Why is no prophet accepted in her/his hometown?
What does this mean for us as preachers?
Surely, the task that you are considering,
if you are visiting this site, is a prophetic one. What does it mean to us
to hear that a prophet will not be heard at home?
It is exceedingly difficult to preach
peace from within a system that rewards/depends upon scapegoating. Unless
we are willing to be expelled ourselves for naming the process, our witness
will ring untrue.
It might occur to some of us to say,
“Yes, but I preach to a marginalized group, so I can name the process
of exclusion without risking expulsion.” This would be a dangerous thing
to think. Because we are human, because we are sinful, because we are caught
up in the mimesis from infancy, all of us need to be called to repentance,
not just the “rich.” If we are on the “outside,” and
harbor, however secretly, the desire to be “inside,” then we are
caught up in the mimetic system, and we need to hear the prophetic word.
When Jesus is confronted with the question
of paying taxes to Caesar (Lk 20:20-26) it is thought that it will work because
Jesus must, in answering, alienate either the emperor (don’t pay taxes)
or the people (do pay taxes). In other words, the questioners are counting
on the mimetic hatred of the powerless for the powerful. Mimesis is the perfect
mechanism, because it ensnares the victims of injustice just as thoroughly
as the perpetrators.
The prophetic word, the word that declares
that our labels and boundaries are all false, will always risk rejection,
most especially by our “home town” folks. The added difficulty
of preaching this peace in our home town is that there is an assumed contract
between us and those who think they “know” us. We are permitted
to assume the mantle of leadership in return for the implied promise that
we will confine our criticism to those who are “outside,” especially
if that outside comprises the wealthy or powerful. Preaching Peace, however
always means naming our “insideness,” even if our insideness involves
our being poor or powerless, as a characteristic of our mimetic blindness.
No wonder Jesus spent his time moving
from one place to another….
Why is the gospel rejected? If it is such
good news then why don’t people embrace it right and left?
The gospel is rejected by both the church
and the world. With regard to the church, it is possible to trace The Subversion
of Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986) as Jacques Ellul has shown.
From our earliest articles in mimetic theory through this website we have
sought to show specifically how the church has capitulated to a sacrificial
hermeneutic. Christians reject the gospel because it is an affront to their
sacrificial hermeneutic. The Christian sacrificial hermeneutic is no different
than the Jewish version, the Muslim version, the mythic version or any religious
ideology that bears the marks that mimetic theory says will be there: mimesis,
rivalry, victimage and the sacralization of violence.
One does not have to go far to demonstrate
this. We offer just three simple Protestant examples. First is a popular theory
of the atonement, where Jesus’ death satisfies the demands of a just
God, as the perfect sacrifice for sin upon whom God can pour a righteous wrath.
The ‘satisfaction’ theory of the atonement clearly bears the marks
of a sacrificial hermeneutic. Violence is an aspect of divinity. There is
no more blasphemous projection than this, yet it is asserted all of the time,
almost everywhere.
Or look at the way the doctrine of election
has functioned for the Reformed tradition and Evangelicalism. God is essentially
arbitrary, electing some to heaven, others to hell. Now election may well
have been intended to guard the freedom of God’s grace, but behind the
western doctrine of election looms a God who has a hell. From eternity hell
exists. Violence is an aspect of divinity. (Yet when pressed, these same Christians
will fall into the trap of having to argue that the reason God has elected
them is because God foreknew they would believe thus throwing out the Reformation
‘sola gratia.’)
How can you justify a sacrificial hermeneutic?
It’s rather simple, it is logical and it demonstrably false. We refer
to theories of the inspiration of Scripture that utilize the language of infallibility
or worse still, inerrancy. This view posits that 1) God is perfect, and 2)
God wrote the Bible, therefore 3) therefore the Bible must be perfect. Everything
written in the Bible is God’s holy word. Everything. This way of viewing
‘holy’ literature can also be found in Judaism and Islam. Did
God write all three? Is God that confused?
A doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture
is only necessary when the generative mimetic scapegoating mechanism must
justify its retaliatory posture. Or we might say it is our way of seeking
divine approval for our violence. A theory of inspiration is a hermeneutic;
it is the postulation of the interpretive grid to be used. The scapegoat mechanism
needs such a theory. If the Bible says God is retributive then God is retributive,
it is part of the divine nature. All of this may be muted with the language
of justice, honor, righteous indignation and such. But essentially God suffers
a mental disorder. God can’t decide whether we are to be loved or punished.
Violence is an aspect of divinity.
There are so many other examples of Protestant
‘doctrines’ currently preached and practiced that could be mentioned.
This is to say nothing of the effects of negative mimesis on any other branch
of Christianity. When you take a long look back through the history of Christianity
through the lens of mimetic theory, it is startling to see the results.
The world has also rejected the Gospel
in many ways. The scientific demystification of the creation and the creation
process has laid a formidable challenge before the church. Almost all of the
problems that beset Christianity in the present can be traced to encroachment
of scientific inquiry in all of its forms. Heat is generated when scientific
inquiry is able to prove that the Bible is not perfect as is claimed by those
whose theory of inspiration is such. And so the Christian sacrificial theorists
go up against the scientific sacrificial spirit in a titanic struggle for
the minds of humanity.
