"There is a deep interconnectedness of all aspects of God's good creation. Yet biblical tradition clearly reminds us that our relationships with one another, animals, and the environment are marred by a kind of brokenness. Moreover, those aspects of our social world that people are responsible for creating and maintaining too often reflect substantial economic inequities, oppressive political interactions, and systemic and institutional injustices. All of this reflects a way of being that isprofoundly antithetical to a biblical vision of shalom. Evangelical Theologies of Liberation and Justice is a welcomed collection of essays seeking to address these ways of relating by challenging some of us to rethink the way we approach the theological task. Comprising voices and perspectives from the global church and marginalized communities, it provides a way forward in theological methodology. It raises challenges that all of us must confront. There can be no walling off of theseconcerns as being someone else's problems. The book calls us to take the gospel challenge of liberation seriously. The church and Christians of goodwill should grapple with the contents contained herein."
Patrick T. Smith, associate research professor of theological ethics and bioethics, Duke Divinity School, senior fellow, Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke University
"A fine compilation of North American perspectives on a movement that some believe died at the end of the twentieth century. Liberation theology did not die; on the contrary, it has found new expressions and generated new movements. The voices in this volume are a sampling of thoughtful, activist evangelicals who have been profoundly touched by the spirit of liberation and justice."
Al Tízon, executive minister of Serve Globally, Evangelical Covenant Church, affiliate associate professor of missional and global leadership, North Park Theological Seminary
"Evangelical Theologies of Liberation and Justice provides one more needed bridge between the epistemically dualist mindset of most liberation theologians of the previous centuries and today's analysis of colonialism and the postcolonial movement. This book walks toward the development of what Robert Chao Romero calls 'the daily rhythm and grind of lo cotidiano from which unique theological and epistemological understandings flow.' Terry LeBlanc and Jeanine LeBlanc also usethe critical analysis needed for outlining such epistemic changes that embrace abandonment of dualist and positivist enlightenment ideology that served as fertile roots for colonization: instead of 'I think, therefore I am,' Indigenous people might understand being as 'We are, therefore I am.' Andrea Smith's words are the best representation of the needed contribution of this book in building a bridge between evangelical traditional epistemic truth-seeking and the need for embracing 'a fuller exploration of what it means to be born again that might lead us to an approach that would synergize an ideological/epistemological approach with a structural analysis.' I am very confident that all the contributors' considerations presented in Evangelical Theologies of Liberation and Justice will serve us well among evangelical scholars. It is time to embrace the need for a new epistemology. I will be paying attention to what Mae Elise Cannon and Andrea Smith continue to contribute."
Johnny Ramírez-Johnson, professor of anthropology and professor del Centro Latino at Fuller Theological Seminary
