Exactly how a religion defined by a cross-bearer has so consistently been leveraged by cross-builders across history remains an irrefutable predicament at the heart of Christianity.
For nearly two thousand years, Christianity and empires have upheld each other. Not occasionally, not by accident, but structurally and repeatedly, in ways that consistently supported the power of the few over against the power of the many. Christianity was born in the context of empire and was never free of it. There is no pristine origin to recover, no early period before the trouble started, no moment when the faith stood clear of the powers that be and can be retrieved intact. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
So the title of this essay and our upcoming class is a claim that must be earned. Empire kept a great deal. The question is whether it kept everything.
—Joerg Rieger, author of Christ and Empire and co-leading a 6 week online class (begins Thursday, August 27, 2026) on HomeBrewed Christianity with Tripp Fuller. Quote taken from Substack article : https://processthis.substack.com/p/the-christ-the-empire-couldnt-keep
