Open AccessRethinking the Origins and Purpose of Religion: Jesus, Constantine, and the Containment of Global Revolution
Author(s) -
Mike Sosteric
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
athens journal of social sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2408-0004
pISSN - 2241-7737
DOI - 10.30958/ajss.9-1-4
Subject(s) - apostles , new testament , authoritarianism , exegesis , christianity , elite , narrative , early christianity , power (physics) , philosophy , resistance (ecology) , reading (process) , religious studies , jesus christ , theology , literature , sociology , history , law , art , politics , political science , ecology , linguistics , physics , faith , quantum mechanics , democracy , biology
For sociologists, Jesus Christ and the associated Catholic Church are generally seen are regressive, conservative, and authoritarian. For this reason, Sociologists avoid reading the Bible as a textual research source. Overcoming sociological resistance, however and examining the Christian New Testament reveals a story much different than expected. While the Church may certainly be conservative, regressive, authoritarian, even predatorial, Jesus Christ and his apostles were not. Exegesis of Christian gospels reveals not a gentle shepherd of sheeple, but a revolutionary Christ that is neither conservative, gentle, nor passive—an impassioned and committed revolutionary set on progressive social change and fundamental revision of elite power structures. Keywords: Religion, Christianity, Jesus Christ, Critical theory, Narrative analysis.