This is the credo and seminal text of the movement which was later characterized as liberation theology. The book burst upon the scene in the early seventies, and was swiftly acknowledged as a pioneering and prophetic approach to theology which famously made an option for the poor, placing the exploited, the alienated, and the economically wretched at the centre of a programme where "the oppressed and maimed and blind and lame" were prioritized at the expense of those who either maintained the status quo or who abused the structures of power for their own ends. This powerful, compassionate and radical book attracted criticism for daring to mix politics and religion in so explicit a manner, but was also welcomed by those who had the capacity to see that its agenda was nothing more nor less than to give "good news to the poor", and redeem God's people from bondage.

Despite half a century of biblical interpretation that has sought to put women back on the agenda of ancient texts (written largely if not wholly by men), the dominant threads of narrative and doctrine have-with the notable exception of Mary the mother of Jesus-been focused on the lives and actions of men. Reception history tells a different story. It is not the case that there is a recovery of the lives of women hidden behind the pages of the New Testament, for our information remains as sparse and tantalizing as ever. Rather, the study of biblical women's 'afterlives' allows the imaginative engagement of artists and writers to broaden the horizon of interpretative expectations. Whether it is through historical imagination or the grasp of different portrayals of familiar biblical women (like Mary the mother of Jesus or Mary Magdalene), the creative genius of these interpreters, neglected by mainstream biblical textual scholars, only underlines the importance of the biblical women, viewed in the light of their afterlives. This volume has its origins in a project entitled 'Biblical Women and their Afterlives', conceived and developed by the Centre for Reception History of the Bible at the University of Oxford and organized together with colleagues from the Luce Program in Scripture and Literary Arts at Boston University, USA. This project resulted not only in the present interdisciplinary collection of 21 essays (with their 66 illustrations) but also its companion volume, From the Margins 1: Women of the Hebrew Bible and their Afterlives, edited by Peter S. Hawkins and Lesleigh Cushing Stahlberg. The present volume includes the specially commissioned poem 'To Cast a Stone' by the acclaimed Irish poet John F. Deane.

John's Gospel has traditionally been regarded as the least apocalyptic document in the New Testament. This exciting new collection redresses the balance by exploring the ways in which the apocalyptic literature of Second Temple Judaism has contributed to the theology and outlook of John's Gospel. Given that John, like the Jewish apocalyptic texts, is primarily concerned with the theme of revelation, the contributors examine how apocalyptic ideas can help to explain the Johannine portrayal of Jesus as the messenger sent from heaven to reveal the divine mysteries, as well as the Gospel's presentation of the activity of the Spirit, its understanding of evil, and the intended effects of this 'apocalypse in reverse' on its readers and hearers. The highly distinguished contributors include, John Ashton, Christopher Rowland, April DeConick, Judith Lieu and Jorg Frey.

This collection of essays, largely written by members of the Oxford theological community, was presented to John Ashton on his 65th birthday in 1996. The essays deal with Elijah in Mark, a Q passion narrative, the Gospel thief saying, John's Beloved Disciple, the temple incident (Jn 2.13-25) and history and theology. Outside of the Gospels, they discuss God's wrath in Romans 1, Philippians 1.1-11, Hebrews 4.13, Peter and Paul behind Revelation, and hermeneutical method. Specialists from outside the New Testament field contribute studies of the patristic doctrine of Scripture, the Syriac Diatessaron, William Tyndale, the theology of the resurrection and the Byzantine understanding of John. John Ashton was, before his retirement, Lecturer in New Testament and Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford.

The renowned Johannine scholar John Ashton (1931-2016) left a large number of unpublished essays at the end of his life, representing his ongoing exegetical work. Introduced here by Christopher Rowland and Catrin H. Williams, they explore important themes such as mystery and Christology arising from his ground-breaking study, Understanding the Fourth Gospel. Alongside them is an intellectual autobiography originally intended for that volume, contextualizing Ashton's work both in the wider context of biblical scholarship and the particularities of his life. This in itself is an exceptional contribution, and together with the essays it sheds light not only on the current state of Johannine studies, but also on the situation of those involved with both church and academy in the closing decades of the twentieth century.

Liberation theology is widely referred to in discussions of politics and religion but not always adequately understood. The second edition of this Companion brings the story of the movement's continuing importance and impact up to date. Additional essays, which complement those in the original edition, expand upon the issues by dealing with gender and sexuality and the important matter of epistemology. In the light of a more conservative ethos in Roman Catholicism, and in theology generally, liberation theology is often said to have been an intellectual movement tied to a particular period of ecumenical and political theology. These essays indicate its continuing importance in different contexts and enable readers to locate its distinctive intellectual ethos within the evolving contextual and cultural concerns of theology and religious studies. This book will be of interest to students of theology as well as to sociologists, political theorists and historians.

