(8 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Loading ...The Justice Project – Edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, & Ashley Bunting Seeber
“Justice.”
The word thrills, or it terrifies, or it bores. Justice is variously something we’re longing for, something we’re trying to evade, or something we feel vaguely guilty about because – in a post-ONE Campaign world – it’s something we’re supposed to be passionate about.
Whither justice?
This question is vitally enmeshed in early 21st century life, whether we’re approaching it politically, spiritually, philosophically, or pop culturally. Clothing lines that promise easy-purchasing justice, theological interpretations of the Gospel that say ‘Thank God we don’t get justice,’ and a litigious culture that demands justice for coffee that’s too hot – it’s a hot-button topic, for sure.
The contributors to this new anthology The Justice Project from Baker Books feel our pain. And they contend that the world has never been in greater of need of Jesus-followers who “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.”
The Justice League:
This collection of essays contains more than thirty brief chapters by some of the most penetrating thinkers in the contemporary Christian ‘justice conversation,’ including voices from evangelical, mainline, and emerging contexts:
- Rene Padilla
- Peggy Campolo
- Will and Lisa Samson
- Sylvia Keesmaat
- Bart Campolo
- Lynne Hybels
- Tony Jones
- Richard Twiss
- many others
The essays are fresh, and take nothing for granted. You can read ‘em in order or peruse at will. The Justice Project is eating through my jaded-ness to inspire me to live a beautiful life of justice-making unto God’s new creation.
Endorsements
“Put together by exemplary leaders, this will be a handbook for any who are committed to working for biblically based social justice. It’s comprehensive and brilliantly well written.”
– Tony Campolo
“Absolutely dazzling. Here is a choir for social justice that makes the prophets smile. The editors have conducted a symphony of voices, harmonizing without homogenizing. You may find some voices here a little high pitched or unfamiliar, but together they are magical. These authors are not just the ‘usual suspects’ of the religious left, but signs of a movement that is coloring outside the lines of partisan politics and stale debates in a post-religious right world. They insist that our faith must be as daring and sassy, as gentle and fascinating, as our lover, Jesus.”
– Shane Claiborne
EnglewoodReview
THE JUSTICE PROJECT is the newest book in the “emersion” series from Baker books. Following in the footsteps of its previously-released companion volume An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, The Justice Project is an excellent introduction to the various facets of justice (and injustice) that are being wrestled with in the emerging church movement. However, consisting of 35 very brief chapters by writers from throughout the world, it is a difficult book to review. The contributors include many names that will be familiar to these in/or around the emerging church conversation: Brian Mclaren, Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Will and Lisa Samson and Bart Campolo. There are also many pieces contributed by lesser-known – though no less insightful – thinkers and churchworkers. Overall, the mini-essay format is a bit disappointing in that the writers never really are able to get very deep into their given subject. The positive side is that it does allow for the introduction of a vast array of diverse justice-related issues in the theology and practice of church communities. Some of the finest essays were Sylvia Keesmaat’s (a co-author of the excellent book Colossians Unmixed) piece on justice in the biblical epistles and Annemie Bosch’s piece on “Suffering for Justice” (Annemie is the widow of the late, renowned South African missiologist, David Bosch). I also really appreciated the pieces on justice in the city by Jorge Tasin (of Buenos Aires, Argentina) and my friend and fellow Indianapolis Eastsider, Chad Abbott.
Having been an observer of (and sometimes a participant in) the emerging church conversation for almost a decade, I know well that the longing for justice is one of the key virtues that defines these churches. I am thus pleased to see the many facets this passion for justice surveyed in The Justice Project, thereby beginning the work of fleshing out a vision of justice across the movement. I hope and pray that this vision of justice will continue to be pursued and more richly embodied in the years to come.
Oct 5th, 2009
EnglewoodReview
Meant to paste this in with the above review but it first appeared in THE ENGLEWOOD REVIEW OF BOOKS http://englewoodreview.org/
Vol 2 #39 – 2 Oct 2009
Oct 5th, 2009
mhasty
There are days and moments in which I find myself stopping to ask the question: “Do I have God all wrong?”
I know I must not have Him all wrong I mean I understand the Father’s saving grace and the atoning sacrifice of Christ and the indwelling of the Spirit for guidance and direction into all truth. I wonder if I too often ignore the Spirit of God. If my preconceived notions of who God is have gotten in the way with who He really is? Am I believing under false pretenses about who my God is? Have I been speaking so quickly and believing so swiftly that I’ve missed the words God Himself was whispering?
I feel that God is taking me to some new places in knowing Him… at least I think He’s trying to if I’ll shut up and let Him. God’s been teaching me and molding me through different resources and one of these is The Justice Project, which is a collaboration of Christian thinkers from around the globe asking questions about social justice and justice as it pertains to who God is. If nothing else this book has helped me to clear a path for questions of my own to resurface. Questions that have been brewing for a long time.
Tonight I sat in a warm bath to read some of this book. A tub full of clean water that I pulled a lever to access and gallons filled my clean tub in moments. Earlier today I filled a gallon jug in seconds with fresh cold clean water to use for coffee beans that I pulled from a bag and ground and brewed for myself and a friend with no thought at all. As I filled my tub and my jug today at both times God has reminded me of so many around the world without clean water to even drink. Here I sit wallowing in it. Here I can call it up at any temperature desired from the tap, if I’m feeling luxurious I might filter it… God has blessed me with so many things that I take for granted. What does it say about Him that so many go without? Rather what does it say about what my response to these situations should be. Justice is at the top of the list for God. He calls us to follow Him in this in Micah 6:8. He calls us to “do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly” with Him.
The Justice Project I hope will bring some questions to your mind as well concerning your role in social justice. I’m praying that God keeps my heart open to hear Him speak.
“Justice.”
The word variously thrills, or it terrifies, or it bores. Justice is something we’re longing for, something we’re trying to evade, or something we feel vaguely guilty about because – in a post-ONE Campaign world – it’s something we’re supposed to be passionate about.
Whither justice?
This question is vitally enmeshed in early 21st century life, whether we’re approaching it politically, spiritually, philosophically, or pop culturally. Clothing lines that promise easy-purchasing justice, theological interpretations of the Gospel that say ‘Thank God we don’t get justice,’ and a litigious culture that demands justice for coffee that’s too hot – it’s a hot-button topic, for sure.
The contributors to this new anthology The Justice Project feel our pain. And they contend that the world has never been in greater need of Jesus-followers who “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.”
The Justice League:
This collection of essays contains more than thirty brief chapters by some of the most penetrating thinkers in the contemporary Christian ‘justice conversation,’ including voices from evangelical, mainline, and emerging contexts:
* Rene Padilla
* Peggy Campolo
* Will and Lisa Samson
* Sylvia Keesmaat
* Bart Campolo
* Lynne Hybels
* Tony Jones
* Richard Twiss
* many others
The essays are fresh, and take nothing for granted. You can read ‘em in order or peruse at will. The Justice Project is eating through my jaded-ness to inspire me to live a beautiful life of justice-making unto God’s new creation.
