Parables in the Bible reveal the prohibition on and evils of usury and illustrate how this leads to slavery of the masses by the aristocrats of the same nationality in the same land. Eventually, in this system, the moneylenders will usurp the wealth of the masses around them, possibly even making the masses homeless in their own land. We can think of a system where moneylenders lend money to the poor or to the masses at interest in a situation where the masses have no other choice but to accept these loans on the moneylenders’ terms. Subject peoples are held under control by this device.” (Thurman, 15) If security or insecurity is at the mercy of a single individual or group, then control of behavior becomes routine. If a man is convinced that he is safe only as long as he uses his power to give others a sense of insecurity, then the measure of their security is in his hands. The reasons for this are not far to seek.

Again and again it has been demonstrated that the lines are held by those whose hold on security is sure only as long as the status quo remains intact. “The opposition to those who work for social change does not come only from those who are the guarantors of the status quo. In Jesus-An Interpretation, Thurman examines how the masses are controlled and by what forces. They are the poor, the disinherited, the dispossessed.” (Thurman, 3) “The masses of men live with their backs constantly against the wall. This book addresses the disinherited peoples of the earth in the chapters Jesus-An Interpretation, Fear, Deception, Hate, and Love. Pastor Andrew Russell led the biblical teaching time contrasting possible reactions to injustice-what Thurman terms the three “Hounds of Hell,” Fear, Deception, and Hate-against our biblical call to Love that helps us realize our true humanity.Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited, and Capitalism Katanga Johnson, a CG leader at Grace Downtown, journalist, and fellow Morehouse alum, shared a brief background on Howard Thurman’s life.

Thurman’s emphasis on our identity as children of God helps equip us to endure injustice and be obedient against it.

His teaching on Jesus’ embodied identification with the marginalized equipped leaders such as MLK to be able to press forward in the midst of incredible challenges. Howard Thurman was a black theologian and philosopher whose thinking was central to the use of nonviolent resistance during the U.S. Close D&J EVENT 5 - Jesus and the DisinheritedĮvent 5: Jesus & the Disinherited - Understand our identity as children of God that enables us to do extraordinary thingsīonhoeffer’s call to obedience leads to a natural question: “How are we able to be obedient?” To answer this question in our fifth event we discussed Howard Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited.

Thurman jesus and the disinherited