JESUS TODAY - A SPIRITUALITY OF RADICAL FREEDOM

by Albert Nolan

A Review - by Ardeth Platte, O.P.

The author, Albert Nolan, whets our spiritual, truth-telling appetites with his book, Jesus Before Christianity . In 2006, more than thirty years later, he challenges us to be radically free and responsive in prophetic ministries with our understanding of the signs of the times in our social justice and peace lives.

In this book review I hope to whet your appetite by using some of the excerpts and passages that were meaningful to me. These may capture your interest to read and reread this book, deepening your own spirituality regardless of the particular faith you practice.

Nolan writes:

“My aim is to look more specifically at what Jesus might mean to you and me and our contemporaries in the twenty-first century.” (Preface xiv)

“We take Jesus seriously when, among other things, we begin to read the signs of our times with honesty and sincerity.” (Introduction xvii)

“All we ever seem to hear is bad news: wars, murder, abuse, institutional violence, terrorism and our destruction of the environment, not to mention earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes. In the face of all this, feelings of insecurity and hopelessness are inevitable.” (p.5)

In this uncertainty and insecurity, also another “sign is the widespread hunger for spirituality, the search for spirituality, the felt need for spirituality.” (pp.7,8)

“Western individualism is spreading throughout the world. It is part of neo-liberal globalization and it is destroying other more communitarian cultures in its wake.” (p.16)

“The history of all our wars is a history of people who were wounded, maimed for life, blown to pieces, melted down by napalm, massacred, tortured, humiliated and left to die in the trenches.” (p.26)

“Those who analyze and study structures of power in the world today are in no doubt about the dominance of the mighty American Empire with its weapons of mass destruction, its armies spread around the globe (745 bases in 120 countries), its attempts at controlling and dominating every country in the world....” (p. 31)

“...there is another kind of power that is developing...: the power of peace, compassion and justice.” (p.32)

Nolan shows us in Chapter 5 the spirituality of Jesus, one of a revolutionary not a reformer. He gleans from the Scripture those principles that turn everything upside down and right side up: not taking revenge, loving one's enemies, doing good to those who hate you, blessing those who curse you, forgiving them all seventy times seven, blessed are the poor for they find it easier to share, the rich find it difficult, if people hate you, exclude you, revile you, defame you - rejoice, all human beings are equal in dignity and worth (women and children included), advocate moving down the social ladder by taking the lowest place, prostitutes and tax collectors will gain an eternal reward, break the law whenever observing that it would harm people - what matters is people and their needs, God is a loving Abba, the community Jesus hoped for was more like a family of sisters and brothers with God as a loving parent in which there is love for one another. (pp. 50-62)

This spirituality that challenges our own prophetic ministry is rooted in prayer and contemplation and brings us into oneness with God, with ourselves, with each other, with all of creation and with the universe itself. Hopefully, you will delve in without delay. It will enhance your hope in these troubled times. Peace!