📘 Lexicon Entry: Counter-Imperial

A theological approach interpreting Jesus’s ministry, death, and resurrection as a direct counter-narrative to imperial theology, offering alternative visions of divine presence, power, and peace.

Counter-Imperial refers to a theological framework that recognizes the biblical narrative, particularly the gospels, as deliberately subverting and challenging imperial power structures and their underlying theological claims. This approach interprets Jesus’s ministry, death, and resurrection as a direct counter-narrative to Roman imperial theology, which claimed divine sanction for Caesar’s rule through military might, hierarchical authority, and ritual displays of power. Counter-imperial theology identifies how the gospel offers an alternative vision of divine presence, power, and peace that fundamentally contradicts imperial arrangements. Rather than blessing existing power structures, the gospel reveals God’s presence with the marginalized and powerless, demonstrating divine power through vulnerability rather than domination. Counter-Imperial theology directly challenges the imperial assumptions underlying Dominative Christianism and MAGA Christianism, offering instead a vision of divine power expressed through vulnerable service rather than triumphant domination.

Theological Alternative

empire, kingdom, power, domination, alternative community, non-violence, resistance, political theology, biblical politics, counter-imperial, imperial theology, Roman Empire, Kingdom of God, palace-manger contrast, shepherd-court contrast, Caesar-Christ contrast, subversive gospel, alternative kingdom, power inversion

APA: Geevarghese-Uffman, C. (2025). Counter-Imperial. Political Theology Lexicon. Common Life Politics. https://www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/lexicon

Chicago: Geevarghese-Uffman, Craig. “Counter-Imperial.” Political Theology Lexicon. Accessed [date]. https://www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/lexicon.

MLA: Geevarghese-Uffman, Craig. “Counter-Imperial.” Political Theology Lexicon, 2025, www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/lexicon.

Theological: Geevarghese-Uffman, Craig. “Counter-Imperial.” In Political Theology Lexicon. Digital theological resource. https://www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/lexicon (accessed [date]).

Church as witness to alternative political reality centered on Christ’s kingship rather than Caesar’s rule, embodying divine peace through presence rather than conquest

Gospel as “good news” that subverts imperial propaganda by announcing God’s reign through vulnerable love rather than military victory and hierarchical control

Christian community practicing alternative economy of grace, mutual aid, and boundary-crossing fellowship that challenges imperial divisions and exploitation

Church co-opted by imperial frameworks that use religious language to justify domination, nationalism, and hierarchical power rather than embodying counter-imperial witness

Gospel transformed into imperial ideology that blesses existing power structures and national supremacy rather than challenging systemic oppression

Christian identity aligned with political empire rather than alternative community that crosses boundaries and serves marginalized neighbors

Palace-Manger Contrast: Contrasts imperial displays of power (palaces, monuments) with divine presence in lowly places (feeding trough, cross)

Shepherd-Court Contrast: Emphasizes divine revelation to marginalized shepherds rather than imperial elites and court officials

Caesar-Christ Contrast: Juxtaposes imperial “peace through victory” with divine “peace through presence” and self-giving love

Visible-Hidden Contrast: Contrasts empire’s need for visible power displays with God’s “stealth operation” beneath imperial awareness

Exclusive-Universal Contrast: Contrasts imperial hierarchies with divine message “for all people” transcending social divisions

Incarnational Theology: God’s presence with humanity through vulnerable embodiment rather than distant imperial rule from heavenly throne

Cruciform Christology: Divine power revealed through cross rather than sword, demonstrating love that transforms rather than conquers

Pneumatological Community: Spirit creating alternative community that crosses ethnic, social, and political boundaries established by imperial systems

Luke 2:8-14 Nativity narrative with shepherds rather than imperial elites receiving divine revelation and proclamation of peace

Matthew 4:8-11 Jesus rejecting Satan’s offer of worldly kingdoms and their glory, refusing imperial model of power

Matthew 5:1-12 Beatitudes offering alternative kingdom vision that blesses poor, meek, and peacemakers rather than powerful

Mark 11:1-11 Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem on donkey, parodying imperial processions while demonstrating humble kingship

Philippians 2:5-11 Christ’s kenotic pattern contrasting with imperial claims to divinity through conquest and domination

Paul’s proclamation of Jesus as Lord challenging Caesar’s authority (Acts 17:7)

Revelation’s critique of empire as beastly power opposing God (Revelation 13)

Liberation Theology: Latin American theological movement demonstrating gospel’s preferential option for poor against imperial economic exploitation

Indigenous Christianity: Native American and other indigenous theological voices exposing colonial Christianity’s imperial distortions

Anti-Imperial Biblical Scholarship: Academic movement reading scripture with attention to Roman imperial context and Christian counter-narrative

Sanctuary Movement: Contemporary churches practicing hospitality toward immigrants as counter-imperial witness against nationalist exclusion

N.T. Wright’s analysis of how early Christian language deliberately subverted Roman imperial propaganda and political theology

Warren Carter’s examination of Matthew’s gospel as sustained critique of Roman imperial ideology and practice

Richard Horsley’s scholarship on Jesus movements as peasant resistance to imperial economic and political domination

Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat’s contemporary application of counter-imperial biblical interpretation to current political contexts

Related Primary Concepts: Dominative Christianism, MAGA Christianism, Eschatological Citizenship

Key Mutations: Practical Atheism, Binary Apocalypticism, [Disordered Nationalism – TBP]

Contemporary Movements: Christian Nationalism, Identity Synthesis

Theological Alternatives: Servant Power, Being With, Participatory Freedom

Historical Context: Civil Religion, Covenant Theology

May 22, 2025

*This entry is part of the Political Theology Lexicon, accessible exclusively to subscribers. View the complete lexicon to explore related concepts and the full theoretical framework.*