Endorsements
“Put together by exemplary leaders, this will be a handbook for any who are committed to working for biblically based social justice. It’s comprehensive and brilliantly well written.”
– Tony Campolo
“Absolutely dazzling. Here is a choir for social justice that makes the prophets smile. The editors have conducted a symphony of voices, harmonizing without homogenizing. You may find some voices here a little high pitched or unfamiliar, but together they are magical. These authors are not just the ‘usual suspects’ of the religious left, but signs of a movement that is coloring outside the lines of partisan politics and stale debates in a post-religious right world. They insist that our faith must be as daring and sassy, as gentle and fascinating, as our lover, Jesus.”
– Shane Claiborne
Extras
Brian McLaren explaining his heart behind being the editor – and how his proceeds will be used:http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/books/brians-books/the-justice-project.html
25-page PDF excerpt:http://www.bakerbooks.com/Media/MediaManager/Excerpt_9780801013287.pdf
Even the book’s potential theological critics are turning a hopeful eye: http://witheredgrass.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/the-justice-project-a-look-at-doing-justice
http://thegreatrescue.blogspot.com/2009/10/justice-project-book-review.html
Oct 29th, 2009
khager
I don’t want to gulp these essays down, so I’m going to say a little now and then whenever I finish, I’ll discuss it in more depth.
The general gist is that working for justice is one of the most important things a Christian can do, but that a lot of times that gets bogged down with other things.
My favorite line so far: “It’s stories that give meaning to the reams of data in our lives, and it’s ultimatly stories that provoke us to action.”
The essays are more intellectual than emotional–that’s not a bad thing, necessarily, but I do get moved more by stories.
Oct 30th, 2009
expastor
Brian McLaren is the main editor for this collection of “essays” for Baker Books, and as compilations go, this one is hit and miss. I admit up front to having a great deal of respect for Brian. He’s one of the kindest, most sincere people I’ve met who happen to be professional ministers. He also has noble goals with this book. Here’s an excerpt from his blog:
He’s the rare idealist in ministry who is not completely out of balance or completely burned out. All that to say that because Brian is involved and because justice is probably one of my primary orientations, especially when teaching, I wanted to like this collection. First, the good news. There are new voices here, voices people need to hear. Longtime blog friend Anthony Smith gets a chapter, and his is a voice that the white church needs to hear. There are also chapters from the usual suspects (i.e., Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt). The book’s organization is clear, the chapters short (usually five pages or less), and the reading level light. Again, I think justice is important, and I’m glad Baker asked Brian to put this together. The church should care about justice. It ought to be axiomatic that Christian at least means “person who gives a shit about justice.” The fact that a book is necessary probably indicates that Brian and his writers aren’t convinced that the church cares. The Sojo crowd does. Some of Emergent does. Those two audiences are perfect for this book. Not sure it will get much of a reading outside those two circles.
Now for the quibbles. In his chapter Tony Jones stresses the importance of hearing others’ stories. I don’t necessarily disagree with that. My concern is that most people have no idea how to tell their stories in a way that is useful. They are not typically deeply reflective. Other than an exercise in ego-masturbation, most storytelling serves no redemptive purpose. Until the story has been been filtered through the lens of genuine reflection, it is typically a narcissistic exercise in having my voice heard. I suppose one could argue that allowing the voice to be heard is important, and again, I don’t disagree. But the voices of disenfranchised people don’t always sound like Anthony’s. There is too much anger, too much frustration, too much unmediated rhetorical vomit for the story to be worthwhile. We don’t so much need to hear their stories as enter into friendships so as to make sense of the stories. For every storyteller who has thought deeply about her narrative, there are hundreds who still need the collective benefit of a community who occasionally says, “There might be another way to see this.” This is, I admit, a small quibble, but it’s not unimportant. Anyone who has endured the unfiltered rhetoric of the narcissist will admit that humans are wonderful at self-deception and need to be led through the deconstruction of their narratives so as to find what is true about them.
Second, rather than pick on particular writers for their inability to add much of substance, I would like to say that much of the book is too thin to be very valuable. Several of the pieces, including at least one by someone who ought to be better at it, read like sermons or thinly disguised devotional pieces. Jones avoids that criticism by saying much that is meaningful, and he stands out from the rest of the writers as a man of genuine thought and reflection, as well as a damn good writer. As with any collection like this, there will be weak spots. The editors shouldn’t be castigated too severely though, as the book largely does what it hopes to do: draw attention to justice around the world, as well as offer a few strategies for church participation.
This last bit really isn’t a critique, just a point of curiosity. How is the book going to be used to reach those parts of the church that most need to hear it? My friends who are still Christians already care about justice. They don’t need a primer. Emergent and Sojo don’t need another book. I’m curious what the hope is to get this book into the hands of people who need to hear it. It’s not like Jim Wallis hasn’t spent his life preaching this message, and while Sojo continues to grow (I think), the movement is marginalized among the evangelical monsters who prefer to think of Sojo as a “liberal” group rather than a group dedicated to justice. It might be time for a book that brings in theistic and non-theistic voices, as I’m pretty sure justice need not be clothed in the language of soteriology.
from http://www.theparishokc.org
Nov 8th, 2009
patjdawson
from http://patjdawson.blogspot.com/2009/11/book-review-justice-project.html
There are many books that discuss the same subject matter (biblical & social justice, caring for the poor, etc.). With this in mind, one might be deterred assuming it’s nothing more than the same rhetoric. However this book is unique in many ways and does a few things really well:
1. It captures a wide spectrum of voices in the Christian faith. Names that you’ll know and recognize and names that you won’t.
2. It is both long and short at the same time. You can spot read, as each chapter (for the most part) is not dependent on the preceding chapters. There is no “fluff”, it gets straight to the point.
3. It does a great job of moving from the purely theological discussions about biblical justice to the actual tangible examples of biblical justice being done. It strikes a remarkable balance between the two.
5. It doesn’t hold back at all. It hits many of the hot button topics debated in many Christian circles. Instead of picking a side and making a case, it challenges us to think about God’s justice in certain situations.
6. It helps to answer many questions that disgruntled Christians might be asking themselves when frustrated by the perceived lack of action done by the Church. For instance, whole chapters discussing: “What good can come from our frustration and anger at injustice?” and “What are some good first steps in seeking justice – for both individuals and faith communities?”
Overall, I would recommend this book for those seeking to live out God’s call for us to be a people who act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
“And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.” -Micah 6:8
Don’t be fooled thinking it’s another book with the same rhetoric. The Justice Project is refreshing, comprehensive, and well written.
Nov 12th, 2009
Jonathan Stegall
Through the OOZE Viral Bloggers program, I recently got to read The Justice Project. You can learn about the book, and read more reviews, and there is also a 25 page excerpt (a PDF). The book is an anthology of justice with thirty-five different authors who each contributed a fairly small chapter. Many of the authors are well-known to those of us within Emergent, and many are not, but each is equally fascinating.
