Entries categorized as ‘Book Reviews’
November 20, 2007 · 1 Comment
Religion, Empire and Torture: The Case of Achaemenian Persia, with a Postscript on Abu Ghraib
by Bruce Lincoln/University of Chicago Press, 2007
Reviewed by Robin Jarrell
“Empire studies” has taken root as a branch of Biblical scholarship, where the focus of “empire” is usually mapped out using ancient Rome as the ultimate reference. In his postscript to his masterful work Religion, Empire, and Torture, Bruce Lincoln admits that in this study on ancient Persian empire, his “anguish and outrage concerning the American imperial adventure in Iraq frequently bubble close to the surface.” (more…)
Categories: Book Reviews · Fall 2007
God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now
by John Dominic Crossan/HarperSanFrancisco, 2007
Reviewed by Robin Jarrell
In sharp contrast to Lincoln’s book (see companion review), John Dominic Crossan’s God and Empire is written from a distinctly Christian perspective. In what may be his finest work to date, Crossan asks “anyone who is both Christian and American today” the question, “how is it possible to be a faithful Christian in an American Empire facilitated by a violent Christian Bible?”
Crossan begins by pointing out “that the Bible proposes the radicality of a nonviolent God struggling with the normalcy of a violent civilization” and that this is the worth of scripture. Thus, Crossan argues, the Kingdom of God is a radical new way to live outside of the normalcy of empire. (more…)
Categories: Book Reviews · Fall 2007
Becoming Bridges: The Spirit and Practice of Diversity
by Gary Commins/Cowley Publications, 2007
Reviewed by John L. Kater
Books about diversity are no longer a rarity; but Gary Commins’ book is an unusual treasure for a number of reasons. First, unlike many books that address racism or homophobia or sexism or distinctions of class or religious pluralism, Commins considers that an adequate treatment of the subject requires we pay attention simultaneously to all the ways in which human beings are different. The point is not to address one or the other form of difference, but to recognize that our world divides people in many ways, all of which are capable of lending themselves to discrimination. (more…)
Categories: Book Reviews · Fall 2007
