Was Jesus liberal or conservative?

[Amadeus]

Is it possible to determine whether Jesus was liberal or conservative? Or is he a vessel for our own political and ideological leanings?

 

[Grand Mal]

Is it possible to determine whether Jesus was liberal or conservative? Or is he a vessel for our own political and ideological leanings?

Ohferchristsake.
If Jesus were alive today would He be a Republican or a Democrat? Because He'd definitely be American, right? Would He be a guest spot for Rush Limbaugh or Bill Maher? Might depend on which agency He signed with.

 

[jet57]

Well, if we consider his leanings along side the Romans, that would make him a flaming liberal who believed in the welfare state.

 

[instagramsci]

Is it possible to determine whether Jesus was liberal or conservative? Or is he a vessel for our own political and ideological leanings?

assigning modern politics to someone who lived 2000 years ago never seemed to make much sense to me

 

[Gathomas88]

He was a fairly hardcore Social Conservative even by the standards of his own day. He didn't really give a damn about politics, or the specifics of governance.

He kept company with tax collectors, even though they were pretty much universally despised for enforcing government policies which tended to be more than a bit rough on the poor. He also said that one should "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" when asked about paying obedience to Roman laws and military rule.

The modern conception of Christ as some sort of anti-establishment Hippie is largely bunk. He preached of God, what was necessary to follow him faithfully, what should be avoided for getting in the way of that goal, and not much else.

 

[Thrilla]

Is it possible to determine whether Jesus was liberal or conservative? Or is he a vessel for our own political and ideological leanings?

there's a reason Jesus did not involve himself with politics.... or any of the political factions of government.

it might have something to do with his words to the effect of "My kingdom is not of this world."

IMO, trying to put him into a modern political box does a disservice to him and his message... it cheapens him dramatically.

 

[mak2]

do you think Jesus would be for capital punishment? I doubt it.

 

[Amadeus]

Ohferchristsake.
If Jesus were alive today would He be a Republican or a Democrat? Because He'd definitely be American, right? Would He be a guest spot for Rush Limbaugh or Bill Maher? Might depend on which agency He signed with.

Obviously I wasn't referring to political party, since I specifically avoided their reference.

 

[Amadeus]

assigning modern politics to someone who lived 2000 years ago never seemed to make much sense to me

Ideology is not necessarily political. It is the prism through which one views the world, and we have the views of Jesus fairly well written.

 

[dani67]

Jesus was looser.
Constantine made christianity after hundreds years

 

[Frank Apisa]

Is it possible to determine whether Jesus was liberal or conservative? Or is he a vessel for our own political and ideological leanings?

Whether he was a conservative or liberal in his day and place...is of little consequences.

My guess is if he reappeared today and found that American conservatives use him and his teachings as a large part of their base...

...he would vomit.

 

[RAMOSS]

Is it possible to determine whether Jesus was liberal or conservative? Or is he a vessel for our own political and ideological leanings?

Since both liberal and conservative Christians claim that Jesus was just like them, no.

 

[CLAX1911]

He was a fairly hardcore Social Conservative even by the standards of his own day. He didn't really give a damn about politics, or the specifics of governance.

I don't think so. He really made it clear that you had a choice to follow him or not. Social conservatism is really just another word for progressivism. Or eliminating choice.

 

[JC Callender]

I would say Jesus is above politics, in the sense that Jesus embodies the life that we all ultimately want for ourselves and each other but we're too immature, unwise, and lack the knowledge to understand how to obtain that so we create our own ideas of how to achieve that with our limited mental resources and those ideas often fit into a political ideology.

 

[sookster]

Liberal. He's more for the community rather than the individual.

 

[_Sal]

Is it possible to determine whether Jesus was liberal or conservative? Or is he a vessel for our own political and ideological leanings?

LOL...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz hear that noise...it's the sound of hornets stirring... :flames: opcorn: (someone bring me a lounge chair) I wanna watch this

 

[spud_meister]

do you think Jesus would be for capital punishment? I doubt it.

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. If you forfeit your life under the rule of law, the you must die.

 

[countryboy]

Jesus was looser.
Constantine made christianity after hundreds years

How do you explain all those ancient manuscripts? :roll:

 

[Sherman123]

Well his legal philosophy would probably be more 'liberal' than conservative, just as an evaluation of his thought process.

 

[dani67]

How do you explain all those ancient manuscripts? :roll:

WHICH ancient manuscripts?

