The Irony of Power

"This is committed scholarship of high quality. Shaped by her Mennonite identity and experiences in the Middle East, Dorothy Jean Weaver reads Matthew's Gospel as a complex text of politics and ironic power. Perspectives from above, from below, and 'God's eye' produce rich analyses of considerable insight."

--Warren Carter, Brite Divinity School at TCU Fort Worth



"For over thirty years, Dorothy Jean Weaver has been prominent among a handful of scholars who read the Gospel of Matthew as a socially and politically engaged story about Jesus. Matthew's narrative is first and foremost a story about power--who has it, what they do with it, and what happens as a result. Weaver was perhaps the first to recognize the extent to which this story turns on irony, revealing the ultimate futility of coercive power and the triumph of vulnerable powerlessness. The present volume collects and synthesizes her work in this area in a manner that will make it accessible to a broader and more general audience. It is a book that could transform Matthean studies and/or Matthean students. Anyone who teaches or preaches on Matthew will want to become acquainted with this humble but powerful volume."

--Mark Allan Powell, Professor of New Testament, Trinity Lutheran Seminary Columbus, Ohio



"Weaver's Irony of Power richly exegetes Matthew's Gospel, in dialogue with the contemporary Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The 'Irony' perspective, 'the view from above' vis a vis 'the view from below,' shines new light on resistance/nonresistance to evil and suffering violence for Jesus' kingdom path through cross and resurrection."

--Willard Swartley, author of Covenant of Peace and John