This variety makes the book really hard to review, but an amazing read. The book is divided into these sections: The God of Justice (theology, postmodernism, church history, etc.), The Book of Justice (justice throughout the Torah, the prophets, the Gospels, and the epistles), Justice in the U.S.A. (issues of race, politics, etc.), A Just World (a global perspective on justice), A Just Church (how the church can seek justice), and Conclusion (just what it says). I read the book straight through, but it could easily be read out of order.
I believe that by its very existence, this book can, and should, take the conversations about justice that occur in the emerging church to an entirely different level. It has done a number on my thoughts, expanding them and deepening them on all of these issues. None of the core issues here are new to me, but the voices and perspectives are often new to me, and more experienced in these stories, than any I’ve encountered before.
I hope many outside of emerging conversations will read this, especially evangelicals and Pentecostals as many of the stories and perspectives will be new to them, and are incredibly necessary for them to know about. Often the voices are people they will trust, and that’s a valid thing. There is a sad extent, though, to which many in these circles have no understanding of a biblical vision of justice – viewing it as simply punishment, retribution, or strictly in an eschatological sense. Really getting what this book is saying will not allow that to continue.
I think many within Emergent will have similar experiences with this book to mine: we know these issues and stories, but these perspectives and experiences can shake us, if we let them. Often we so badly want to be part of justice, and this gives us incredible things – theological resources, amazing people to learn from, stories to join, and a holistic vision of what God is doing in so many areas in the world so we can be a part of it.
Nov 12th, 2009
lucasland
The Justice Project is the latest book in the Emergent line from Baker Books. I think it’s important that a movement often accused of some sort of absolute moral relativism has come out with a book about justice. It’s also important that many of the voices in the book are not well known and many translated from Spanish. The book has a lot going for it.
Brian Mclaren starts out the book with an important caveat about the difficulty of defining justice. This notoriously difficult concept has troubled humanity at least since Socrates came up empty searching for a good definition. All Socrates found was a lot of people who thought they knew what justice was, but didn’t. They claimed knowledge that they didn’t have. It seems we haven’t come so far after all.
My favorite chapter, of course, was “Just Countryside: How Can Justice ‘From the Roots Up’ Affect Life in Rural Areas?” by Sarah Ferry. While many of the other chapters touched on problems with climate change, environmental degradation and the need for creation care, this chapter got closest to answering the question why. Taking care of our planet doesn’t make much sense unless we understand why. Unfortunately I think a lot of people that see the need to take care of the planet believe that others will intuitively understand why this is important if they can show them the devastation. Again unfortunately, I don’t think that this is often the case. We are so far detached in our understanding of ourselves as creatures subject to the limitations and laws of nature that it is difficult for many to make the connection between the planet and themselves.
The biggest downside I see is that the scope is just too big. Most of the chapters are only 5-7 pages. Each chapter has an important element to add to the concept of justice in the Christian tradition, but just about the time you start getting into that particular issue the chapter is over. Most of the book, therefore, only remains at the very surface of justice, never dwelling long enough on any one element to go deeper. One might argue that this is an introduction to the project of justice in the world. Introductions are necessary, I suppose. It just feels like too much of the conversation about justice never moves beyond the surface. That is why I still hear Christian musicians encouraging people at their shows to sponsor a child with a certain organization that will remain unnamed. This book points us beyond the surface, but it never quite goes there. Each chapter and topic deserves an entire book to explore the implications.
While perhaps the title is a little hyperbolic, this is a needed book with many new voices.
originally posted at What Would Jesus Eat?
Nov 17th, 2009
lamo5973
I recently received the book, The Justice Project, in order to read and review it. The book boast an all-star cast of contributers from Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Peggy Camplolo, Rene Padilla, Lynne Hybels, Bart Campolo, and others. There are also many contributors who I had not heard of, but was thankful for because they represented various ethnic backgrounds and locations. This book is not just written my white, western men, but seeks to find more of a global approach to the idea of justice.
The book consist five sections (The God of Justice, The Book of Justice, Justice in the USA, A Just World, A Just Church) where each section consist of small chapters or articles on various topics that would fall under each category. I appreciated that there was an attempt to view justice from both a liberal and conservative lens as well as creating space to challenge many presupposed ideas of justice for someone, like me, who grew up in a conservative, evangelical home/church. There were several noteworthy chapters and thoughts throughout the book, but I will not go into detail here.
My critique of the book is that no one topic gets fully fleshed out. Yes, the entire book speaks of justice but so many of the chapters could have been turned into 2 or 3 chapters- or maybe even an entire book. Just as you get your appetite whet for what the author is saying, the chapter ends. In this way, there is little flow in the book from idea to idea other than the articles being grouped under one of the five sections.
I’ve been thinking about how I would use this book, other than personal reading/study. In a group setting, it might be more useful to pull an article around a topic rather than trying to read the entire book. It could also be used for study around the five sections and talk about the ways in which the articles work in the sections.
Overall, I thought this was a good effort by McLaren and company, even if it fell short of my expectations. Regardless, the Church must continue to wrestle everyday with what it means to “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.”
Read the original post at: http://www.stevelamotte.blogspot.com
Nov 19th, 2009
Monster
The Book
The prophet Amos declared, “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5.24). The notes to The New Oxford Annotated Bible state that this verse “expresses the heart of Amos’ preaching”, but in a very real sense those words express the heart of all prophecy, including Jesus’ own preaching. He so closely identified with the oppressed and the marginalized that he said, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25.40).
The Justice Project is Baker Books’ answer to this prophetic call. The book is a collection of essays edited by Brian McLaren et al. that brings together in one volume a variety of Christian speakers, authors and activists to ruminate on the subject of justice. As might be expected, the foreword was written by Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourner’s. The Justice Project was published in 2009 under the Emersion imprint.
Quote
“Because God is a God of justice, in any situation in which power is misused and the powerful take advantage of the weak, God takes the side of the weak” (Brian McLaren, page 24).
The Good
The good thing is that books with a focus on social justice are being written, it seems, with greater frequency. What’s even better is that the mainstream church is starting to notice. When even staunchly “conservative” Evangelicals are starting to read Sojourner’s and the stars of Christian radio are launching their own nonprofits (see Jars of Clay’s Blood: Water Mission or Third Day’s Come Together Fund), you know that change is in the air.
As a member of a congregation that belongs to American Baptist Churches USA (an organization with its own rich history of social justice activism), I instantly recognized the name Campolo. Tony didn’t actually contribute an article – just a promotional blurb – but I read the essays by his wife, Peggy and son, Bart with great interest. Bart’s piece is one that sticks with me, since it’s about a topic that I don’t normally think of as having spiritual implications: campaign finance reform. His point – concisely made, I might add – was that if the poor are to ever have a real voice in American politics, we need to cap the amount of money that can be spent on political campaigns. This will ensure that a wealthy individual does not necessarily have the advantage when running for office. The idea is simple, but effective.