Apocalyptic themes have formed a significant part of the Jewish and Christian religions. This is becoming more widely recognized, but it is the pervasiveness of such themes in art, literature and history which contributes most to this collection of essays, moving from the study of biblical apocalyptic to its role in wider culture. The interest in apocalypticism which was prompted by the turn of the millennium should not be a temporary phase in intellectual life since, as these essays indicate, the wide influence of apocalypticism deserves a central place in theological and historical study.>

Christianity began with the conviction that the old order was finished. The mysterious, elusive and charismatic figure of Jesus proclaimed that a new era, the Kingdom of God, was dawning. Yet despite its success, and the conversion of the empire which had executed its founder, the religion he inspired was soon domesticated, its counter-cultural radicalism tamed, as the Church attempted to control both its doctrines and its followers. Christopher Rowland here shows that this was never the whole story. At the margins, around the edges, sometimes off the religious map, the apocalyptic flame of the New Testament continued to burn. In 1649 the Diggers occupied St George's Hill to put the egalitarianism of Christ into practice. 'You must break these men or they will break you', Oliver Cromwell declared of the 'lunaticks'. This book argues that such revolutionaries had divined the true intent of the enigma who threw over the tables of the money-changers: to summon a new epoch - strange, iconoclastic, uncomfortable and otherworldly. It gives full weight to a remarkable strain of radical religion that simply refuses to die.

The authors of this volume investigate the analysis of visual sources and their indispensable role for understanding and interpreting religions, their symbol systems, and the wider traditions of which they are a part. A particular interest in this study is the focus on the methodological challenge of images from a comparative perspective. The common concern that ranges over all the contributions is the search for a methodological perspective where images may be analysed in a comprehensive way, with particular regard for the social, and wider intellectual settings, as well as the religious, in which the images are embedded. Accordingly, we seek to show that visual sources need to be interpreted from different angles, In the last decades, a broad range of publications has contributed to highlight the significance of images, and visual media in general, for understanding religious traditions, communities and discourses in both historical and contemporary perspective. In more recent research streams, focussing on visual media in religious traditions and symbol systems, various avenues have opened up and been explored focussing on the status of images and of the gaze of the viewer as central aspects. Furthermore, there are illuminating contributions dealing with the theoretical premises and settings with which to approach the visual as a central component of religion, on the one hand giving an overview of essential definitions and implications, on the other hand concentrating on specific techniques and/or media.

The Bible forms a key part in the development of critical theological thinking and reflection on experience. Equally, to understand how we as individuals read the bible, we need to be critically aware of our own stories and context. Text and life, tradition and experience, are inextricably intertwined. "In a Glass Darkly" offers for the first time a critical dialogue between practical theology and biblical hermeneutics. It considers the role of emotional engagement and critical understanding in biblical interpretation from here and presents being critical as an act which is just as much appreciative as it is suspicious.

Synopsis: This collection of essays is a celebration of the work of Timothy Gorringe. Like his theology, it is animated by a delighted and critical engagement with the diverse facets of human social life, and by a passionate concern to wrestle with the Bible and the Christian tradition in pursuit of human flourishing. The built environment, politics, education, art: these essays by leading Christian theologians ask what it means for Christian theology to concern itself with, to immerse itself in, and to risk critical commentary on, each of these and more. The collection follows the same rhythm that animates Gorringe's work: insistent attention to the Christian tradition in the light of the particular contexts where human flourishing is imagined, fought for, embodied and betrayed; and a critical, constructive and celebratory examination of those contexts in the light of the Christian tradition. The contributions are very diverse, touching on everything from city life to human curiosity, poverty to genocide--but they are united by a passion to make theological sense of human flourishing. Endorsements: "How do you respond to one of the liveliest, most daring, and most practically engaged of contemporary British theologians? Inspired by Tim Gorringe's work, the distinguished international group of senior and younger contributors to this volume rise superbly to the challenge. They cover an impressive range of major topics and show that theology can be more powerful when, as here, it is taken in distilled form. Time and again these concentrated essays grip the reader not only intellectually and imaginatively but also through challenges to act ethically and politically." -David F. Ford Regius Professor of Divinity and Director, Cambridge Inter-faith Programme University of Cambridge Editor Biography: Mike Higton is Academic Co-Director of the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme and Senior Lecturer in Theology at the University of Exeter. Christopher Rowland is Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford. Jeremy Law is Dean of Chapel and Reader in Christian Theology at Canterbury Christ Church University.

