the work of the Poor People’s Campaign.
Wess holds a Ph.D. in Intercultural studies and a Masters in Theology, bringing more than twenty years of study and on-the-ground teaching and practical experience to understanding the Bible and faith, in the midst of empire.
Wess’ mission is to help make liberation theology and practice accessible to more people so that we can build social movements to end poverty, injustice, and spiritual violence in our communities.
Contact Wess: wess@hey.com 360.818.4293
Resisting Empire: The Book of Revelation as Resistance
“No biblical book carries as much passionate power and imagery aimed at inspiring Jesus-followers to “come out” of the place of imperial violence and domination and to dwell instead in the light- and love-filled realm of God [than the book of Revelation].” – Wes Howard-Brook
Jesus Against Empire: Re-Framing Theology in Light of Empire
What does Jesus have to teach us about empire?
Queries for Our Time Together
What does it mean to come with hearts and minds prepared in this moment with so much pain and turmoil in the world? How did/do you prepare? And what are you preparing for?
What are other ways you see Jesus resisting / teaching about / challenging empire in his time?
What practices can help Friends resist without being reactionary to empire?
What Does Jesus have to say about empire?
Where are we being challenged and called to follow Jesus in practicing resistance?
Recommended Readings
Wess Daniels on Resisting Empire: The Book of Revelation as Resistance
This is an interview with folks from the Kairos Center at Union Theological Seminary. These are some of the organizers behind the Poor People’s Campaign. Here is an interview I did with them about reading the book of Revelation in terms of a theology of resistance to Empire.
Read the interview on the Kairos Blog
Jesus Against Empire (Newsletter Edition)
Here is a recent article I wrote in my weekly “Resisting Empire” newsletter titled, “Jesus Against Empire.”
Profane Faith Podcast: The Book of Revelation as Resistance: Dr. C. Wess Daniels
I was interviewed by friend, black theologian and hip-hop scholar, Dan White Hodge on his fantastic podcast “Profane Faith.” The topics we discussed there are relevant to our topic here.
Rohr, Richard. Scapegoating and the “Sin of the World”
Here is an article from Richard Rohr’s recent book “The Universal Christ,” which gives a nice overview of the concept of Jesus as Scapegoat. Scapegoating and the “Sin of the World”Download
Between Reality and Possibility: Leading Into the Gap
This is an article more about the challenges we face and leading in the midst of chaos and the unknown. I’m sharing it here because it is one thing to be “against” something, but it is quite another to lead into a new possibility. I believe this is what Jesus was doing. Not reacting against empire, but allowing for a new world, a new vision, a new community to be born out of the space in-between reality and possibility. Between Reality and PossibilityDownload
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