The Bad
It’s tough to review a book that doesn’t speak with a single, unified voice, and a collection of essays, by its very nature, cannot do so. Each chapter, each voice, should be judged on its own merits, and an analysis of each and every essay in The Justice Project is well beyond the scope of this review. However, if there is one criticism that can be leveled at a number of the pieces it is this: that they give their complaint without offering the reader a compelling solution. A word of advice: if you’ve been granted 10 pages in a book with a potentially large audience, don’t waste 9 of those pages telling me how deeply you feel the weight of oppression against your favorite minority. Instead, outline the problem on page one and then spend the rest of your time offering me an intelligent solution (and don’t assume that I will agree with you – convince me). I realize that most social justice issues do not have instant answers, but at least take a stab at it. It’s why you have the letters “MDiv” or “PhD” after your name, and I don’t.
The other complaint I have is that many of the authors in the book were unknown to me. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but instead of reading about how Shauna Niequist likes to think about social justice activism while she’s doing the laundry, it would have been nice to hear from someone who actually has a presence on the national/international stage. What does Rick Warren think should be done about HIV/AIDS? Perhaps part of the point of the book was to give a voice to people who wouldn’t normally have access to this kind of a platform. Still, Warren has the ability to influence public opinion – Alise Barrymore (page 210) does not. Do we want to actually shift the prevailing paradigm, or just stand around talking to ourselves about our commitments to “Womanist” theology?
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that The Justice Project does serve a purpose. Books like this one help to raise awareness about social justice in both the Church and the culture-at-large. The average Evangelical Christian reader will no doubt disagree with a number of the ideas promoted in the book (including Peggy Campolo’s assertion that the Church should embrace GLBT couples). Nevertheless, I found the book’s overall concept refreshing, and I think it will at the very least help Christians attain a greater degree of awareness and engagement with social justice in the 21st Century.
Nov 19th, 2009
SGill4613
“The Justice Project – Edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, & Ashley Bunting Seeber” is one of the best collections of essays I have ever had the privilege to read. With no essay being no more than four or five pages long, this collection was a joy to read through at my own pace, allowing me to skip over some which did not relate to me as well as some of the others. The reason I passed over some of the essays was because they did not fit my own context; yet, the editors did a fantastic job of covering as many contexts as possible. Catholic and Protestant, Native American and African American, Upper Middle Class to Poor Natives in India, Urban to Rural, Liberal to Conservative… this book covers it all.
Because God calls us to be active workers for Godly justice, this book serves as inspiration to anyone who seeks to answer the call.
Nov 20th, 2009
RyanBraught
I just finished reading “The Justice Project” edited by Brian McLaren and others. I received the book a few weeks ago from the Ooze Viral Bloggers and it took me a while to work through it because of my schedule over the last few weeks, with work for Veritas, my job at Starbucks, and watching the kids while Kim has been working more hours. So it has taken me some time to get around to blogging about this book.
The book is divided into five sections. The five sections are: The God of Justice, The Book of Justice, Justice in the USA, A Just World, and a Just Church. Each section then is broken down into a number of chapters each written by a different person, each writing about a different aspect of justice.
The first section regarding the God of Justice is all around God’s heart for the needy, the poor, and the oppressed. The second section revolves around how the theme of justice runs throughout all of Scripture, from the prophets, to the Gospels, and the rest of the New Testament. The third section revolves around issues of Justice in the USA, including Racial issues, elections, liberals, conservatives, family values, and border issues. A Just world revolves around issues that are broader than just the USA and includes chapters on becoming just global citizens, business of justice, just ecology, just religion, just cities, justice in the slums, and justice in the suburbs. The final section deals with Justice in the church and includes evangelicals awakening to the justice issue, planting justice churches, parenting and justice, and some other issues.
It was a great read and opened my eyes to some justice issues that I hadn’t thought about before. It also helped formulate some other things that I have been thinking about for awhile. One chapter that stood out to me was the chapter on parenting and justice. I have thought about how can Kim and I parent Kaiden and Trinity in such a way that they have a heart to work for peace and justice in the world. That is alot of the reason that we do service projects at Veritas with whole families, so the kids can realize that they bring a real contribution to the church and the world.
Here are some quotes that stood out to me throughout the book:
“The practice of justice is at the center of God’s purpose for human life. It is so closely related to the worship of the living God as the only ture God that no act of worship is acceptable to him unless it is accompanied by concrete acts of justice on the human level.”
“In The Politics of Jesus, Dr. Obery Hendricks underscores this point by putting the Lord’s Prayer in the political context of Caesar’s empire in order to shed new light on its seditious and subversive nature.”
“Jesus inaugurates God’s realm of justice on and for the earth. His entire life, death and resurrection unveil for all people in all times a true portrait of God’s justice. Justice empowers the wronged by making wrongs right. Jesus’ teaching and ministry shows us waht justice looks like in every dimension of human life- individual, social and economic.”
“Christ’s peaceable kingdom will only materialize in the Americas as emerging Christian communities disrupt the logics of racism, nationalism, materialism, and militarism and form counter-imperial communities of justice and hope.”
Probably the one quote that stood out to me in the entire book was this one, and I end this blog with this one, “Too many Bible readers have been trained, as I was, to approach the biblical text through the priestly lens, not the prophetic one. That is, they look at the priestly theme of personal justification and ignore the prophetic theme of social justice. They’re concerned about pleasing God with personal piety rather than public policy. They are more interested in being blessed than in being a blessing, quicker to bomb their enemies than to love and serve them, more preoccupied with evading justice than with seeking it first.”
Nov 23rd, 2009
Steven Burleson
“The Justice Project” edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, and Ashley Bunting Seeber is one of the best books I’ve read this year and definitely one of the best books on justice that I’ve ever read. Over the past few years it seems there has been a resurgence of “Justice-talk.” People are getting excited again about what it means to love one’s neighbor and how to act accordingly, especially in the face of injustice. Reading this collaboration of concise articles was an eye-opening experience as each author penned a different, yet “cohesive-to-the-whole” picture of what justice might look like in our world today if we would only get creative. “The Justice Project,” as an introduction to justice issues, may very well be “the voice of one many crying out in the wilderness”: “Justice is here. Join us.”
http://treehousemonastic.com
Nov 23rd, 2009
jimmyd8466
The Justice Project is a collection of essays devoted to understanding social justice issues. There are over thirty chapters dealing with issues as diverse as urban poverty, justice for Native Peoples in the U.S., reading the Bible justly, and racial justice among many others.
I appreciate the conversational rather than adversarial tone used in these essays. You will hear from liberals, and conservatives, you will hear from evangelical, mainline, and emerging believers, you will hear from seasoned voices whose names we all recognize and you will hear from the next generation of Christian thinkers that will amaze you with their passion and intellect.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3D2BBUTZJ9BGN/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
http://culturedrivenlife.blogspot.com/2009/11/justice-project.html
Nov 24th, 2009
bkjohn
“The Justice Project” edited by Brian Mclaren, Elisa Padilla and Ashley Seeber is a compilation of 35 chapters of essays by different authors from different races, cultures and backgrounds that deal with the issues of Justice. As with any book of essays written by different authors, some are better than others.
