Can you imagine what it would be like if
Christians followed Jesus? Can you imagine churches full of people surrendering
their lives to the Creator as Jesus did? Christians tend to perceive themselves
from within. But when Christianity is viewed by outsiders the picture altogether
much more bleak. We are perceived as rivalrous, contentious, divided, full of
contradictory rituals and practice. Our God is largely around to justify our
bourgeois lifestyle and our imperialist claims. The Christian God is no better
than any other God. In fact, according to some critics, the Christian God should
be dispensed with. And they are right! Our identification of both Jesus and
the Creator with violence and retribution deserves a hearty “Out of my
sight Satan!”
Clergy can often feel like Jesus, wondering
if their message is getting through. Has the Church so completely lost touch
with Jesus that it is lost, wandering in the wilderness? Is this the end of
Christianity as Dietrich Bonhoeffer suggested? Or perhaps more correctly put,
is this the end of Christianity as we know it? Or are we, perhaps, being transformed?
The often forgotten promise in our text, “on the third day”, signifies
for Christians today that by really taking the time to live and die like Jesus,
we share in the gift of his Resurrection. For the joy set before him, he endured
the cross, but despised its shame, so we may also.
Today’s text screams out for a mimetic
interpretation. Several themes coalesce here: the ‘messianic secret’,
christological misunderstanding, the suffering servant and the Son of Man and
their relationship, a theology of the cross, the ultimate temptation, the rejection
of Satan.
First, the messianic secret and the christological
misunderstanding. It is well known that Mark appears to be hiding the fact
that Jesus is the Messiah. This conundrum disappears like a vapor when one
combines Jesus’ command not to tell with the misunderstanding of the
crowds about his person. He was well aware that they had misidentified him.
Even Peter’s confession is full of misunderstanding else why would Jesus
have rebuked him? He was talked about in such a way that would make the authorities
uncomfortable. In short, they were blinded by the mimetic mechanism. They
could only configure Jesus within the framework of the warrior-God/King. What
other way was there for them to conceive him? The differentiation in their
views indicates a thorough mimetic crisis. Jesus is this, Jesus is that, Jesus
is yet another but they are all perceptions of the stream of thinking that
ties God to violence. They are going to learn something new about God.
Second, setting aside the discussion
of the ‘authenticity’ of these sayings, Jesus connects two figures
from Jewish tradition, the suffering servant and the Son of Man. The suffering
servant obviously derives from Isaiah 53 but the use of the term Son of Man
is more problematic. Assuming some previous remarks we have made on the subject,
the interesting element of both figures for our purposes is that they are
both corporate figures, that is the one stands for the many. Corporate figures
lend themselves nicely to the mimetic notion of interdividuality. There is
a you, there is a me and there is the relationship we share. Just as you are
real and just as I am real, so too our relationship has a reality. Corporate
metaphors abound in the New Testament. The corporate figures of the suffering
servant and the Son of Man are then, indications that something is occurring
in Jesus’ life that has implications for everyone that has a relationship
with him. Jesus’ knows that he has been misunderstood and that that
misunderstanding will get him killed. This is not a unique experience. The
victimage mechanism has already begun weaving its web of lies around who Jesus
is, but Jesus dispels this interpretation and proceeds to affirm that no matter
what happens to him, it will all turn out well in the end. It’s OK.
Third, the terrifying reality of Roman
crucifixion rears its ugly head not just at the end but rather dramatically
just half way through the story. Here is this healer, this conqueror of Satan,
this extraordinary teacher and bada-boom, bada-bing, faster than you can say
‘honeysuckle’, Jesus is traveling a via dolorosa. This is terrible.
He does not deserve the fate that awaits him, he knows this. But the crowds
and the disciples identification of Jesus with warrior constructs, with a
deus ex machina, will in the end, culminate in his death.
