Romans Disarmed Quotes

“In such ecological destruction, we are also throwing our children and our grandchildren into the hands of this idolatrous economy. As we sacrifice the planet, we also sacrifice future generations. But what else could be expected from humans whose are reduced to competitive consumers? The future generations end up being little more than additional competitors, people who would strip us of our entitlement to prosperity now. Let’s not mince our words here. This is a praxis of child sacrifice.”
― Sylvia C Keesmaat, Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice

“Everyone wants the kingdom to come, but no one wants to give up their coffee.”
― Sylvia C Keesmaat, Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice

“The importance of a God who engages in lament with God’s people cannot be overestimated. For, at bottom, the practice of lament is the practice of truth-telling, the practice of naming the injustice, naming the pain, naming the horror that violence and lies create.13”
― Sylvia C Keesmaat, Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice

“Those who love God are those who embrace their calling to tend creation, who have a vision of life in the face of death, and who claim redemption even against the evidence.”
― Sylvia C Keesmaat, Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice

“Rather than challenging such false powers who bring death through injustice (5:17, 21; 6:13), the church has often engaged in political accommodation. This has been most apparent when those who wield political authority are willing to be called “Christian.” In fact, it is particularly when governments call themselves Christian while engaging in oppressive and violent behavior that Romans 13:1–7 is appealed to as the summation of Paul’s political ethic.”
― Sylvia C Keesmaat, Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice

“Another way to put this is to ask, To whose household do we belong? If to Caesar’s, then continue with meal practices that reflect his household and his economy. But if we belong to the household of Jesus, if Jesus is Lord, then our eating together must bear witness to the economy of the kingdom of God.”
― Sylvia C Keesmaat, Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice

“What we need is a transformed imagination, not a list of rules.”
― Sylvia C Keesmaat, Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice

“While depression leaves us stuck in the brokenness of the present, lament entails a vision of life that calls us forward.”
― Sylvia C Keesmaat, Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice