Was Jesus a Revolutionary? Cullmann, Boff, and Nolan

Key Scholars: Cullmann, Nolan, and Boff

This paper draws on the work of three significant theological voices: Oscar Cullmann, Albert Nolan, and Leonardo Boff. Oscar Cullmann was a Christian theologian within the Lutheran tradition whose most notable work involved the ecumenical movement. He was partly responsible for fostering dialogue between the Roman Catholic and Lutheran traditions.

Albert Nolan was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Of English descent and a fourth-generation South African, Nolan was influenced by Thomas Merton and became deeply drawn to the idea of the spiritual life. He ultimately joined the Dominican Order in 1954, studying in both Rome and South Africa, and eventually earned a doctorate.

Born Genezio Darci Boff, Leonardo Boff hails from Concordia, Santa Catarina, Brazil. He entered the Franciscan Order in 1959 and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1964. He subsequently studied for a doctorate in philosophy and theology at the University of Munich, which he completed in 1970. His doctoral thesis examined the ways in which the Church can be considered a sign of the divine and the sacred in the secular world, and within the process of liberating the oppressed. Boff published his thesis as a book in German, titled Die Kirche als Sakrament im Horizont der Welterfahrung. He became one of the most prominent early voices in Liberation Theology, present during the first stirrings of indignation against desolation and marginalization that gave rise to that movement.

Introduction: The Quest for the Historical Jesus

Within recent quests for the historical Jesus, one significant debate focuses on the degree to which people characterize Jesus as a revolutionary. The West tends to connect this question to the counterculture movements of the 1960s. While that cultural moment may have intensified the debate, other influences come from Liberation theologies emerging from developing countries — theologies that argue one must first use a political key to unlock access to the historical Jesus.

To understand what Scripture reveals about Jesus and his actions, one must ask what Jesus Christ thought of himself, because hermeneutical attempts alone to reconstruct his life and ideas are insufficient. It therefore becomes important to examine Jesus's self-understanding, which stands at the center of his encounters with first-century Jewish revolutionaries. Scholars such as Cullmann, Boff, and Nolan have made significant contributions over the past several decades to this investigation.

Jesus and His Revolutionary Company

The influence of S. G. F. Brandon's study lasted well into the 1980s, with Brandon serving as the catalyst for the modern discussion of Jesus as a revolutionary. Brandon saw Jesus as being in fundamental agreement with the revolutionaries' objectives and perhaps even with their strategies. To assess whether Jesus was a revolutionary, it is important to examine first the company he kept. Several of his twelve disciples bore names and nicknames that, when translated, carry revolutionary implications.

A clear example is the phrase Ioudas ho Iskariotes, which roughly translates as "Judas who was one of the sicarii," or Simon bar Jona, which has been translated as "Simon the anarchist." The epithet "Son of Thunder" (Mark 3:17) has been read as suggesting that these men favored military action in dealings with Rome. Luke 22:49–50 may provide additional plausible context. Most significant, perhaps, is the phrase in Luke 6:15 — Simon the zelotes — which may mean "Simon the Revolutionary." Nevertheless, linguistic evidence alone does not establish with certainty that Simon was indeed a revolutionary opposed to Roman rule.

Conclusion: Revolutionary Ambiguity

Jesus Christ sparked revolution and revolutionary sentiment in others. However, the nature of his revolutionary impulse was not the same as that of his disciples and contemporaries. Some of his disciples actively sought to remove Roman influence. Judas may have betrayed Jesus precisely because his expectation that Jesus would lead the Jews in revolution proved wrong. Regardless of the true nature of events in Jesus's life, the Gospel passages examined here consistently show that he did not wish to engage politically with Rome.

Jesus's focus was on securing a deeper connection with God. He believed himself to be the messiah of his people, but not one who would wage war or harm others. He demonstrated this during the feeding in the wilderness and in his response to the question of paying tribute. Jesus did not experience true Roman oppression and therefore had no compelling reason to move actively against Rome.

Whether that disqualifies him as a revolutionary remains ambiguous. His actions both inspired and deflected the idea of revolution. As a subject of historical inquiry, Jesus was and remains a mystery.

References

Boff, Leonardo. Jesus Christ Liberator. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1978. Print.

Crossan, John Dominic. The Historical Jesus. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991. Print.

Cullmann, Oscar. Jesus and the Revolutionaries. New York: Harper & Row, 1970. Print.

Hendricks, Obery M. The Politics of Jesus. New York: Doubleday, 2006. Print.

Mirecki, Paul Allan. The Bible in Context. United States of America: Cognella Academic Publishing, 2015. Print.

Nolan, Albert. Jesus Before Christianity. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1978. Print.

Vigeveno, H. S. Jesus the Revolutionary. Glendale, Calif.: G/L Publications, 1966. Print.

Witherington, Ben. The Christology of Jesus. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990. Print.