I would like to address briefly. Chp. 22 Just Religion: Why should We De-colonize God’s name?
The author tries to make the claim for a salvation in other religions outside of Christ (without denying Christ). His main argument seems to be that God is moving in other peoples lives and other religions that are not Christ centered. I would agree with the author that God is moving in peoples lives who do not know Jesus.
On a recent mission trip to Haiti, I seen God moving. God was there in the smile of a young lady who was selling coconuts on the side of the road. This lady has no water, no electric, nothing of any material goods and there she is smiling—That was God.
I seen God in the fact, that for the most part, people there are not starving, even though it seems like they should be. That was what we call Gods prevenient, sovereign grace. (The sun shines on the just and the unjust).
But seeing all that only means that they need to recognize the “unknown God” and that God is Jesus. Which puts the responsibility on us, to go and share the good news found in Jesus.
Another part of the chapter the author ask the question, “How is the good news good to those who have never heard?” Then as an example he asks if there was a viral disease on Manhattan Island and the authorities issued only one bus on which to evacuate, how would that constitute good news for its citizens?
I would answer by saying the good news is that the followers of Jesus give up their seat on the bus so that others may escape. And they did that because of the life transforming power of Jesus in their life.
http://www.intercessioncity.blogspot.com
Nov 26th, 2009
TgotK
The Justice Project is a collection of essays by a handful of “progressive,” “emergent,” and otherwise cutting-edge Christian writers. The essays serve as meditations on the Biblical concept of justice, with titles such as “Just Elections: What is the Most Pressing Voter Issue Facing Our Democracy Today”; “Just Suburbs: What Does the Call of Justice Mean for Life in Our Suburbs”; and “Exorcism as Racial Justice.”
The book–as most collections of essays are doomed to be–is annoyingly hit or miss. Quality and depth of writing varied wildly. The editing, it seemed, also did not curb repetition. Too often I found myself skimming over sentences or entire paragraphs that a previous essay had just said in a only slightly different way.
However, the essays that hit the mark did so excellently. If you’re borrowing this book from someone, definitely check out Jeremy Del Rio’s “Prophets of Justice”; Bart Campolo’s “Just Elections”; and Ashley Bunting Seeber’s “Just Perspectives. A quote from each will give you a flavor of what is being said.
Del Rio: “Too many Bible readers have been trained…to approach the biblical text through the priestly lens, not the prophetic one. That is, they look at the priestly theme of personal justification and ignore the prophetic theme of social justice.”
Campolo: “I hereby assert that…there is only one voting issue of ultimate significance: campaign finance reform.”
Seeber quoting a friend: “…what would America justice look like? Would it be restorative justice, or retributive justice? It seems Americans are focused on retributive justice more than anything else, on punishing people for their wrongdoing.” She herself comments, “Do we even know how to seek distributive justice, to love other countries as we love ourselves?
The Justice Project would serve as great discussion-kindling; it doesn’t stand alone very well.
Three stars (out of five).
Nov 30th, 2009
Bill Nieporte
I’m not a big fan of “essay books.” I much prefer to consume a book from start to finish, delving into the mindset of the author. I like to argue with a book’s author – challenging her/his presuppositions, agendas, theology, philosophy, and politics. I like following an author’s threads and seeing if they remain consistent from start to finish.
That made reading “The Justice Project” a big challenge. Brian McLaren is the primary editor for this collection of “essays” for Baker Books. As I read the book, I forced myself to do an essay every other day – allowing me to live with each article and essayist thoughts. Then I sat back to explore some of the common threads that McLaren (as editor) sought to communicate through this project.
McLaren divides the book into several sections.
1) The God of Justice – which deals with issues of theology, church history, the challenge of postmodernism and the emerging church.
2) The Book of Justice – which address how the Bible deals with issues of justice through the Torah and Hebrew prophetic writings, as well as in the Gospels and Epistles
3) Justice in the U.S.A. (which looks at justice issues which have been prevalent in theological and philosophical roundtables in the USA)
4) A Just World (a global look at the topic)
5) A Just Church (exploring ways that the church has/can pursue justice)
As a whole, the book does a good job of starting a conversation from an “emergent church” perspective about a wide range of justice issues that confront the human family. The challenge will be for others to take up the charge, for this book format only allows the surface to be scratch as to the topics and Christian response.
Dec 1st, 2009
tghali
Shame on me for underestimating its potential but to put it simply, The Justice Project exceeded my expectations. In my defense, I simply could not believe that one book that asked such wide array of minds to confine their words in only a few pages each could be so powerful. Looking back on it, I approached it the way I see many compilation cd’s. You know what I’m talking about – those albums created for a particular cause but are so disjointed that their best feature is that they gave a tiny percentage of the proceeds to the cause itself.
The Justice Project is nothing like that. I figured I would like it, but I didn’t realize how moved I would be by so many chapters. I know this sounds overly dramatic, but I am not sure I could figure out which chapter I liked the least.
Similar to the Coldplay effect on music where so many bands decided to incorporate more piano and less guitar, to some, justice is the new novelty of the Christian world. What the JP does is open the eyes of the reader that justice has always been the mandate of God and part of the scope of the Scriptures but unfortunately, some of us have missed it.
Justice has gotten a bad reputation amongst evangelicals. Scarred by the missteps of the social justice movement (where the pendulum swung too far), the mission of God became exclusively about winning souls to heaven (the pendulum swung back too far). In some circles, the term “justice” has gotten a bad rap as it was often modified by the word “social”. And we all know that if you are interested in social justice that you can’t be interested in the resurrection of Jesus too. Clearly one is completely alien to the other. This book would help alter that perspective.
If I could read it over again, I would have used this book as a devotional. I don’t normally use daily “devotionals” and not real crazy about the connotations associated with the term but using this as a daily reading would be beneficial. There’s a lot to consider. Like the Hebrew and Greek word for “justice” occur over 1000 times in the Bible. However, how many sermons have you heard on the subject of justice? I bet you have heard more sermons about sex than you have about justice. Further, I bet that you have rolled your eyes more times at Bono talking about justice than the number of times your pastor has centered a sermon around this subject.
One of the best features of the book is that it includes voices from various ethnicities and from different corners of life. While there were some very familiar names like Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Lynne Hybels, Samir Selmanovic, Peggy Campolo, the Samsons, about half the names were new to me and I found myself googling them after finishing their chapters. I especially liked the author bio on the first page of the essay as opposed to the last page. As you may have heard by now, everything is contextual and it was great to get a hint of where the writer was coming from. I also liked the way the five parts the book was broken into: The God of Justice, The Book of Justice, Justice in the USA, A Just World, and A Just Church.
As most of the faithful readers of this blog know by now, I direct a lot of words to the conservative evangelicals because I consider myself to be one. To put it bluntly, if you can define justice as part of God’s righteousness, and if we as a Church can see and treat it the way we regard evangelism and discipleship in the Kingdom, then I believe, we would be a more complete Church. Pick up the Justice Project, it’s excellent.
