Great to revisit the work of Walter Wink for this week's talk. The way he gets inside the presumed wimpiness of the 'turn the other cheek – give up your cloak – go the second mile' passage and turns it completely around is genius. I hoped to mimic that genius at Bratton Clovelly and Sourton today. My talk, called Loving your enemies – by turning cheeky, borrows heavily from Nonviolence for the violent, a talk he gave in 2001, and involves an invitation to the congregation to 'come and thump the vicar'. All this is based on a long-time appreciation of Wink's seminal trilogy, Naming the Powers; Language of Power in the New Testament, Unmasking the Powers; The Invisible Forces That Determine Human Existence, and Engaging the Powers; Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination. Go to www.walterwink.com for more from the man himself.
Thank you. What a revelation and so appropriate in the light of what is going on in the middle east right now.
Yep, nothing quite like Walter Wink for that passage. I even got one of the younger members to demonstrate the slapping business (on me of course)