Marc Ellis fine book about the future of the Jewish community was first published in 1987. But twenty years on, in the light of recent events in the Middle East and post-September 11, its powerful message of hope, directed towards a people 'poised between Holocaust and empowerment', remains as powerful, apposite, and pressingly relevant as it was before. Ellis begins with two poles: the holocaust and the pain and vision that issue from it. This leads him into ethics, and he highlights the contrast between the depth of Jewish ethical commitment and the paucity of renewal movements within Judaism. The author then addresses all suffering peoples, and the Christian liberation movements active among them, so that the holocaust may be set in a wider context. Against this background, Ellis sees it as essential that the journeys and visions of dissenting Jews - such as Etty Hillesum and Martin Buber - should be re-appraised. An alternative perspective of what it means to be Jewish begins to emerge, and in the final chapter a Jewish theology of liberation is essayed, which is a theology prepared 'to enter the danger zones of contemporary Jewish life', often at some cost.

Turmoil still grips the Middle East and fear now paralyzes post-9/11 America. The comforts and challenges of this book are thus as timely as when first published in 1987. With new reflections on the future of Judaism and Israel, Ellis underscores the enduring problem of justice. Ellis' use of liberation theology to make connections between the Holocaust and contemporary communities from the Third World reminds both Jews and oppressed Christians that they share common ground in the experiences of abandonment, suffering, and death. The connections also reveal that Jews and Christians share a common cause in the battle against idolatry--represented now by obsessions for personal affluence, national security, and ethnic survival. According to Ellis, Jews and Christians must never allow the reality of anti-Semitism to become an excuse for evading solidarity with the oppressed peoples--be they African, Asian, Latin American or, especially, Palestinian. --Archbishop Desmond Tutu, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and author of God Has a Dream

Christianity arose from the lands of biblical Palestine and, regardless of its twentieth century associations with the Arab-Israeli conflict, to Christians around the world it remains first and foremost the birthplace of Christianity. Nevertheless the size of the Christian population among Palestinians today living in Israel and the Palestinian territories is now relatively insignificant. In Radical Christianity in the Middle East, Samuel J. Kuruvilla argues that Christian Palestinians often emply politically astute as well as theologically radical means in their efforts to prove relevant as a minority community within Israeli and Palestinian societies. Examining the political background of the gradual collapse of secular Arab Nationalism, to be replaced by Islamic liberation movements, he reveals a trend within the Christian Palestinian Church which saw increasing politicisation in the 1980s and 1990s. In the face of often-restrictive Israeli policies, such as land confiscation, along with the First Intifada, there was a drive towards setting up inter-Church and faith activism with the goal of Palestinian liberation. Kuruvilla charts the development of a theology of Christian liberation, in particular through the work of Palestinian Anglican cleric Naim Stifan Ateek and Palestinian Lutheran Pastor Mitri Raheb. From its roots in 1960s Latin America, liberation theology has been adapted and contextualised within the specific situation within Israel and Palestine to produce a framework that emphasises peace and reconciliation, while recognising the importance of resistance and national unity. Theology has impacted Christian perceptions of Palestinians' struggle with Israel; the idea of a land promised to the sons of Abraham and the moral responsibilities that come with this are pitted against Israeli oppression of both Christian and Muslim inhabitants of the Holy Land and their desire for independence and justice. Through this comprehensive study of the,often overlooked, theological, political and practical position of Christians in Palestine, Kuruvilla provides a new and insightful perspective on one of the most written-about conflicts.

Despite the current evangelical focus on justice work, evangelical theologians have not adequately developed a theological foundation for this activism. In this insightful resource, evangelical academics, activists, and pastors come together to survey the history and outlines of liberation theology, opening a conversation for developing a specifically evangelical view of liberation that speaks to the critical justice issues of our time.

Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutiérrez wanted to solve the problem of how the church could conduct itself to improve the lives of the poor, while consistently positioning itself as politically neutral. Despite being a deeply religious man, Gutiérrez was extremely troubled by the lukewarm way in which Christians in general, and the Catholic Church in particular, acknowledged and supported the poor. In A Theology of Liberation, he asked what he knew was an awkward question, and came to an awkward answer: the Church cannot separate itself from economic and political realities. Jesus showed his love for the poor in practical ways – healing the sick, feeding the hungry, liberating the oppressed. His example showed Gutierrez that economic, political, social and spiritual development are all deeply connected. His problem-solving prowess then led him to conclude that the church had to become politically active if it was to confront poverty and oppression across the world. For Gutierrez, the lives of the poor and oppressed directly reflect the divine life of God.

Liberation theology emphasizes the Christian mission to bring justice to the poor and oppressed. As a part of Christian theology, liberation theology has been most frequently associated with the Catholic Church in Latin America. This groundbreaking work seeks to identify how the theological concepts of liberation theology might be manifested within other world faith traditions. This is thus the first book that attempts to find a "common ground" for liberation theology across religions. All of the contributors are scholars who share the religion or belief system they describe. Throughout, they endeavor to articulate liberationist concepts from the perspective of those who have been marginalized.

Gutiérrez’s 1971 book provides an inspiring argument as to how Christians and the Roman Catholic Church should support the poor. The Catholic Church had traditionally seen itself as politically neutral but in the 1960s and 70s reformers, such as Gutiérrez, urged it to seriously address real-world issues such as poverty and oppression.

The present collection of writings on postcolonial philosophy of religion takes its origins from a Philosophy of Religion session during the 1996 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion held in New Orleans. Three presentations, by Purushottama Bilimoria, Andrew B. Irvine, and Bhibuti Yadav, were to be offered at the session, with Thomas Dean presiding and Kenneth Surin responding. (Yadav, unfortunately could not be present because of illness. ) This was the ?rst AAR session ever to examine issues in the study of religion under the rubric of the postcolonial turn in academia. Interest at the session was intense. For instance, Richard King, then at work on the manuscriptof the landmark Orientalism and Religion, was present; so, too, was Paul J. Grif?ths, whose s- sequent work on interreligious engagement has been so noteworthy. In response to numerous audience appeals, revised versions of the presentations eventually were published, as a “Dedicated Symposium on ‘Subalternity’,” in volume 39 no. 1 (2000) of Sophia, the international journal for philosophy of religion, metaphysical theology and ethics. Since that time, the importance of the nexus of religion and the postcolonial has become increasingly patent not only to philosophers of religion but to students of religion across the range of disciplines and methodologies. The increased inter- tionalization of the program of the American Academy of Religion, especially in more recent years, is a signi?cant outgrowth of this transformation in conscio- ness among students of religion.

Remembering Lived Lives is a religious historiography book that focuses on issues and theorists located primarily in Latin America. Instead of joining the chorus of contemporary European intellectuals like Slavoj Žižek, who insist on a renewed Eurocentrism, this study challenges both historians and theologians to take seriously the work done by theorists located in what Enrique Dussel calls the underside of modernity. This is an interdisciplinary work that opens with Karl Barth's outline for historical-theological study and closes with an analysis of the film The Mission. Written for both the history or theology instructor and student, it deals with subjects like church history, biography as theology, liberation theology as primary source material, photographs, and historical movies.