Dec 3rd, 2009
ChangingLenses
For my first book review for viral bloggers, I read “The Justice Project” edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla and Ashley Bunting Seeber.
The book is a compilation of essays from 35 authors. The variety of voices and perspectives is by far the major strength of the book. Men and women from many different countries and ministry groups contributed towards answering “What is Justice?” from a mostly Christian perspective.
Since there are too many essays to review individually, I thought I’d focus on just two:
Richard Twiss’ “Reading the Bible Unjustly: How Has the American Church Read the Bible Unjustly” and “Just Perspectives: How Can We Become Just Global Citizens?” by Ashley Bunting Seeber.
Richard Twiss, a Native American, works in Washington but I particularly liked his essay for the insight it provided into some of the issues of my Native Alaskan friends and family.
Twiss’ tells of the history of the colonizing of America which led to European people “viewing Native people through the lens of Scripture, [they] people saw idolaters who were spiritually deceived, lost in rebellion, and hell-bound. While it is true that all peoples and cultures are stained by sin and the rejection of the Creator’s path of beauty, and desperately need reconciliation to God, it is also true that European enlightenment thinking colored their understanding of Scripture that manifest destiny and biblical mission became indistinguishable; one appeared the same as the other.”
His essay is a strong reminder to work with culture groups to find ways they can express their Christianity through their own cultural norms, instead of insisting it be replaced with “church culture”.
I think this book would have benefited from some more practical examples of how to live justly. A better balance of pragmatism and theory would have made the book more complete for me. It does a tremendous job of explaining what justice is and why we should care, but doesn’t often enough tell us how.
One exception was “Just Perspectives”. Seeber tells about some of the interactions she’s had with various cultures outside of the US. She goes on to provide a list of 10 practical things we each can do to make sure we, as US citizens, make for better global neighbors. Some of these ideas can be done in your own hometown and include: eating new ethnic foods, helping refugee families settle in, read news from other perspectives, pray the news, and help your children learn geography.
Overall, I think the book provides a broad view of people’s thinking on Justice, with well written, thoughtful essays. It’s a good reference book for a study on the subject of the biblical aspects of justice, but is not a how-to handbook.
Dec 5th, 2009
pomotheo
The Justice Project, Edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, & Ashley Bunting Seeber, is a must have in the conversation of social justice for today’s Christian audience. Thus far, this has been by far the most engaging and relevant book in theOoze viral blogger library, and certainly the one worth glowing reviews.
Enter the Justice League. The book is a collection of essays from a wide spectrum of writers and thinkers in the contemporary Christian ‘justice conversation,’ including voices from evangelical, mainline, and emerging contexts:
* Rene Padilla
* Peggy Campolo
* Will and Lisa Samson
* Sylvia Keesmaat
* Bart Campolo
* Lynne Hybels
* Tony Jones
* Richard Twiss
* many others
There is a change in landscape coming to America. It’s not necessarily the demise of the vocal right-wing, but the advent of a post-Christendom society. Canada is already living there. Note, I didn’t suggest that you need to be a liberal to believe in justice. In fact, among the 35 authors in the book, you’ll encounter at least one person that usher in a change to your paradigm of justice.
I would suggest all Christians need to rethink the justice issue, and then jump on board the surging justice movement. Why? Because at the heart of the gospel message is the call offer glimpses–foretastes–of the kingdom of God on earth. Righting wrongs–seeking justice, are therefore at the heart of the gospel.
Dec 7th, 2009
earlbarnett
I highly recommend The Justice Project to anyone concerned with faith’s intersection with the public sphere. With that said, I do not think that any review I can write will do this book justice (pun intended). Nevertheless, I will try to encapsulate this excellent book and my thoughts on it.
Edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, and Ashley Bunting Seeber, The Justice Project, is a compilation of essays on the topic of justice (big surprise, I know). The essays are collected according to their topics: God, Scriptures, the USA, the World, the Church, and Final Conclusions. Each of the essays are written at around six pages, making them each quick and easily digestible. Moreover, as we have come to expect from Emerging Church books, these essays have been constructed for the average reader. There is a no overblown vocabulary full of political and theological jargon. The complexity of these essays comes in their application, rather than in their reading. Lastly, this volume has intentionally reached across ethnic, geographical, and especially across liberal/ conservative lines. Although this book has articles by the Emergent mainstays Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, and Samir Selmanovic, The Justice Project also includes articles from multiple members of Willow Creek Community Church (Including Lyne Hybels). The Justice Project laudably models the type of egalitarian community it hopes to create.
A specific Gem of an essay in this book is “My Name is Legion for We Are Many: Exorcism as Racial Justice” by Anthony Smith. The essay fascinating argues that “Mista Charley,” the structural racism that exists via apathy in America, needs to be exorcized as a “national demon.” Here is a brief quotation, playing on the Legion passage from Mark 5:
“We stand in an imperial graveyard. Our body politic has habits that render it nearly impossible to get at the deep terrain of racial privilege, dominance, and vast economic iniquities that persist along racial lines. We scream in privileged agony, cut ourselves off from the painful history of others, and are unable to be chained to a profound practice of repentance. What would it look like to be clothed and in our right minds again?… We wouldn’t attribute our success solely to our “work ethic” and “rugged individualism,” but would see the racial dynamics that play into the success of some and the struggle of others” (Smith, 106).
This book has both challenged my complicity in theologies and structures of injustice, while making me believe that change is possible. This is the kind of book that I will read over and over again.
Dec 14th, 2009
taddelay
New book recommendation: The Justice Project
Edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, and Ashley Bunting Seeber, is a eye-opening follow-up to The Emergent Manifesto of Hope. It continues the theme of approaching a topic, Justice, from an array of voices. While there were notables such as Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Peggy Campolo, and Lynne Hybels, the book mostly consisted of names I’d never heard of, activists working to challenge the status quo from their niches of experience.
In fact, it was that broad range of experiences that drew me in. A chapter by Peggy Campolo challenged me with a story of a gay-affirming church here in Arkansas, as well as challenging the typical notion of what “Biblical family values” really are. Her son Bart explained why campaign finance reform might just be the most important political “Justice” issue out there. One writer told of her experience in a barely post-Civil Rights black church, which looked up to MLK, Jr. they way we look up to Jesus, and this backed up nicely to stories from South Africa where white anti-Apartheid advocates feared the suspicious, “accidentally” fatal car incidents with cops. Then a description of Just Conservatism and Just Liberalism.
Particular sections where particularly biting. An early chapter asks if capitalism can be just. A definition of justice is in order, given that we have to decide whether Justice is distributive or redistributive; is Justice starting where we all are and going from there, or is it inherently redistributing and hence imbalanced against those who start off with more. The West has traditionally ran with the former while the Tanak inarguably aims at the latter. The question is whether or not a capitalistic system which, while creating a great deal of good, inevitably creates inequality is a redemptive system. That takes it pretty far, maybe beyond what I am comfortable with, but it does strike me as true that there will be no room for any inequality in God’s economy.
