Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was

Was Jesus not simply one of the many who try to renew their own societies with the aid of a utopia? In that case, his talk about the reign of God would have accomplished only what all inventors of utopias do: propose to the eyes of his contemporaries new ideas for changing society in the form of images, guidelines, and visions. If Jesus thought that way, would it be so bad to call the reign of God a utopia? In that case, could we not say that yes, the reign of God is a utopia and Jesus is one in the long sequence of those who projected utopias in order to change the present injustice, misery, and critical deficiency of society? Then the question would be, at most, whether this was the best and most beneficial of all utopias. If we want to get past this we cannot avoid the task of comparing Jesus’ proclamation of the reign of God more closely with the textual genre of utopias.

Abundance of Detail in Utopias

I will therefore make another foray into the enormous fund of utopian material¹ and look more closely at Thomas More’s Utopia. To understand his intention one must imagine the conditions in London at the time: the misery of the poor and the arrogance of the rich, the numerous fires, poisoned wells, unbearable hygienic conditions, the power of those who could afford lawyers. It was against these conditions in his own time that More projected the new society of “Utopia.” There, everything is different. The cities are not a chaos of narrow, twisting alleys but are laid out on a broad geometric plan. They accommodate themselves to nature and are surrounded by farm fields. The water conduits are lined with brick. The roofs of houses are flat and made of a sort of cement that renders them both weatherproof and fireproof. The doors of the houses have no locks; anyone can enter at any time, since private property has been eliminated.

Every city is divided into four equal quarters. At the center of each quarter is a market for every kind of wares; there the head of each family obtains what is needed for the family and receives everything asked for without payment. No one needs to carry luggage on a journey because the people of Utopia are at home everywhere. The whole island is a single family.

The story continues with the same degree of concrete detail. Money does not play much of a role. Everyone works, but only very limited hours, and everyone rests for two hours after the midday meal. The Utopians sleep eight hours per night; they take their meals together in large dining halls. The nobility have no more privileges. The laws are very simple and clear, so that no lawyers are needed. The governing law of the island nation is also detailed: its foreign policy, how wars are conducted (they happen only in self-defense), how a family is started (only after the couple have received careful advice and counseling), how divorce is punished (with forced labor), how people dress (simply, but in high-quality and valuable materials).

We could go on for a long time in this way, but probably it is already clear that More’s Utopia is concrete. It overflows with detail; nothing is omitted. There is even consideration for how people approaching marriage get to know each other. Utopia is, in fact, made up of countless details. This was probably the reason for its breakthrough success, though that can also be attributed to its satirical features and More’s sense of humor. He wanted to make his readers laugh too. So his Utopia is bursting with details. It is concrete. And it is precisely this concrete and detailed description that characterizes the whole textual genre of utopias. To offer another example:

In 1975 the Californian Ernest Callenbach published his Ecotopia, in which he projects a detailed image of a society on the Pacific coast of the former states of California, Oregon, and Washington dedicated entirely to ecology.

The society of excess and waste has been eliminated. People live modestly, dress simply though imaginatively in a material developed from cotton. There are no more synthetic fibers. Microwave ovens are illegal. There is no use of metals (other than iron) or of synthetic colors. Food is sugar-free.… San Francisco has become a city-state. Smaller streams have been opened up, skyscrapers that were once corporate offices have been transformed into apartment buildings and linked by footbridges.… Public transportation is free. Bicycles are available everywhere at no cost. Major transport is conducted with container ships and through a subterranean system of conveyor belts.

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I need not look further into the world of today’s utopias. The principle is clear: an effective utopia is detailed. That in itself secures it attention, fascination, or horror. The details themselves delight the readers and lead them to ask whether they themselves could live this way.