Jesus’s call to common living (the sharing of all money and possessions) is read by many as a political conviction about how society should be. And while this has not been the traditional interpretation of the Christian establishment, it is a popular means of arguing that Jesus intended his moral philosophy to be applied at a socioeconomic, as well as personal, level. In the Continue Reading …
Parables as a Guide to Jesus the Philosopher, Part 11: Poverty
Some of Jesus’s teachings go beyond the virtue of nonpossessiveness and become notably specific about what to do with wealth once you have detached yourself from it: give it away to the poor (Hill, 63). But was Jesus espousing a political philosophy or merely a private morality? Was Jesus a communist? And if Jesus valued being poor, did he do so as a means to an end, or as Continue Reading …
Parables as a Guide to Jesus the Philosopher, Part 9: Mammon
As it’s been nine months since the last installment of this project, let's recap: Parts one to four were primarily concerned with the foundational, regulative virtue of prudence, and the last four parts continued to identify ways in which individuals can improve themselves. These were virtues of humility, nonjudgmentalism, and nonpossessiveness. We explored these three virtues Continue Reading …
Parables as a Guide to Jesus the Philosopher, Part 8: More Possessiveness
This part continues straight on from the previous one, exploring the virtue of nonpossessivenes in relation to Jesus's parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13–21), but also takes a look at some similarities between this virtue and ideas from other ancient traditions. Continue Reading …
Parables as a Guide to Jesus the Philosopher, Part 7: Possessiveness
What is the most repeated phrase in the Bible? “Do not worry.” In this part, we continue from where we left off with Jesus's statements on justice, analyzing his approach to anxiety. In the previous part we saw how one section of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6:19–34) can be applied to one common form of anxiety—negative self-image—and here we will turn to worries about Continue Reading …