Almighty Matters: God's Hidden Politics in the Bible

Almighty Matters: Gods Politics in the Bible explores the underlying politics of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles by uncovering their political-theological connection in a single story line. The politics of the New Testament completes the politics of the Old. Although it has long been recognized that the Hebrew Bible prominently portrays the political development of Gods Chosen People the role of Jesus as a politician the founder of a movement aimed from its beginning at subverting and capturing the Roman Empire has not been recognized. Putting the Hebrew and Christian Bibles political approach foremost shows why so much of it is hidden and why until recently Jewish-Christian relations have been contrary to Gods design. In Almighty Matters Dr. Berry an accomplished political scientist with ecumenical sensibilities and a strong understanding of the Bible reveals a political-theological strain in the Bible that runs throughout with Jesus as the divine politician who pulls it all together. Almighty Matters offers Christians a chance to deepen their faith by deepening their understanding of the Biblical narrative. --Christopher Dreisbach Professor of Moral and Systematic Theology The Ecumenical Institute of Theology St. Marys Seminary & University Almighty Matters is a lively controversial reading of the Bible as the record of a unified project to institute Gods politics on earth from the failure of ancient Israelites to establish a powerful and enduring kingdom in the Promised Land to the success of Jesus in starting a universal religious movement that eventually replaced the Roman Empire. . . . His experience and expertise in international politics invest his interpretive speculations with insight and authority. --David L. Weddle Professor Emeritus of Religion The Colorado College This book evaluates Biblical teachings and history from a strictly political angle. The reader may miss many standard religious comments but will find many other surprising and illuminating ones that will challenge some assumptions and broaden perspectives. --Bill Shepard Author of Introducing Islam Professor Berry gives his readers a fast-paced and fascinating romp through the Hebrew and Christian scriptures unlike any they have read before. After establishing a reputation as a scholar of international relations which included being awarded a Fulbright fellowship Berry turns his attention to the Bible which he views as politics of the first order. His analysis reaches conclusions that will challenge the readers understanding of the Bible. --William Akin Professor of History Emeritus Ursinus College Nicholas Berry is Professor of Politics Emeritus at Ursinus College a former Fulbright Scholar at the University of Auckland in New Zealand author of five books and co-author of a best-selling international relations textbook and now directs the Foreign Policy Forum Website. In practical politics he is a former two-term mayor of Mt. Vernon Iowa and served as Democratic Party chairman in Lynchburg Virginia and Annapolis Maryland.