Utopian Thinking in the Christian Tradition

This week we are looking at the Christian tradition and how that has contributed to the development of utopian thought.  We are examining three different themes around this general topic in our readings.  We will be reading the teachings of Jesus as reported in the gospel of Matthew.  We will be examining ideals of early Christian communities as reflected in the Epistle to the Ephesians, and finally we will consider apocalyptic (end of time) images as found in the book of Revelation.  You have two options for this week’s short writing assignment.

 A. Pick two proto-Utopian themes in two of our selected readings and discuss them.  What ideals do you see articulated here, and how do they contribute to the development of utopian ideas?  Do they contradict or complement each other?

 B. Focus on the passages from Revelation and discuss one of the apocalyptic images that the writer highlights.  After a brief discussion of this image, give a specific example from contemporary culture of how it has been used or adapted into modern utopian or dystopian thinking.