Greg Boyd received his Ph. D. from Princeton Theological Seminary (1988), his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School (1982) and his B.A. from the University of Minnesota (1979). He was a professor of theology for 16 years at Bethel University (St. Paul, MN).
He is the founder and senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church, an evangelical church in St. Paul.
In 2004, Boyd preached a seriers of sermons called the Cross & the Sword that resulted in his book, The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Politics is Destroying the Church (Zondervan, 2006).
Woodland Hills lost about 1,000 members due to Boyd’s sermon series. But Boyd’s vision for the Kingdom of God has since gained an even larger audience. Here is Boyd in a CNN interview explaining his views.
Do you agree or disagree with Boyd? Do you see a problem with how the church has fused her faith with politics? What sort of changes does the church need to make in the future if she is to remain faithful to Jesus’ vision for the Kingdom of God?
D.D. Flowers, 2012.
The Centrality and Supremacy of Jesus Christ 
October 12th, 2012 at 10:50 am
I completely agree with Greg. In fact our small group is currently going through Myth of a Christian Nation and it’s become as life and paradigm shitting for me as the book Pagan Christianty by Frank Viola was. Thanks for sharing this video!
October 12th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
The last statement made by Dr. Boyd, “that Jesus never so much as commented on the politics of his day” is where I disagree. Actually, Jesus did say a lot about politics.
He made political overthrow statements about Rome (Matthew 16), Herod (Matthew 21), and apostate Israel (Luke 23). He predicted the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD (Matthew 24).
He did not side when cornered about taxation to Caesar (Matthew 22), but he claimed to be a King (John 18) for which he was condemned to death. In all of these statements Jesus not only commented on the politics of his day, but make stunning critiques and directed his followers to rethink in terms of his kingship as Lord of Lords.
Both sides in this debate among Christians must realize that they are engaged in commenting on the politics of our day. The question is, “Do our comments reflect Jesus’ kingdom and preaching?”
I believe Jesus would never endorse our interventionist international warmongering, but he was also clear that marriage is only between a man and a woman (Matthew 19) and that obedience or disobedience to the institution of marriage is foundational to biblical sociology.
October 12th, 2012 at 1:58 pm
Hey Tim, I agree. And I do believe that Boyd agrees with what you’ve rightfully pointed out for us. Having read Boyd’s book and followed his work, he makes it clear that Jesus was politically subversive in his day. I think Boyd only meant (by his comment) that Jesus didn’t side with political positions of his day. Instead, he carved out a new way for us to follow.
Thanks for sharing, bro.
October 12th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Thanks for posting this, David!
October 12th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
If only the Apostle Paul would have known this! 🙂
October 12th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
Jared, I’m pretty sure Boyd is basing this stuff on Jesus and Paul. If only we would know it and live it. 🙂
October 12th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
If Paul is thrown in the mix then I wonder how Romans 13 fits into his system (cf 1 Peter 3)? He wrote to a church about the government. Was that church supposed to simply sit on te truth of the purpose and function of government without actually telling the government? Do we not speak truth to power (I feel like Bell asking so many questions with a clear answer in mind, “Does God fail,” David? lol I digress. :-).
Moreover, 2 Tim 3:16-17 explains the function of Scripture. Does that pertain only to those who aren’t politicians, or everybody? On the one hand I really see what Boyd is saying and agree with much. We pray the government (kings and those in authority) would make laws and policies that would allow us to live out our faith peacefully and quietly (1 Tim 2). But I don’t think this negates laboring to that end knowing all along that our citizenship is in heaven and from we await a Savior. But hey, I’m still trying to fight off Satan over here since someone turned me over to him 🙂
October 12th, 2012 at 7:22 pm
Jared, maybe I turned your over to the devil too quickly. As Luke Skywalker said of Darth Vadar, “There’s still good in him. I know it.” 🙂
Seriously though. We’ve spent many hours hashing this issue out together. I suppose we will spend many more in the future. I trust that you will turn from the darkside in the near future, and once again become a jedi knight. What were we talking about again? I have Star Wars on the brain. 😉