Prison Theology: A Theology of Liberation,Hope and Justice

Abstract : In our nation today, the number of prisons and prisoners continue to grow at rates that are out‐of‐control. One in 100 of our citizens is in jail or prison, the highest ratio in the world. Unlike the poor, homeless, critically ill, and elderly, those in prison are separated from us to the degree they are unseen. Unseen also, is the oppressiveness of the criminal justice system that oversees more than 6.5 million people either in confinement or on probation or parole. Liberation theology, which advocates and works toward freeing people from oppression, includes feminist, black, womanist and Latino/Hispanic movements. This article proposes prison theology as part of the liberation theology family and identifies a prison theology based on liberation, hope and justice. It encourages a prison theology movement led by the church to liberate those under the oppressiveness of the criminal justice system, especially those confined and to energize a passion for justice and compassion for the oppressed throughout the criminal justice system.     

The Movement of May 1968 and Theology in Latin America

Latin American liberation theology has almost never seen itself as an expression of or in direct relation to the international student movements of May 1968. Nevertheless, from today's perspective, one can say that what was called liberation theology was a web of relationships of many movements and events. It was undoubtedly part of the enormous worldwide movements of the 1960s, interacting with the various expressions of struggle for cultural and political liberation that manifested themselves in many different forms in different parts of the world. The same can be said about feminist liberation theology in Latin America, which emerged a few years later. Latin American feminist theology, however, unlike liberation theology, has never been concerned with making a claim of originality, nor has it struggled to be recognized as a typical Latin American way of thinking and movement. It is part of the tradition of the liberating spirit of the past and the present in its different forms, including the legacy of 1968.     

The Limits of Inclusion: Queer Theology and its Others

In this article, I describe three problems found in some inclusive queer Christian theologies: a strong contrast between Christian queer inclusiveness and the exclusive other — a contrast that sometimes takes anti-Semitic form; ignoring what I term the affective life of binaries — the way symbol systems depend on associative relationships between multiple binaries, so that rendering one binary relationship fluid fails to destabilize the symbol system itself; and a presentist approach to origins that seeks legitimation for contemporary queer assumptions or for queer theology as such. I argue that the presence of any of these elements renders queer theology un-queer. By connecting inclusive queer theologies to debates over inclusion, livability and humanity in queer theory (particularly between Judith Butler and Lee Edelman), I conclude that the rhetorical posture of radical inclusion may have limited value for queer theology and suggest an alternative starting point grounded in a dictum from Marcella Althaus-Reid.     

Mission for/as Reconciliatory Emancipation

Since Christian mission in the way of Jesus Christ is best understood and experienced in the fringes of the society, it is imperative that we listen to and learn from marginalized voices. Keeping this in mind, this article looks at the relevance of the theology of mission of the Dalit theologian and activist Masilamani Azariah, who served as a Bishop of the Church of South India in the 1990s. It seeks to highlight his pioneering work, which was discomforting for some dominant caste Indian Christians, in challenging the Indian church as well as the global ecumenical movement to speak up and act against untouchability and caste discrimination. Using Azariah's radical perspectives of mission as a lens, and employing the framework of reconciliatory emancipation, a theological concept explicated by the American political theologian Mark Taylor, this essay proposes that the mission of the church that endeavours to be holistic and Christ-centred would and should be committed to the empowerment and healing of the oppressed, driven by a burning prophetic rage against injustice, even while retaining the space for forgiveness and repentance, with the ultimate goal of building the kingdom of God that transcends divisive and discriminating boundaries.     

Forgiveness and Reconciliation in the Life and Work of Desmond Tutu

This article explores how mission, forgiveness, and reconciliation have shaped the ministry and work of Desmond Tutu. As much as space permits, it tries to glean the ways in which Tutu has lived out his understanding of mission, forgiveness, and reconciliation in his various roles as lecturer of theology, as Africa director of the Theological Education Fund of the World Council of Churches, as the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches, as president of the All Africa Conference of Churches, as archbishop of Cape Town, and more recently as chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Through a close reading of seminal publications, the article will attempt to draw as complete a picture as possible of his views on forgiveness and reconciliation. To conclude, the essay shall refer to the work of Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice.     

