John Dominic Crossan: Paul, Rome, & the Violent Normalcy of Civilization

Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2025

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this session, biblical scholar Dominic Crossan examines the fundamental conflict between two visions of peace in the ancient world. He contrasts Augustus' Res Gestae (carved imperial boasts of achievements) with Paul's letters, revealing how Rome established "peace through victory" while Paul offered an alternative vision based on justice and non-violence. Crossan traces this tension back to Genesis, where human civilization begins with Cain's fratricide and escalates through generations of violence, contrasting sharply with the divine vision of creation centered on Sabbath justice. Through archaeological evidence from Galatian sites where Paul traveled, Crossan demonstrates how these competing worldviews physically manifested in the landscape, ultimately challenging us to consider whether humanity's inherent tendency toward escalating violence makes us a sustainable species or whether we must embrace Paul's alternative vision of peace through justice. To access all 5 of Crossan's lectures, submit questions, and join future live streams, head here to join the class. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube John Dominic Crossan, professor emeritus at DePaul University, is widely regarded as the foremost historical Jesus scholar of our time. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Historical Jesus, How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian, God and Empire, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, The Greatest Prayer, The Last Week, and The Power of Parable. He lives in Minneola, Florida. Previous Podcast Episodes with Dom & Tripp Paul & the Fictional History of Luke-Acts Paul & Thecla Ask JC Anything Diana Butler Bass & John Dominic Crossan: The Resurrection of Jesus Brian McLaren & John Dominic Crossan: The Message of Jesus & the Judgement of Civilization Brian Zahnd & John Dominic Crossan: God, Violence, Empire, & Salvation Why the Biblical Paul is Awesome Christian Resurrection & Human Evolution The Cross & the Crisis of Civilization The Coming Kingdom & the Risen Christ The Parables of Jesus & the Parable of God How to think about Jesus like a Historian the Last Week of Jesus’ Life Jesus, Paul, & Bible Questions Saving the Biblical Christmas Stories the most important discovery for understanding Jesus The Bible, Violence, & Our Future Resurrecting Easter on the First Christmas From Jesus’ Parables to Parables of God Render Unto Caesar on God & Empire Join Dom Crossan at ...Theology Beer Camp | St. Paul, MN | October 16-18, 2025 3 Days of Craft Nerdiness with 50+ Theologians & God-Pods and 600 new friends. A Five-Week Online Lenten Class w/ John Dominic Crossan Join us for a transformative 5-week Lenten journey on "Paul the Pharisee: Faith and Politics in a Divided World."This course examines the Apostle Paul as a Pharisee deeply engaged with the turbulent political and religious landscape of his time. For details and to sign-up for any donation, including 0, head over here. _____________________ Hang with 40+ Scholars & Podcasts and 600 people at Theology Beer Camp 2025 (Oct. 16-18) in St. Paul, MN. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 80,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 45 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone. This is Tripp and I'm here with John Dominique Crosson and today we're going to be talking about Paul and his relationship with Rome, the challenge of civilization, its addiction to violence, and just what?
0:17.3	Paul's radical alternative vision looks like we got a whole bunch of questions sent in from all the members of our class, this lent.
0:29.0	And it's based on the third lecture.
0:31.8	There are five lectures.
0:33.2	And if you say to yourself, whoa, whoa, I want to watch this lecture.
0:37.2	If the questions are this exciting, then I clearly want to see the visual lecture with pictures
0:41.9	and from all over the different archaeological options, looking at all the different text that Dom raises in it.
0:48.8	Then head over to cross-in class.com where you can join up, get access to the lectures,
0:54.0	and you'll get emails where you can join up, get access to the lectures, and you'll get emails
0:55.6	where you can respond and send questions for the future Q&As. So I'm very excited to be
1:03.3	looking at some amazing questions from the group this time. Now, Dom, before we jump into that,
1:33.0	I think it might be good just for you to, in a sense, this is kind of the turning point in the lecture series of looking at how Paul's, the radical response to Paul was embraced in the life of Tecla and expressed there and how it's uh resisted um in in luke acts so when we think of these two different responses to paul what's the goal in trying to
1:38.5	trying to like to name the contrast of paul's vision for the world in the resurrection and the challenge of civilization.
1:46.6	And I think the pivot here is what I was trying to do is locate a place where Paul had to look
1:55.4	at the Roman Empire. I mean, of course, it's all around him. How can you not? If he's using money at all,
2:02.2	of any type he's going to know about it. But I wanted to try and get him in a place, Galatia,
2:07.7	where especially you could see the acts of the divine Augustus, as it were, bring them together
2:16.2	there, because in other ones I talked about,
2:18.4	say, the altar of Augustine Peace, well, I, you know, I wanted to locate them there and
2:26.5	try to imagine the res jested, the actual writings, now the writings of Augustus.
2:35.2	And I mean the writings.
2:37.2	What he wanted to say,
	...

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