The Empire Strikes Back

In Christ and Empire, Joerg Rieger, the Wendland-Cook Endowed Professor of Constructive Theology at Perkins School of Theology (SMU), argues for a more comprehensive understanding of how empire shaped first-century life in the Roman Empire.

“Emperors were revered as divine and gave orders to build temples and altars for themselves.” (26) The emperor was credited with healing power and the ability to bring peace and security to the world. (ibid)  The language that Christians associate now with Christ is the same language attributed to Augustus and later emperors then: dikaiosynē (“justice”), eirēnē (“peace”) and kyrios (“lord”). (31)

Explaining that the context of empire was pervasive, he describes the emperor cult as not only political but also economic, cultural and religious and reminds us that the tendency to delineate these different spheres of our lives is a modern phenomenon. (26-27)

Rieger suggests that today we need to be more aware of how empire theology and the top-down “logic of empire” inform our present-day theological understanding and our society.  He commends Paul’s words in Philippians 2:5-11, quoting Antoinette Clark Wire who sees here “the voluntary downward plunge of the divine”: (43)

5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,
8  he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross.

Rieger argues that Jesus deliberately and decisively reverses the logic of empire. 

Answering charges that empire is not wholly negative and acknowledging that some people will be unaware of “the pressures produced by empire” and imperceptive of its influence, Rieger asserts that “empire can be problematic even when it is morally correct and benevolent.” (44) By definition, empire builds or increases its own power and benefits its own interests; consequently, there are large groups of people who do not benefit from the work of the empire. This is why it is vital that we understand how broadly empire informs our context and why our Christian witness cannot be apolitical.  (ibid)

Rieger identifies the crucifixion of Jesus as political action, writing “the cross was a well-known political tool for breaking the will of the people.” It was the empire striking back, against the proclamation that urged listeners to not promote themselves on the backs of those less fortunate, but instead “[identify] oneself with those who huddle together on the broken, bottom rungs of the human ladder.” (43) Proclaiming Christ as Lord involves “real transformation of the world in ways that go against the grain of the empire and that the empire cannot envision.” (49)

Want to hear more? In Spring 2011 Rieger addresses Earlham School of Religion in a three-part series on Christ and Empire. You can view it Part 1 here: Joerg Rieger -- Lecture One: "Empire and Economics: The Difference Christianity Makes" on Vimeo. Progressive Christian Center of the South has additional video Q & A featuring John Dominic Crossan and Rieger in dialog about God and Empire.