Pastoral care in the Northern hemisphere has focused traditionally on the well-being of individuals, and has tended to ignore the social order of which they are a part. In this pioneering book, Stephen Pattison draws on the methods and insights of Latin American liberation theology in order to challenge such narrow individualism, which is blind to matters of inequality and injustice that engender and perpetuate avoidable human suffering. A new vision of socially and politically aware pastoral care is presented as central to developing human potential.

The changing situation in South Africa and Eastern Europe prompts Charles Villa-Vicencio to investigate the implications of transforming liberation theology into a theology of reconstruction and nation-building. Such a transformation, he argues, requires theology to become an unambiguously interdisciplinary study. This book explores the encounter between theology, on the one hand, and constitutional writing, law-making, human rights, economics, and the freedom of conscience on the other. Placing his discussion in the context of the South African struggle, the author compares this situation to...

This study investigates the historical and political conditions which have contributed to the state of the Protestant community in China, and the kinds of spirituality and religious life that it has evolved. The authors draw on extensive fieldwork, and offer fascinating insights into the beliefs and practices of a little-documented section of Chinese society. They show that healing, protection, and vengeance by gods have been deep-rooted elements of Chinese religiosity for several hundred years, notions appropriated by Christians who now emphasize the powers of Jesus. Chinese Protestantism is...

In this book a leading contemporary theologian provides an account and a critique of contemporary thinking on the function of religion in society. The chief questions of the day are taken up, expounded with lucidity and clarity, and assessed for their contributions to social theory. The practical relevance of the theoretical analyses emerges especially in a critique of Michael Novak's attempt to make "democratic capitalism" an ideal, and in an original attempt to ground religious hope in communicative rationality.

In this important study John de Gruchy examines the past, present and future roles of Christianity in the development of democracy. He traces the relationship from its gestation in early Christendom to its virtual breakdown as democracy becomes the polity of modernity, and focuses on five twentieth-century case studies, including Nazi Germany and South Africa, which demonstrate the revival of the churches as a force in the struggle for democracy. His conclusions point the way to the development of a theology for a just world order.

In Western Christianity, the mystic was seen as having direct access to God, and therefore great authority. Dr. Jantzen discusses how men of power defined and controlled who should count as a mystic, and thus who would have power: women were pointedly excluded. The modern philosophical assumption that mysticism is essentially about intense subjective experiences is misguided. This book is the first on the subject to take issues of gender seriously, and to use them as a point of entry for a deconstructive approach to Christian mysticism.

This study examines the role of Christianity in Liberia under the corrupt regime of Samuel K. Doe (1980-1990). Paul Gifford shows that, in general, Liberian Christianity--far from being a force for justice and human advancement--diverted attention from the cause of Liberia's ills, left change to God's miraculous intervention, encouraged obedience and acceptance of the status quo, and thus served to entrench Doe's power. This Christianity, devised in and controlled from the United States, thus furthered regional American economic and political objectives, which were designed to support Doe's...

This book examines the relationship between the theologies of atonement and penal strategies. Christian theology was potent in Western society until the nineteenth century, and the so-called "satisfaction theory" of the atonement interacted and reacted with penal practice. Gorringe argues that atonement theology created a structure of affect that favored retributive policies. He reviews theory and practice in the twentieth century, and makes concrete proposals for both theology and criminal and societal violence.

This book contributes to contemporary debates about justice from the perspective of Christian social ethics. Professor Forrester examines some secular theories from a theological viewpoint, and surveys the policies and practices these theories are supposed to support and justify. He argues that Christian theology, although it can no longer claim to provide a comprehensive theory of justice, can provide insights into justice that challenge some aspects of the conventional wisdom, and contribute to the building of just communities.

This book examines the relationship between the theologies of atonement and penal strategies. Christian theology was potent in Western society until the nineteenth century, and the so-called "satisfaction theory" of the atonement interacted and reacted with penal practice. Gorringe argues that atonement theology created a structure of affect that favored retributive policies. He reviews theory and practice in the twentieth century, and makes concrete proposals for both theology and criminal and societal violence.