Then cut to a discussion on immigration reform in which a Latino writer recounts a discussion with a friend. One asks the other if he also carries his ID with him in his sock whenever he leaves the house so much as just to jog. It’s a world I cannot imagine, where naturalized citizens of the US live in fear of illegal deportation because of the stories they heard about the unlucky neighbor who forgot his drivers license when jogging. That neighbor is picked up, presumed illegal, detained and/or deported away from his family. The author barely has to imply the Scriptures that call for lavish welcoming of the squatter immigrants among us. It challenged me because I know we need serious immigration reform and laws to guide us. But I also know that Scripture holds up this ideal for sheltering the alien that many of us consider simply too idealistic. Maybe it is, but it is Just.
Just ecology. Just land. Just business. Justice in the slums. Justice in the suburbs. Just parenting. Just Trade. Just church-planting. Justice in religion. Justice in racial issues. Just elections. Just family values. Prophetic Justice.
This is one of those books that has perspectives that anyone but the most hardened ideologue will have their heart melted by. I’m really encouraged to see the awakening of much of the church to the Biblical primacy of Justice as integral to the Gospel. The church’s Justice awakening has gained such a tide that there is even now a resistance to it by Christians who, though well intentioned, misunderstand the Gospel to be some message which one can separate from social justice. The Justice Project is one of those books that reminds me why that perspective, which I used to buy, isn’t much good news at all. It’s got a perspective to unsettle, teach, encourage, anger, and give hope to anyone.
Dec 15th, 2009
SPalm
If you are looking for a primer on justice, then “The Justice Project” is a good place to start. Another entry from the “Emersion” partnership between BakerBooks and Emergent Village (which I heard was dead), “The Justice Project” props the megaphone against the mouth of faith practitioners who are deeply immersed in justice issues. Edited by lightening-rod, Brian McLaren, as well as Elisa Padilla and Ashley Bunting Seeber, ‘The Justice Project’ sets out to connect what Christians know about the gospel and what we practice.
In approach, ‘The Justice Project’ walks readers through six large sections; (1) The God of Justice, (2) The Book of Justice, (3) Justice in the U.S.A., (4) A Just World, (5) A Just Church, and (6) Conclusions. At root, the work is trying to light a fire under a slumbering church arguing both through theology and history. These large sections are broken down into shorter, smaller chapters – oftentimes simply too short – with individual authors adding their insight and theology.
The great strength of ‘Justice’ is it’s sheer breadth. In readable bursts, the authors take the reader on a global tour of justice and injustice through the dual lenses of the theology and contemporary culture. Here one finds all they need to (1.) form a glimpse of what justice is and how the church does and does not participate therein and (2.) have her or his heart quickened to the means and ways they themselves can become performers of justice in local and global context. This reading, should the young reader have a tour guide to navigate through peppered seminary language, would be wonderful for older high school and college-aged students. This work will challenge all those who are stepping newly into conversations concerning justice a great deal, while simultaneously deepening those who have more deeply engaged these issues.
The great weakness of ‘Justice’ – and this is sure to sound odd and opposing – is that the chapters are just too darn short. The reader gets the sense that individual authors hit her or his word count before they really got rolling, much like the preacher whose sermon never got out of the box because the clock-watchers were beginning to wiggle in their seats. I wanted to pull over to the side of the street and chat awhile – both about the portions I agreed with and the portions I suspected to be stretches of the text yet very imaginative. This, I argue, is the best writing can offer, to pace and lead and argue. ‘Justice’ does this well.
In the end, ‘Justice’ is well worth the time and dollars. I have deliberately been brief here because I am more desirous to prompt you to purchase and read ‘Justice’ than I am in having me recount its contents. Even in that, my ultimate aim is to lend a hand to a more just church, leading – as only it can – as to a more just world. You and me working for the justice of God, this, ultimately, is ‘The Justice Project’.
Jan 12th, 2010
jroddy
I recently finished “The Justice Project” and would have to say that I found it a very easy but challenging read. I appreciate the wide range of authors of each essay and how they each brought a perspective that is radically different from mine in middle class suburbia. I appreciate that each author is living out justice in their particular situation. It lends some credibility to their situation that wouldn’t be there if a single author tried to write on the broad scope of justice in the world.
I was challenged mostly by the wide range of injustice that is happening all around me. Reading these essays has caused me to begin to rethink the way that I live and what more I can do to not perpetuate the injustice that I unconsciously promote through my actions based on what and where I buy goods and who I may or may not vote for among other things.
I would hope that the message of the Justice Project would be heard by fellow Christians who are trying to figure out what the kingdom of God is all about. May be begin to ‘do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.’
Jan 17th, 2010
fess2is
From http://fess2.blogspot.com/2010/01/justice-project-review.html
I received this book via Baker Books from a recommendation of a friend. I would be the first that I had a misconception of what the word and meaning of Justice was. Especially Social Justice. At first glimpse I thought “oh, great another liberal book to try to swallow” But as I was reading it it gave a different glimpse.
This book is a collection of writings of a variety of different authors, backgrounds etc. on asking the Bigger questions such as what is Justice? How does it impact me etc. The book is broken into 5 sections.
I. The God of Justice.
II. The Book of Justice.
III. Justice in the USA
IV. A Just World.
V. A Just Church.
And then ends with the conclusions.
One of the chapters I keep coming back to is early in the book, Chapter 4. The Chapter is entitled: “A Tradition of Justice”- Snapshots of the the church pursuing justice across the major periods of church history. The author is Jenell Williams Paris. It is an interesting insight to where we have come and where we have to go in the interests of justice through the ages of early church, the middle ages, reformation, modern and postmodern ages. The one quote that hits home for me is found on pg 57. “There’s nothing new about Christian concern for justice, but it’s a new day in which we may carry forward the cause.” Thus we can be the hands and feet of Jesus because faith without works is dead.
Other reviews can be seen here
Might want to pick up your copy of this book.
Jan 19th, 2010
artzar
“Did you show, man, what is good and what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?” this is a well known biblical passage belonging to the prophet Micah (6.8) defined for many as a Christian lifestyle.
Last year I wondered if sometimes supportive theological terminology is confiscated – from time to time – by some theological movements or churches. The term “social justice” is used a lot by those who see social involvement a defining part of Christianity today. I can see here echoing the words spoken by the apostle James, “faith without works remains useless”.
Two other points have made me closer to this side of a theological links to social-cultural involvement:
1. Desire to be in a church close to the needs of others (aware that we can fulfill all)
and
2. My children were attending in the church youth meetings and their topic was related to Darfour Case, the problem of evil and justice in the world.
The book “The Justice Project” appeared at Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group (one of the most solid publishing houses) and made available by The Ooze Viral Bloggers meet the qualities of a good point basis for documentation. Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla and Ashley Bunting Seeber are editors of The Justice Project “; the book itself is a collection of essays concerning the meaning of the biblical reflections to the problem of justice in the world and North American society. Many points of views, all like a choir in the direction of argumentation and asserting a new meaning which Christianity and it should acquire.
Brian McLaren and his partners want to convince the world that the Christian church cares about what happens around. From one point of view the book restrict their potential audience by massive presence among the authors of those who currently promote this theological view.
