The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church

by Gregory A. Boyd

oppressor and oppressed, in bondage.12

For example, Jesus never entered into the fray of particular debates about the status of women in society. He rather exposed the ugliness of patriarchalism by the countercultural way he treated women.

no distinction would be made on the basis of a person’s social, economic, moral, or even religious standing.

religious rules (which in first-century Judaism had political force)

the kingdom community would not be characterized by “power over” but by “power under.”

remember the barbari prayer let our enemies suffer

7. Many contemporary Christians are surprised to learn the church has historically never had a consensus of opinion on these questions.