Jesus, Politics and Society: A Study of Luke's Gospel

Fr. Cassidy studies Jesus vis-à-vis the socio-political aspects of life. He feels Luke chose & arranged his materials to show Jesus' attitude toward poverty, sickness, women & pagans. According to Luke Jesus called for service & humility as the basis to social relationships, rejecting violence as a response to oppression & injustice, yet teaching & acting assertively. He examines the way Jesus reacted toward political authorities especially in his trial & death. The four appendixes cover the Romans, the socio-economic factors of the time, the Jewish sociopolitical groups & the political apologetic argument of Hans Conzelmann set forth in The Theology of St. Luke ('53). Cassidy feels he differs with Conzelmann who fails to treat several important Lucan passages. This study is good for extremists. Jesus summarized God's law in two commandments. Some have emphasized the 1st, ignoring the sociopolitical concerns of love for their neighbor. Others have so concentrated on sociopolitical concerns that they fail to love God completely. Non-Xian philosophies emphasizing violence aren't in accord with the thinking of Jesus.