Synopsis: Transforming Faith Communities argues for a model of being church that combines congregationalism with a constructive approach to church-state relationships. Congregationalism within a vision for a renewed Christendom is commended here as a viable option for Christian mission in the twenty-first-century world. In making this case, two movements are explored--those inspired by sixteenth-century Anabaptism and late twentieth-century Latin American liberation theology. Each movement is held up as a mirror to the other. A continuing vision for the transformation of church and society emerges from this book as a number of contemporary resonances begin to sound. These include an outline of some likely common features in the development of radical religious communities, an examination of some of the factors that create world-affirming Christian faith communities, and many examples of effective and constructive engagement with church and society across the centuries. Endorsements: "The experiences of the sixteenth-century Anabaptists and the advocates of liberation theology have not been compared in the systematic way evidenced here. The conclusions Bochenski reaches, with twenty-first-century mission in mind, are fresh and challenging. His work is a pleasure to read. It is rigorous in the way it pursues an argument, but at the same time it is thoroughly accessible." --Ian Randall, Senior Research Fellow, International Baptist Theological Seminary "Bochenski, in a way I count as inspired, brings two significant faith traditions together in this erudite work. In so doing he brings to light--by contrast and comparison--a series of insights of benefit to all who aspire to live faithfully in and as the community of Christ's followers. This book and its contents serve us well." --Nigel G. Wright, Principal, Spurgeon's College "Bochenski has produced a stimulating work exploring insights from early Anabaptist and Latin American base communities. Though separated by over four centuries of Christian life and development, they exhibit challenging parallels. . . . The points of contact are vital in the search for the continuing reformation of the church." --Keith G. Jones, Rector, International Baptist Theological Seminary Author Biography: Michael Ian Bochenski has had very wide pastoral and academic involvement. He has degrees from both Cambridge (social and political sciences) and Oxford (theology) Universities. He has been a local church pastor, committed to community praxis, for over thirty years. He has led two local homelessness charities, has been the President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, and for four years was the Rector of the Polish Baptist Seminary in Warsaw, Poland.

This book aims to create a bridge between pastoral practice and public theology aimed at those training for ministry, those in ministry and lay people wishing to reflect upon their work. It seeks to enable those in pastoral ministry to reflect upon their institutional encounters and to enable lay people who work in institutions as professionals or managers to reflect upon their pastoral encounters. By generating shared encounters of theological reflection between these two groups the authors identify points of solidarity and tension between them.The book seeks to address the commonly voiced concern that clergy and laity talk past each other and don't engage on the issues that they find perplexing. Readers of the book will gain an increased confidence in reflecting upon their own practice and engaging with others in theological reflection.

This book brings together the perspectives of apocalypticism and early Jewish mysticism to illuminate aspects of New Testament theology. The first part begins with a consideration of the mystical character of apocalypticism and then uses the Book of Revelation and the development of views about the heavenly mediator figure of Enoch to explore the importance of apocalypticism in the Gospels and Acts, the Pauline Letters and finally the key theological themes in the later books of the New Testament. The second and third parts explore the character of early Jewish mysticism by taking important themes in the early Jewish mystical texts such as the Temple and the Divine Body to demonstrate the relevance of this material to New Testament interpretation.

The context and approach of the reader have been underestimated in Biblical Exegesis. The Biblical text is sometimes thought to be above time and space, above mere human contingencies. This has made it monolithic - a stone on which countless individuals have been dashed to pieces. Yet this interpretation has been developed by interpreters who have institutional power, and who have been unaware that they are interpreting in the interests of those who have such power. The book looks at past and present interpretations, as well as how certain subjects have been understood within them, including homosexuality, marriage, divorce and Liberation Theology.

This important book provides a sampling of liberation theology's use of biblical texts, relating it to the "standard" methods of interpretation in Europe and America. Divided into four sections, the book sets out contemporary readings of the parable of Jesus influenced by a liberationist perspective; identifies the biblical and theoretical foundations of liberation theology, comparing them with the dominant exegetical paradigm in the first world; explores the way in which liberation exegesis affects reading the canonical accounts of Jesus; and argues that liberation theology cannot be seen solely as a third-world phenomenon.

John's Gospel has traditionally been regarded as the least apocalyptic document in the New Testament. This exciting new collection redresses the balance by exploring the ways in which the apocalyptic literature of Second Temple Judaism has contributed to the theology and outlook of John's Gospel. Given that John, like the Jewish apocalyptic texts, is primarily concerned with the theme of revelation, the contributors examine how apocalyptic ideas can help to explain the Johannine portrayal of Jesus as the messenger sent from heaven to reveal the divine mysteries, as well as the Gospel's presentation of the activity of the Spirit, its understanding of evil, and the intended effects of this 'apocalypse in reverse' on its readers and hearers. The highly distinguished contributors include, John Ashton, Christopher Rowland, April DeConick, Judith Lieu and Jorg Frey.