We believe it is possible to say that
this struggle is negatively mimetic on both sides. They both share what they
reject in the other: mimetically conceived guardianship of truth = power.
But, from our perspective, science has also played an important role in relation
to Scripture. Like the church, science is apparently unaware that it is a
vehicle of and for the Spirit. Girard has argued in many places that the scientific
rejection of the gospels and the Gospel message is because science has first
read the Bible through the lens of sacrificial thinking. And so in rejecting
the arbitrary God of Christianity, science has contributed to the deconstruction
of the mythology as it surrounds the gospel in the church. This deconstruction
is the work of the Spirit.
“True demystification has nothing
to do with automobiles and electricity, contrary to what Bultmann imagined.
Real demystification comes from our religious tradition. We ‘moderns’
believe we possess intuitive knowledge solely because we are completely immersed
in our ‘modernity.’ Let us not confuse true enlightenment with
the idolatry of the here and now.” Rene Girard I See Satan Fall Like
Lightning
“The invention of science is not the reason that there are no longer
any witch hunts, but the fact that there are no longer any witch hunts is
the reason that science has been invented. The scientific spirit, like the
spirit of enterprise in an economy, is a by-product of the profound action
of the Gospel text. The modern Western world has forgotten the revelation
in favor of its by-products, making them weapons and instruments of power;
and now the process has turned against it. Believing itself a liberator, it
discovers its role as persecutor. Children curse their fathers and become
their judges. Contemporary scholars discover traces of magic in all the classical
forms of rationalism and science. Instead of braking through the circle of
violence and the sacred as they imagined they were doing, our predecessors
re-created weakened variations of myths and rituals.” Rene Girard The
Scapegoat
As we saw last week, the gospel is rejected
because in the gospel God is telling us that God goes to our enemies. That
is the Gospel! God telling us that he is going to our enemies means that the
fight is over.
And God is not going to our enemies the
way we want, with righteous retribution and horrible wrath and some kind of
terrible swift sword. No, God is going to our enemies to announce liberation
and tidings. By going to our enemies, God is effectively saying that he is
on their side. He is on the side of the enemy.
The good news for you and I is that we
too are someone else’s enemy and there, God is on our side. What if,
because God was on the side of our enemies, having heard this message that
God loves and forgives them, what if, our enemies should forgive us? What
if, God being on our side as another’s enemy, we should forgive the
one who hates us? Would there not be peace on earth?
This passage sets the tone for much of
the rest of Luke’s work, as it shows the pattern of the rejection of the
prophet like Moses that will characterize the whole of the gospel, and the Travel
Narrative (9:51-19:44) in particular.
We cite a couple of paragraphs from the
book “Luke’s Use of Matthew” to summarize:
Jesus, anointed by the Spirit, comes
into his home territory and delivers a message rife with the major themes
of his early Galilean ministry (Lk 4:16-30). These themes, which constitute
the fulfillment of the Isaianic hopes, inclue: (1) the announcement of good
news to the poor (Lk 4:18; cf. 4:31-41; 5:12-6:11); and the extension of the
benefits of the new era even to the most marginalized persons (Lk 4:24-27).
The latter themes, with their direct references to particular incidents in
the prophetic mission of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kgs 17:1-24; 2 Kgs 4:1-14) are
especially significant since, at the end of this part, Jesus the Prophet-Messiah
recapitulates these wonderful deeds of the earlier prophets (Lk 7:1-23). All
of these marvelous happenings are structured by Luke into a lengthy trip from
Capernaum to Capernaum that spans the greater part of this section (Lk 4:31-71).
Yet, already as early as Lk 2:34-35,
an ominous tone of possible rejection by the venerable leaders of the established
order within Israel is introduced. This is symbolized by the rejection of
Jesus’ message by the people of Nazareth (Lk 4:28-30); and later by
the Pharisees and their scribes (Lk 5:21, 30; 6:2, 7).
(Luke’s
Use of Matthew, p. 85)
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 Article!
Preaching
Peace in Hollywood: The Theologies of Termintator 3, Lord of the Rings 3,
and Matrix 3
Want to learn more about
Mimetic theory as it works itself out in the church?
Take a class! Michael
is teaching a class this Spring at the Mercer School of Theology on Long Island.
You can see the syllabus
by clicking here.
You can get contact information
for the Mercer School by clicking
here, or just call (516) 248-4800, ext. 40
Jer 1:4-10
Ps 71:1-6
1 Cor 13:1-13
Lk 4:21-30
(Jeremiah 1:4-10)
Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Before I formed you in the
womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you
a prophet to the nations." Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do
not know how to speak, for I am only a boy." But the LORD said to me,
"Do not say, 'I am only a boy'; for you shall go to all to whom I send
you, and you shall speak whatever I command you, Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD." Then the LORD put out
his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, "Now I have put
my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to
plant."
(1 Corinthians 13:1-13)
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love,
I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and
understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as
to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all
my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not
have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious
or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is
not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices
in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come
to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come
to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when
the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I
spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when
I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror,
dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I
will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and
love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
(Luke 4:21-30)
Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled
in your hearing." All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious
words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"
He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor,
cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things
that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" And he said, "Truly I
tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. But the truth
is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven
was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over
all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath
in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet
Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian. " When
they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up,
drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their
town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through
the midst of them and went on his way.
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
