When Jesus came to Harvard : making moral choices today / Harvey Cox.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cox, Harvey, 1929-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jesus Christ--Example.

Jesus Christ.

Example.

Jesus Christ--Person and offices.

Christianity--Forecasting.

Christianity.

Physical Description:

viii, 338 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2004.

Summary:

Over the Fifteen Years that Harvey Cox taught his Harvard undergraduate class Jesus and the Moral Life, the course grew so popular that the lectures had to be taught in a theater usually reserved for rock concerts. The overwhelming response was a clear signal of the hunger for guidance in today's confusing world, where moral guidelines seem to shift daily. How can we ask today "What would Jesus do?" when Jesus never had to cope with an unintended pregnancy, or confront a teenage daughter about her drug use, or decide whether to put an ailing parent in a retirement home? In his new book, Cox brings the moral wisdom of Rabbi Jesus into the twenty-first century by way of the questions, arguments, responses, and doubts of centuries of rabbinic and Christian theological exploration, as well as the voices of the thousands of Harvard students who attended his course over the years. Cox shows how we can extrapolate from Jesus' parables and bridge the gap between the ancient and modern worlds. As an example, he recalls his experience while locked in a southern jail during the civil rights movement, when the song "We Shall Overcome" rang from nearby cells. The message he takes is from the story of the Resurrection: transcendent hope rising from the depths of injustice. When Jesus Came to Harvard is not another look at the "historical Jesus," but it considers Jesus' contemporary significance by concentrating on the stories he told and those told about him. For youth and adults, Christian and non-Christian, When Jesus Came to Harvard is urgently relevant.

Contents:

1 He Was Then, We Are Now 14

2 Rabbi Jesus on the Scene 23

3 A World Full of Stories 32

I Stories they Told About Him

4 The Ballad of the Begats 49

5 Picking Just the Right Woman 57

6 Exiles from Eden 66

7 The Gurus and the Usual Suspects 75

8 Riffing on Simeon 85

9 Beat the Devil 93

10 The Campaign Begins 106

II Stories He Told

11 Jesus Retells His People's Story 117

12 Salt and Lamps 128

13 The Rabbi Teaches Torah 138

14 Parables and Zen Slaps 154

15 The Crooked CEO and the Spoiled Brat 161

16 Why the Crowds Came 169

17 The Armageddon Syndrome 185

III More Stories They Told About Him

18 The Transfiguration and the Prophet's Night Journey 201

19 Bridge Burning and Street Theater 211

20 Trial and Retrial 220

21 Dead Man Walking 228

22 Reason, Emotion, and Torture 237

23 It Had to Be Done 245

24 A World Without God? 259

25 The Easter Story 267

26 The Laughter of the Universe 286.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [305]-315) and index.

ISBN:

0618067442

OCLC:

56191993

Online:

Publisher description