Literary Analysis Of Donald Kraybill's The Upside-Down Kingdom

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Analysis of Kraybill
Donald Kraybill’s The Upside-Down Kingdom does a wonderful job explaining the realities of Jesus’ life and teachings. Kraybill examines the literary text of bible and adds the historical and religious facts of that time to further show the true context behind the life of Jesus. Kraybill takes the teachings of Jesus and brings to light the importance of the political and social climate. Kraybill reveals that Jesus’ teachings directly correlated to the social conditions of his time. He addresses how the teachings of Jesus were directly influenced by the economic, political, and religious struggles that the people of Jesus’ time faced. Throughout the book Kraybill explores the ideas of Jesus, and examines the facts that Jesus’ …show more content…

Jesus never proclaims that possessions or money is inherently evil, but he does warn against the danger of greed. Jesus does not attack money and possessions, but speaks against becoming enslaved to things of this world. Kraybill proclaims, “We too easily bow down and worship at the altar of materialism.”(Kraybill 2011). Kraybill explains that Jesus’ intentions were to have us apply the same structure and economic principles of the Jubilee to our entire life. The Jubilee system requires that the rich distribute what they have evenly, just as God distributes his love to us all without judgment. Jesus encourages us to practice this on a daily basis. Jesus builds his teachings around serving and loving others first. The pleasures of the world should never be the main focus of our life. Jesus teaches that only when we live our lives in this way can we truly see the Kingdom of God. If we allow money and possessions to be the ruler of our lives they will choke our spiritual growth and we will never be able to live out the true purposes of our lives. Jesus also teaches that we should not get caught up worrying about money or possessions. Faith that God will provide everything we need is all we need in the Kingdom of

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