From another point of view “The Justice Project achieves its aim: attention on issues involving justice all over the globe and presents some possible answers / strategies work for open churches to be involved in supporting or fulfillment of social needs.
Authors fits on one side of the world now promoted sensitive. Concerns for man and nature, equal opportunities, spiritual reconciliation is background in which they built their ideas and then promote them on epistemological paradigms using a convenient hermeneutic achieve the proposed goal.
If you read the book to see a different view / opinion, with which you agree or not, you can browse and assimilate information more easily than if you see this book just a product of somebody that are on “the other side of the wall”.
The book was for me a good source of information.
Jan 20th, 2010
onetyme18
Increasingly, the voices for social justice in the Christian world are being brought forth and heard. One needs not to look very deep or far to find a book dedicated to the various topics of justice, faith, and what that means for Christians living in the most global of times. The Justice Project is a wonderful addition to this endeavor. Instead of hearing from one author on the topics, the book is comprised of several short essays, done by several different people, leading different walks of life, in different spheres of society, in different countries, but all with the same prophetic passion for justice.
This book tackles subjects such as, God’s call for justice, what it means to have just elections, just ecology, just business, just suburbs, just cities, and so forth. The book really does hit on several key facets of life, and because of this would be relevant to any person who read it.
This book sure did broaden my scope of understating justice, even if I didn’t agree with every single contributor. It made me think about issues and concerns that I would otherwise have been ignorant of. Truth be told, I learned that justice is more complicated and complex than I could have ever imagined.
One critique that I would have of this book is that, while I loved the format of having several short essays by many different writers, the book failed to really dive deep into any one topic. I was often left wishing I just didn’t hear about the core, fundamental aspects of the given topic, but also some in-depth wrestling and fleshing out of them. Having said that, however, I do realize that this perhaps was the goal of the book: to give an overview of justice.
Nevertheless, I feel this book does add a harmonious voice to the emerging issues of justice and faith. We are on the cusp of a radical (re)calibrating of faith, of which I am excited to be a part of. Jenell Williams Paris, professor of sociology and anthropology at Messiah College in Pennsylvania describes this well in her essay, “A Tradition of Justice,” saying, “I was raised in the twentieth-century polarities of social justice versus evangelicalism and evangelicalism versus liberalism. There is much in my heritage I cherish, but I must choose how to make the most of my life and generation. The emergent conversation offers hope for assessing and appropriating reigning, recent, and ancient paradigms and practices in wise ways, creating fresh ways to nourish ourselves and our world. In deconstructing reigning paradigms and pursuing new contextualizations of faith and life, we will by necessity learn from and appropriate practices from Christian brothers and sisters of all times and places. There’s nothing new about Christian concern for justice, but it’s a new day in which we may carry forward the cause.”
Read it. Apply it. Seek justice.
http://www.ordinaryradical.blogspot.com
Jan 21st, 2010
Warren Wade
This anthology touches on nearly everything unjust, and everything that Christians should work to ameliorate and end. While comprehensive in its breadth, it lacks depth, though this is not a failure. The content enclosed in this book provides poignant synopses of topics from motivation and inspiration for the call of Christian Justice to injustices in desperate need of Christian attention, from reason to response.
If you are wondering about why Christians should care about justice, read this book. If you’re curious about areas in which you could be dedicating yourself to justice, read this book. Allow this book to be a catalyst for judicious studies of justice and know that this book forces you to delve deeper. It’s compelling summaries mandate that you peruse other volumes for more.
And, most importantly — since no book can make you fully aware of the injustices in this world that you are called to address — it asks you to put down the book and experience the injustice and proclaim the Gospel in word and deed against it.
“Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” – Proverbs 31:9
Jan 21st, 2010
emergingmummy
The conversation about justice has been growing over the years within the Christian church. In just a few years, I’ve personally seen it become the focus or language of many more churches and believers. It’s been a wonderful thing to see evangelicals, in particular, who historically have taken the position of spiritual justice before social justice, embrace Micah 6:8 and begin to take to heart much of Christ’s teachings on the poor and marginalised.
It’s not simply within the Christian church either. As Jim Wallis wrote in the Foreward, “The two greatest hungers in our country and our world today: the hunger for spiritual fulfillment and the hunger for social justice.” I see this in my city and in my community; we are all trying, albeit imperfectly, to render justice. I see small girls with lemonade stands, now festooned with signs that read “Help 4 Haiti” and their tupperware is filled, not with 25 cent coincs, but $5 and $10 bills. Everyone, it seems, is aware that there is inequity and, inherent to our God-image, is the desire to see God’s kingdom of justice reign.
There were many passages that I underlined, many voices that resonated. I particularly enjoyed meeting Sarah Dylan Breuer through her essay about God’s Justice: A Biblical View.
“God made the earth abundantly fruitful with more than enough resources to give every child a chance – that is, if humanity exercises stewardship of God’s gifts, as does the God who “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45). That abundance is God’s intent for creation and for all people. When human systems distribute God-given resources in a way that places a small fraction of humanity in luxury while a billion people live – or die – on less than a dollar a day, can that be anything other than sin?”
I respect and read many of the writers of these essays. But for some reason, I found this a hard book to read and to relate with in a real way.
I am left wondering if this was a book that needed to be written, an anthology that needed to be published?
I read it, I agree with much of it, but it didn’t inspire me or excite me. So maybe it’s overstimulation? Over saturation with the message? Another book published to capitalise on a trend? More proof of the western need to profit and commodify, creating products out of truth?
That sounds rather harsh. I don’t mean it quite that way.
But the truth remains – it’s a fine book about a current topic. The people reading it are the ones who already get it though. But ultimately, I doubt that it will affect any real change or bring anything to the already occuring conversation that wasn’t already being said.
(full review posted at http://www.emergingmummy.com/2010/01/in-which-i-review-justice-project.html)
Thanks,
S.
Feb 5th, 2010
smh00a
Better later than never, I guess!
This is the kind of book you might have a hard time reading through in one take, but it will sit on your shelf and serve as a resource for years to come. The editors have assembled the foremost thinkers on a vast array of topics relating to justice in North America. Writing intelligently and concisely on their topics, these authors bring the latest research to the conversation of faith and justice. Covering topics as varied as environmental care and Native-American relations, TJP has something for just about everyone serious about taking Matthew 25 seriously.
OK, critiques: Too often, the answer presented in TJP is government intervention. It’s hard to deny that this is necessary at times, but as a manifesto to the church, shouldn’t we be dreaming about how we can stand as a prophetic witness against the domination systems of the world? Isn’t this one of the best ways to combat injustice? Barely any of the content in this book offers an alternative to political involvement. (primarily from a left-leaning perspective)
Overall, though, this book got me thinking. That’s a good thing. And with chapters that are only a few pages long, you can read and re-read an entire section in one sit-down. Seems like a good resource for a small group.
Feb 10th, 2010
for “The Justice Project – Edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, & Ashley Bunting Seeber”
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