It's not a surprise to me, but still delightfully scary that the root meaning of the term evangelion [gospel] gets translated today to the word "revolution."
Originally "gospel" wasn't a religious or a personal term at all, but a secular one that meant "good news."
But evangelion isn't just news about any welcome piece of information, it's news that affects the fate of the community. "Good news" is the report brought by a runner to a Greek city about a distant battle that has been won and preserves the community's freedom; or it's news that a son has been born to the king, assuring a generation of political stability.
"Gospel" is good news having seriously to do with people's welfare.... Whatever it is that God is about to do, it will be good news for the poor, bad news for the proud and the rich; it will be change, including changed economic and social relations.
John Howard Yoder, The Original Revolution
No comments:
Post a Comment