Palestinian Liberation Theology: Creative Resistance to Occupation

The ongoing Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories has widely affected the Christian population in the region. This study focuses narrowly on the diminishing minority of Palestinian Christians, and how their position under occupation has led to the development of Palestinian Liberation Theology and practices of creative resistance. It begins by acknowledging the unique position of Palestinian Christians as liminal yet indigenous members of society. It then explores their complex collective identity, demonstrating how specific facets of their historic identity (i.e. denominationalism, Arabism, and political station) have been preserved, and how these inform their theological and practical responses to the changing socio-political landscape. It goes on to probe the degree of consensus around Palestinian Liberation Theology, as well as prominent manifestations of the ideology in response to occupation. Ultimately, this study finds that Palestinian Liberation Theology represents a creative and valuable contribution to the national struggle for liberation, providing a shared ideology and culturally specific blueprint for revolutionary collective action guided by plurality, nonviolence, and collaboration.     

Good Catholics: The Battle over Abortion in the Catholic Church

Abstract

Queer readings of the Bible are sometimes understood to be irrelevant for uses of the Bible in theology, theological education, and ministry. This address challenges that understanding by considering ways in which portions of the Bible take positions vis-à-vis religious tradition that parallel moves made in queer theory and queer theology. Using the task of preaching as an example, the address suggests that queer readings can be useful for the practice of Christian ministry even as such readings challenge certain ‘common-sense’ conceptions of ministry, theological education, and religious community.     

“You Must Follow Our Belief or Else You Can't Receive God”: Constructing a Sexual Bi/Theology of Eucharist

Embodied experiences and insights of LGBTQ persons can challenge and contradict grand metanarratives of sacramental theology that exclude and/or censure these persons. Through a theological investigation of the narratives of Vincent, a 26‐year old Malaysian, I examine the dynamics of his self‐identifying as bisexual and Roman Catholic in relation to his perception of the Eucharist. Drawing from his narratives and aided by the theologisings of Marcella Althaus‐Reid, Andrea Bieler and Luise Schottroff, I explore alternative ways in which the Eucharist can be imagined for LGBTQ Christians.     

Toward the 'Rights of the Poor' Human Rights in Liberation Theology

In this article, the author traces the response of liberation theologians to human rights initiatives through three distinct stages over the past thirty years: from an initial avoidance of the concept, to an early critique, and then to a nuanced theological appropriation. He contends that liberation theology brings a thoroughgoing concern for the poor and an innovative methodology of historicization to the discussion of human rights. In clarifying the treatment of human rights within a specific religious movement, the author also addresses larger questions about the specific role of human rights language. To this end, the article shows how liberation theologians have grappled concretely with the divisions among different 'generations' of rights, various rights discourses, and diverse options for rights advocacy.     

Academic Theology Centered on Practical Theology

This article argues that there are considerable advantages for society, university, theology and the church to conduct theological research and education of pastors at a secular state university like the University of Copenhagen. The disadvantage is foremost that learning from a practice‐theory‐practice model is not found in theological education at the secular university. In the case of Denmark, this is, however, more due to the theology and set up of the church than to the university, where it is commonplace to integrate practice in academic studies.     

Righteous Rhetoric: Sex,Speech and the Politics of Concerned Women for America

Abstract

This article considers the Catholic Church's rejection of female sexed bodies as capable of symbolizing Christ in the Eucharist of God's agency in the world. The theories of René Girard provide a useful resource for analyzing the fear of female sexuality within Catholicism. They reveal that an obsessive focus upon sex has been the means through which the male tendency towards sacrificial violence, forbidden within Christianity, has continued to exert a powerful influence. A recognition of this substitutory process would not only enable a revisioning of the roles women and men might play within the Church, but also enable the Church to more effectively oppose the ‘culture of death’ which endangers us all.     

