Release for the Oppressed

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(July 7, 09)
When we think of oppression, we generally don’t think of the Bible. Yet, the Bible is filled with teaching that is relevant to today regarding oppression. In the Old Testament there are sixteen root words for oppression, oppressors and the oppressed. Two Biblical scholars, Elsa Tamez and Thomas Hanks, from Costa Rica, argue that the Bible teaches that oppression is the fundamental cause of poverty. When one looks at the Bible through the lenses of oppression and poverty, then you begin to see class struggle, the story of the Exodus, liberation, democracy, revolution, land/property, the wrath of God, and salvation/sanctification/hope in a bit different light.

Hopefully, in our series on Release for the Oppressed we are going to look at the Bible’s teaching on oppression and release in a new light. We are going to do this by dialoguing the Bible with some modern films whose subject matter is oppression. In each of these films we will see a different kind of oppression and a different concept of what it means to release someone from oppression. Our first Sunday we need to get our biblical bearings and review how to watch and interact with movies. (Mike Nichols

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