Friday, April 20, 2007

Some Sympathy for King Herod


Dr. Timothy B. Tyson
Winner, Grawemeyer Award--Religion (2007)
Author of Blood Done Sign My Name

April 19, 2007
Matthew 2:1-23

Timothy B. Tyson, winner of the 2007 Grawemeyer Award in Religion, reflects on how King Herod's strategy for dealing with the threat to his kingship posed by the birth of the messiah parallels the "measured military responses" favored by U.S. leaders today. But, such "rational" strategies are not permissible within a Christian framework because they are not undergirded by love. Through the course of the sermon, Dr. Tyson moves steadily from his starting position of "sympathy for King Herod," to a crescendo of criticism of the present war in Iraq and a stirring call to all Christians to make their voices heard. Listen to the sermon.