Resources for week of 10/17:

Nederveen Pieterse, Jan Globalization and Culture: Global Mélance Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2004. This book discusses globalization as an historical process that can be viewed from various fields and vantage points.

Isaiah 34- this is perhaps one of the bloodier and more violent descriptions of the God that we serve. There are interesting questions that rise up out of this chapter. Are these literal images? If so, what does that say about God? Are these metaphorical images? If so, why are they used? What do they stand for?

Isaiah 2:1-5; 11:1-9- these seem to be visions of a future time when peace will reign and warfare will cease. What is our responsibility as Christ-followers in light of passages such as these? Are we to enter in this coming Kingdom of peace here and now and aid in the ushering in of these visions? Or are we as Christ-followers about standing up for justice of the oppressed, even if that means taking up arms? Is there a circumstance when that is called for?

Numbers 31; Jeremiah 50- these are two instances when God commands the Israelites to enter into battle and to kill every last one of their enemies. Is God a pacifist? A proponent of just-war? Somewhere outside of those two?

Matthew 5:29; Luke 6:29- Jesus gives us a command to turn the other cheek; when someone harms you, rather than retaliating, we are to offer more of ourselves to them. Is Jesus a pacifist? A proponent of just-war? Somewhere outside the two?

Matthew 5:38-42- in a similar vein, Jesus also commands us to offer kindness to evildoers. What does this say about entering into warfare in order to usher in justice?

Matthew 26:52- in this passage, Jesus is confronted by soldiers. He seems to know that his hour has come. Instead of accepting his disciple’s help, Jesus maintains that those who “live by the sword, die by the sword.”