More than this, Jesus invitation to discipleship
is fundamentally tied to the cross. Why? The cross (or our death) represents
our ultimate surrender. To follow Jesus is to move in the opposite direction
of violence and negative mimesis; it is the choice not to fight, not to engage
in retaliation or vengeance or retribution. It is the recognition that when
we fight our relationship suffers as much as we do. Our relationships are
in a sense ‘alive and living.’ We really hurt ourselves when we
hurt each other.
There are a gazillion (no kidding) historical,
critical and cultural conundrums with our text today. The position you take
on today’s text will get you pegged in this hole or slotted in that category.
But there must be no mistake: this is the center around which the Gospel revolves
and to which it will climax. It is about the cross.
Rather than muddy the waters with debates
about authenticity or Markan christology we prefer to interpret the text as
though it actually said something significant about Jesus. To be sure, a triumphalist
use of this text is out of the question whether done from pious devotion or
academic rigor. Therefore we opt for an interpretation from the perspective
of mimetic theory.
We favor those authors who see some aspect
of corporate-ness to the figure Son of Man. Whether as an apocalyptic revelation,
or as a circumlocution for ‘I’, or as a type of human, or as representative
of the mimetic mechanism where the one stands for the many, the common element
is the notion of corporateness. Whatever we may say about what Jesus perceived
about himself, the fact remains, he saw his life in terms of the big picture.
As a result we do not feel compelled
to reject the authenticity of many of the Son of Man sayings. When they are
placed in the context of mimetic theory, rather than contradict one another,
they complement each other. We conclude that Jesus could use the enigmatic
‘Son of Man’ precisely because it functioned the same way as the
parables; it caused people to think and reconsider how they perceived God.
If we are able to suggest the corporate-ness
of the figure Son of Man and its many possible antecedents (1 Enoch, Psalms,
Ezekiel, Daniel, =’I’, etc), then it is plausible to see why Jesus
was able to bring together the figure of the Son of Man with the Suffering
Servant of Deutero Isaiah. Both are corporate figures.
As an aside, if we are to think scientifically
about this we are aware of our interconnectedness in terms of modern physical
theory. Experiments in Quantum Mechanics have demonstrated that on the sub
atomic level, nature is ‘non-local.’ Or naturalists and environmentalists
might speak of eco-systems., that is, there are natural systems that are all
interconnected; to harm one is to harm all. Depth Psychology speaks of the
‘collective unconscious.’
Either this page has not yet been completed, or we have not found any significant textual issues in the lectionary texts for this Sunday.
Introductory Articles
We will add articles as we are able,
or as users of the site request them, so if you have suggestions for additional
pieces, please write to us!
"Introduction
to Mimetic Theory"
"Mimesis"
"The
Scapegoat"
"The
Pillars of Culture"
"Jesus"
"The
Four Gospels"
A Brief Introduction
to Luke
What's New: (Hover your mouse over to pause cycling)
New
Page: The Scapegoat: Christologies in Conflict - A Study in Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prv 1:20-33 or * Is 50:4-9a
Ps 19 or Wis 7:26-8:1 * Ps 116:1-9
Jas 3:1-12
Mk 8:27-38
(Proverbs 1:20-33)
Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. At the
busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
"How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers
delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? Give heed to my reproof;
I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you. Because
I have called and you refused, have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
and because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you, when
panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but
I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but will not find me. Because
they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, would have none
of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit
of their way and be sated with their own devices. For waywardness kills the
simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but those who listen to
me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster."
(Wisdom 7:26-30)
For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working
of God, and an image of his goodness. Although she is but one, she can do
all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every
generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom. She is
more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars.
Compared with the light she is found to be superior, for it is succeeded by
the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail.
(Wisdom 8:1)
She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders
all things well.
* (Isaiah 50:4-9a)
The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to
sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens-- wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught. The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was
not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck
me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting. The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been
disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall
not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It
is the Lord GOD who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
(James 3:1-12)
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know
that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make
many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to
keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths
of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships:
though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they
are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How
great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The
tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole
body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.
