“ Jesus said his disciples would be known for their love, not for their placards of protest and angry letters to the editor. Brian Zahnd
“ I know what the cynics will say. I know how the scoffers will sneer. I know the non-dreamers believing only in the brutal ways of force will laugh me off as impossibly naive. But I don’t care. I’ve gr… Brian Zahnd
“ American Christians especially should keep in mind that we as the modern Romans—the privileged citizens of the world’s lone superpower—have more in common with Pontius Pilate than we do with Galilean… Brian Zahnd
“ It’s not the task of the church to change the world by legislative force. It’s the task of the church to be the world changed by Christ. This is revolutionary in a way that conventional politics never… Brian Zahnd
“ Feeling intimidated by the Scientific Revolution, fundamentalism takes a scientific approach to the Bible—which is perhaps the worst of all ways to approach Scripture. The Bible is not interested in g… Brian Zahnd
“ We eventually have to ask ourselves what did Jesus intend and when do we need to turn the other cheek? If our default response to this portion of the Sermon on the Mount is to craft exemptions, we mig… Brian Zahnd
“ This—when we feel hurt, threatened, or angered by a person, people-group, opinion, or situation, we instinctively look through the lens of self-defense. It’s like looking at something through the sigh… Brian Zahnd
“ The church sacrifices the beauty of Christianity when it chooses the political form over the cruciform. Reaching for the ring of power distorts our beauty. Brian Zahnd
“ Violence is the enslavement of a pervasive lie; it imposes upon men a falsified vision not only of God but also of everything else. And that is indeed why it is a closed kingdom. Escaping from violenc… Brian Zahnd
“ The resurrection of Jesus is not just a happy ending to the gospel story; it is the dawn of a new creation. No one captures this idea better than G. K. Chesterton in the close of part one of his class… Brian Zahnd
“ So when Jesus comes along and says to us, Love your enemy, we instinctively feel how radical it is. He’s not just giving individuals a personal ethic; he is striking at the very foundation of the worl… Brian Zahnd
“ Jesus overturned money-changing tables in the temple, but set up banqueting tables in his Father’s house. Brian Zahnd
“ Jesus didn’t seem very interested in exposing symptomatic sinners—tax collectors, drunkards, prostitutes, etc. Instead Jesus challenged the guardians of systemic sin—the power brokers of religion and… Brian Zahnd
“ It was Jesus’s ideas about truth and freedom that made him dangerous to the principalities and powers. But today our gospel isn’t very dangerous. It’s been tamed and domesticated. If Jesus of Nazareth… Brian Zahnd
“ Christianity is a confession, not an explanation. We will attempt to explain what we legitimately can, but we will always confess more than we can explain. Brian Zahnd
“ Not long ago I was in Istanbul, Turkey. While there I toured the Topkapi Palace—the former royal palace of the Ottoman sultans and center of the Ottoman Empire. Among the many artifacts collected thro… Brian Zahnd
“ Here in the second beatitude, Jesus is making an important announcement to those who, instead of finding a means of avoiding personal pain and shared sorrow, have allowed themselves to be sculpted by… Brian Zahnd
“ The beauty of the image of God marred in man through the Fall is what the Incarnation redeems. Brian Zahnd
