What do the theological disciplines have to do with reparations? Historically, many churches and theologians defended and supported race-based slavery and subsequent forms of racial hierarchy and violence. While today many in our society see reparations as an important step towards addressing the harm perpetrated against Black Americans, the theological disciplines have often ignored this crucial topic.

The time is now for biblical scholars, theologians, and religious historians to make a prophetic case for reparations. Each essay in Reparations and the Theological Disciplines does precisely that. Written for students, scholars, pastors, and church people, the essays in this volume draw on the riches of Scripture, Christian theology, history, and praxis to make the case for an ethic of remembrance, reckoning, and repair.

About the Author

Michael Barram is professor of theology and religious studies at Saint Mary's College of California.

Drew G. I. Hart is associate professor of theology at Messiah University and program director of Thriving Together Congregations for Racial Justice.

Gimbiya Kettering, M.F.A., rooted in the Church of the Brethren, leads workshops about racism in the church and gospel-based social justice.

Michael J. Rhodes is lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist College.

Reviews

What makes reparations for entrenched inequity so urgent in our society is that it is the place where the hard question of economics and the hard questions of race converge. It is abundantly clear that nothing less than reparations are required for our society to move toward peaceable, generative wellbeing. For this reason, this book is both welcome and urgent. It is welcome because it mobilizes in a most compelling way the inescapable evidence in our deepest theological tradition on behalf of reparations. It is urgent because the church, for the sake of the body politic, must be awakened to the requirements and possibilities latent in our tradition. The book makes it possible that the issue of reparations can be seriously and honestly taken up in local communities that are willing to engage the resources of our shared faith. These several writers pull no punches about the truth-telling that the tradition requires. We may hope for a broad, deep engagement with the sharp-edge insistence of this rich study.

Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary

-- Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary



Book Information
ISBN 9781666922462
Author Michael Barram
Format Hardback
Page Count 340
Imprint Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
Publisher Lexington Books
Weight(grams) 662g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 159mm * 25mm