Towards an ontogenesis of queerness and divinity: Queer political theology and Terrorist Assemblages

The presumed categorical stability of sexual and national identities fuels a biopolitical phenomenon that Jasbir Puar has termed homonationalism. Critical responses to homonationalism must necessarily challenge the priority of ontological stasis that often characterises scholarly approaches to theorising both god and identity. This essay argues that a monotheistic political theology provides a basis for assuming notions of identity that are ontologically static. Post-secularity is put forth as an analytic for examining the intertwining of theological and cultural logics in the emergence of homonationalisms. Within that post-secular framework, affect theory is applied to analyse religion, nationalism and sexuality not as discrete social positions but as an assemblage of dynamic and interrelated multiplicities. This post-secular, affective approach allows for an expanded field of political and cultural analysis in queer theory and queer theology alike.     

Contextuality in the Theology of Douglas John Hall

The theology of Douglas John Hall has much to offer us in a time of wanton warfare and social injustices. Hall contends that the modern paradigm, supported by an "eternal, universal theology of glory" proves inadequate for addressing the problems of the world in which we live, and offers us a "contextual theology of the cross." This theology, unlike theologies of glory, is not afraid to "walk" into the darkness; in fact, Hall contends that is the only place where the light of God is revealed.     

Theology and Politics in Contemporary Greece

This article examines the interaction between theology and politics in the case of the “theology of the 1960s,” a theological renewal movement that emerged in Greece in the 1960s, accompanied by the call for a “return to the Fathers.” The first part of the paper seeks to describe the position of the theology of the 1960s toward politics, while the second considered the position of politics after 1974 toward the theology of the 1960s. It concludes that there was a partial instrumentalization of the theology of the 1960s for tactical political ends. This was a missed opportunity leading to politics becoming devoid of all spiritual content, while theology lost its feedback from social experience and its penetration into society. The article concludes by making several suggestions for the tasks that lie ahead, including the need to cultivate a critical history of the political intervention and the social role of Orthodox theology, and to expand the issues that concern Orthodox theology, such as anthropology or cosmology, to embrace questions of the role of the meaning of history and progressive change in human society.     

The Way of Salvation in Luther's Theology: A Feminist Evaluation

Abstract : Luther's understanding of salvation can be summed up with the phrase “justification by grace through faith.” The doctrine of justification is the focal point for all theological categories in Luther's theology, including salvation. That said, this article examines various ways grace or salvation is understood to be conveyed in Luther's theology through: the cross, the resurrection or through God's election and covenant with humankind. Throughout the article, it evaluates these foci for salvation in terms of their ability to speak gospel to women's lives today. In particular, it evaluates the appropriate usage of Luther's epistemology of the cross.     

“Thine is the Kingdom,the Power,and the Glory”: New Vistas for the Theology of the Cross

Abstract : This article examines fifteen recent books on a theology of the cross in the English language. Following the publication of Moltmann's The Crucified God and Hall's Lighten Our Darkness in the 1970s, unprecedented interest has been devoted to a theology of the cross in theological literature. The author categorizes this literature into four types: exegetical and historical treatments, critiques of theologies of glory, challenges to the abuse of power, and signals of the coming of God's kingdom. Two hypotheses are ventured regarding the emergence of these works at this time: 1) they evidence a theological response to the enormity of human suffering brought into awareness in an age of instant electronic communication; and 2) the urgent concern for the poor and the cry for social justice, which emerged with liberation theologies, are now finding expression through advocates for the theology of the cross.     

Difference and Desire— a Queer Reading

Abstract : The 2008 Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Communion illustrated the difficulties presently facing all mainline Western churches in dealing with their internal divergencies in matters of gender, family and sexuality. Drawing on recent articles on queer theology the author argues that the Christian traditions—contrary to common assumption—have unique resources for solving not only their internal controversies in these matters, but also for contributing to the wider challenges facing the human family on how to live differently together.     

Constructive Theology,the Cross of Christ,and the Praxis of Liberation

The article relates Paul Hinlicky's project of critical dogmatics to the constructive work of two Reformed theologians, Jürgen Moltmann's The Crucified God (1972) and Mark Lewis Taylor's The Executed God (2001/2015). After highlighting central tenets of Hinlicky's paradigm I discuss and compare the monographs by Moltmann and Taylor, weighing their similarities and differences. I conclude by pointing out the shared interest of critical dogmatics and constructive theology.