For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed
and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue--a
restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father,
and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same
mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to
be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish
water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine
figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
(Mark 8:27-38)
Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and
on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"
And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and
others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." He asked them,
"But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are
the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering,
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be
killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his
disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you
are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." He called
the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become
my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow
me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose
their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For
what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed,
what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and
of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man
will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy
angels."
Occasional Articles
As with the Introductory Articles, we
will add other articles as time permits or as our readers request. If you
have a suggestion for anything, please let us know.
Michael Hardin
Is the Apocalypse Inevitable?: Native American Prophecy and the Mimetic Theory presented to the Colloquium on Violence and Religion 2008
Michael's Essay for a Celebration Volume honoring Rene Girard
Michael's Response to Willard Swartley's Covenent of Peace at the November Colloquium and Violence Meeting
Does
Peace Make A Difference? - Michael's essay in response to Rick
Warren's P.E.A.C.E. plan (which somehow never mentions peace).
An Analysis of Rick Warren - Michael's response to "The Purpose Driven Life."
"The
God of Pat Robertson" - a response to Pat Robertson's words
to the people of Dover, PA.
"A
response to Charles Stanley's "A Nation at War"
"Must
God be violent? A Diagnosis and Prescription for Modern Christianity"
The
Scapegoat: Christologies in Conflict - A Study in Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Biblical
Testaments as a Marriage of Convenience: Rene Girard and Biblical Interpretation
Finding
Our Way Home: A Brief Note On The Authority and Interpretation of Scripture
"Does
The Passion of the Christ Preach the Gospel?"
A
sermon for the holiday devoted to Dr. Martin Luther King. (requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
GRASPING
GOD: Philippians 2: 1-11 in the Light of Mimetic Theory
Rene Girard and the Recovery of Early Christian Perspectives (Brethren Life and Thought)
The Dynamics of Violence and the Imitation of Christ in Maximus Confessor (St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly)
"EcoSpirituality"
Or What Happens When You Sit Down With A French Literary Critic
Jeff Krantz
Mighty
One or Crucified Messiah? Competing Christologies and the Chiastic
Structure of Mark's Gospel
There's
No Such Thing as the Rapture - A sermon preached at the Church
of the Advent, Westbury (requires Acrobat Reader)
Holy
Scripture and the Consecration of Gene Robinson - a response
to the request of the Windsor Report for a Scriptural rationale. (requires
Adobe's Acrobat Reader)
Worship - The Redemption of Desire by Jeff Krantz
Myth
and Film - a piece written for the City of Angels Film Festival
The Stations of the Cross - Rewritten by Jeff Krantz
A Dramatic Presentation of the Stations of the Cross for Youth by Barb Fabijan-Waddell
Escaping
the Power of "My" - A NonViolent Approach to Stewardship
Preaching
Peace in Hollywood: The Theologies of Terminator, Lord of the Rings, and the
Matrix
V
for Vendetta - The Name Says It All A review of the movie.
Essays, Sermons and Liturgical Pieces by Friends of Preaching Peace
"Jesus and the Gibeonites: Reading the Bible from the Perspective of the Hidden Victim" by James Warren.
Mark Heim's "No More of This" - A hymn on Nonviolent Atonement
Kate Layzer's "No More of This" - A hymn on Nonviolent Atonement (and inspiration for Mark Heim's hymn!)
Alan Cork, "Transformation" in L'Arche: A Mimetic Account presented to the Colloquium on Violence and Religion 2008
"The Wisdom of God's Peace" a sermon by Jim Amstutz, co-pastor of Michael's church.
Girard's Christology - Per Bjornar Grande
Violence, Anarchy and Scripture: Jacques Ellul and Rene Girard - Matthew Patillo
Comparing
Plato's Understanding of Mimesis to Girard's - Per Bjorner Grande
C. Frank Terhune, an Easter Sermon: "God's Big But" (no kidding!)
Gerald Biesecker-Mast's paper from Theologia Pacis on Pacifist Gospel Epstimology.
An essay by the Rev. John Hill on Mimetic Theory and Catechesis