 

[OrphanSlug]

Is it possible to determine whether Jesus was liberal or conservative? Or is he a vessel for our own political and ideological leanings?

Neither, which is to say it is an exercise in political ideological vanity to try to classify Jesus as liberal or conservative in our terms today.

If anything, Jesus leaned to a brand of social conservatism that no longer exists in our modern context. There is nothing remotely comparable between the time Jesus existed and today with respect to the roles of men and women, education, social understandings, etc. There is no real biblical account to suggest a lean to a wealth based aristocracy or government based aristocracy either. Perhaps there was leanings to a degree of theocracy, but not in our terms or what has been seen realized in several nations (in the sense of a government taking a role in religious authority terms, in the same sense as the Islamic faith does.) To top it all off there are too many contradictory lessons from the OT&NT when it comes to things like peace, conflict avoidance, socialism, role of the state, etc.

Simply put, Jesus would not fit anywhere in our current political climate. Odds are Jesus would look at today's Republicans as war-mongering, wealth-leaning, interventionist aristocrats that have caused a great deal of loss of life. At the same time Jesus would look at today's Democrats as anti-moral, government-loving, wealth-leaning aristocrats of another flavor.

 

[code1211]

Is it possible to determine whether Jesus was liberal or conservative? Or is he a vessel for our own political and ideological leanings?

He recommended divestiture of wealth.

The modern embodiment of that recommendation is that we give all of our money to the church and then keep giving after that.

So, from a political stand point, we see a Man who is a great orator, is poor, says that those who are rich are evil and will pay a penalty when judged by the all knowing, all seeing Master of the Universe.

Sounds like a Democrat to me.

 

[ludin]

He was a fairly hardcore Social Conservative even by the standards of his own day. He didn't really give a damn about politics, or the specifics of governance.

he preached everything that liberals would loathe today. Personal responsibility, Personal integrity, Moral values, Righteous living etc.

He kept company with tax collectors, even though they were pretty much universally despised for enforcing government policies which tended to be more than a bit rough on the poor. He also said that one should "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" when asked about paying obedience to Roman laws and military rule.

it was worse than that on taxpayers. they literally were thieves. so if you were a tax collector you were expected to collect a certain amount. so lets say that is 1000 dollars.
that was what the romans wanted. whatever you collected over that was your pay. so if you collected 1500 then you could keep 500. that is the reason they were despised.
they were over charging people on taxes and keeping the overage.

The modern conception of Christ as some sort of anti-establishment Hippie is largely bunk. He preached of God, what was necessary to follow him faithfully, what should be avoided for getting in the way of that goal, and not much else.

I agree with this 100%.

 

[ludin]

He recommended divestiture of wealth.

The modern embodiment of that recommendation is that we give all of our money to the church and then keep giving after that.

So, from a political stand point, we see a Man who is a great orator, is poor, says that those who are rich are evil and will pay a penalty when judged by the all knowing, all seeing Master of the Universe.

Sounds like a Democrat to me.

and you couldn't be more wrong.

Christ never preached against wealth. in fact how do you think his ministry functioned? he had a great many wealthy people that he knew in different cities.
it took a great deal of money to travel and feed 12 people like he did. he depended on the generosity of other people.

Mary and Martha were very wealthy, however they didn't love their money. which is what Christ preached against. the love of money above all else and the love
of material things.

 

[code1211]

He was a fairly hardcore Social Conservative even by the standards of his own day. He didn't really give a damn about politics, or the specifics of governance.

He kept company with tax collectors, even though they were pretty much universally despised for enforcing government policies which tended to be more than a bit rough on the poor. He also said that one should "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" when asked about paying obedience to Roman laws and military rule.

The modern conception of Christ as some sort of anti-establishment Hippie is largely bunk. He preached of God, what was necessary to follow him faithfully, what should be avoided for getting in the way of that goal, and not much else.

Of course, that is if we are to believe the accounts of exactly what it was that he preached.

There were no stenographers writing things down when the loaves and fishes were being distributed. After 60 minutes, the things a person says often get distorted good or bad. I've left meetings oin which what the speaker said was heard 10 different ways by 10 different listeners.

After 60 to 100 years? Translated from Aramaic to Greek and then to English? We're lucky if even one original thought survived.

Still, it is the thought that is presented that stirs the world, is it not?

I'm pretty sure that even my words, edited and improved, translated and enhanced over a couple hundred years could turn into something pretty dynamic as well.