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Christian Faith and Social Justice: Five Views
The Judeo-Christian tradition testifies to a God that cries out, demanding that justice "roll down like waters, righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:24). Christians agree that being advocates for justice is critical to the Christian witness. And yet one need not look widely to see that Christians disagree about what social justice entails.
What does justice have to do with healthcare reform, illegal immigration, and same-sex marriage? Should Christians support tax policies that effectively require wealthy individuals to fund programs that benefit the poor? Does justice require that we acknowledge and address the inequalities borne out of histories of gender and ethnic exclusivity? Is the Christian vision distinct from non-Christian visions of social justice? Christians disagree over the proper answer to these questions. In short, Christians agree that justice is important but disagree about what a commitment to justice means.
Christian Faith and Social Justice makes sense of the disagreements among Christians over the meaning of justice by bringing together five highly regarded Christian philosophers to introduce and defend rival perspectives on social justice in the Christian tradition. The positions advocated and critiqued libertarianism, political liberalism, liberation theology, feminism, and virtue ethics. While it aspires to offer a lucid introduction to these theories, the purpose of this book is more than informative. It is purposefully dialogical and is structured so that contributors are able to model for the reader reasoned exchange among philosophers who disagree about the meaning of social justice. The hope is that the reader is left with a better understanding of range of perspectives in the Christian tradition about social justice.
What does justice have to do with healthcare reform, illegal immigration, and same-sex marriage? Should Christians support tax policies that effectively require wealthy individuals to fund programs that benefit the poor? Does justice require that we acknowledge and address the inequalities borne out of histories of gender and ethnic exclusivity? Is the Christian vision distinct from non-Christian visions of social justice? Christians disagree over the proper answer to these questions. In short, Christians agree that justice is important but disagree about what a commitment to justice means.
Christian Faith and Social Justice makes sense of the disagreements among Christians over the meaning of justice by bringing together five highly regarded Christian philosophers to introduce and defend rival perspectives on social justice in the Christian tradition. The positions advocated and critiqued libertarianism, political liberalism, liberation theology, feminism, and virtue ethics. While it aspires to offer a lucid introduction to these theories, the purpose of this book is more than informative. It is purposefully dialogical and is structured so that contributors are able to model for the reader reasoned exchange among philosophers who disagree about the meaning of social justice. The hope is that the reader is left with a better understanding of range of perspectives in the Christian tradition about social justice.
224 pages, Paperback
First published May 22, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 6, 2019
i read this book because i'm interested in understanding and growing in civil discourse between people with strongly held differing opinions. Facebook is not the place to learn that, and i have a natural tendency to shy away from in-person debates due to my intense conflict aversion, so a book is a good place to start. the book is written by five authors (theologians, ethicists, professors) who each introduce their view with a short essay and respond to each of the others' essays.
this is the first time i've heard the key aim of social justice defined as maintaining strong property rights. it's also the first time i've heard the term "liberation theology," although the concepts are familiar. looking forward to re-reading this very soon at a slower pace and also diving deeper into other books that will help further illuminate the concepts (A Theory of Justice and A Theology of Liberation come to mind as upcoming reads).
this is the first time i've heard the key aim of social justice defined as maintaining strong property rights. it's also the first time i've heard the term "liberation theology," although the concepts are familiar. looking forward to re-reading this very soon at a slower pace and also diving deeper into other books that will help further illuminate the concepts (A Theory of Justice and A Theology of Liberation come to mind as upcoming reads).
June 16, 2020
In the words of one of the authors, "Scholarly debates are always exhilarating. The clash of concepts usually moves us to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of important ideas." (Del La Torre). The cover posed the book to be a happy-go-lucky sort of Christian activism that one can feel good about reading; but it quickly turned into something more. Consisting of five essays from five different Christian Social Justice academic traditions, then followed by a critical response from each voice for each essay, the book was enjoyable. Yes, it was scratching an academic itch for the ethics behind different thought processes. Yes, I learned in detail about certain avenues to take. No, I still don't know what "virtue ethics" is and why I should adhere my Christian faith to the praxis of it. This would have been an awesome lecture time or over a weekend with the essays being displayed as talks with subsequent feedback.
August 13, 2024
(Interlibrary loan from the Brotherton, Leeds.) These five views (essays and two rounds of responses, creating a good opportunity for dialogue in print) explore various approaches to justice, highlighting agreement and difference between the authors. No clear conclusions are reached in the text as a whole except that it is possible to disagree on these issues in a reasoned way, but as a reader I found myself choosing between the approaches.
November 27, 2020
Good book to open your mind
The essays in this book are very insightful. I certainly feel least close to the libertarian viewpoint. I love this type of series. It would of been helpful if they had another round of critic and counter.
The essays in this book are very insightful. I certainly feel least close to the libertarian viewpoint. I love this type of series. It would of been helpful if they had another round of critic and counter.
August 27, 2014
A libertarian, a liberal, a liberationist, a feminist, and a virtue ethicist all walk into a bar. This is the basic premise behind Bloomsbury's new offering Christian Faith and Social Justice: Five Views edited by Vic McCracken. This book is intended to serve as an introduction to and conversation between five distinctively Christian approaches to social justice. The five views represented are: Libertarianism (Jason Jewell), Political Liberalism (Daniel A. Dombrowski), Liberation Theology (Miguel A. De La Torre), Christian Feminism (Laura Stivers, and Virtue Ethics (Elizabeth Phillips). The result is a highly engaging book sure to stimulate and challenge one's Christian approach to social justice.
The most helpful part of the book was witnessing the generous, yet vigorous, conversations between the respective authors. This interaction is what makes books of this variety (competing perspectives in dialogue) so valuable. It's much easier to assess positions and arguments when you are able to immediately see the critiques posed to each position. I also appreciated that each author had one last chance to respond to the other writer's critiques. I haven't found this feature in all books that present multiple perspectives, but the longer the conversation goes the more able the reader is able to assess the arguments.
Each author did a fair job presenting their position and the main chapters thus serve as a good introduction to these different approaches to social justice. If one is unfamiliar with one of these positions, it's possible to use the quotes and footnotes to compose a good list of primary texts for further study. A suggestion: it might be helpful to have each author provide a recommended reading list for their viewpoint. Two possible downsides to the book: first, one finds many different approaches (some more philosophical, some more exegetical, some more theological) throughout the book. I'm not sure that can be avoided with so many authors involved, but some readers might be disappointed if they are expected a discussion that is primarily philosophical, exegetical, or theological. Second, it is not always clear how the five viewpoints interact and overlap with each other. There are obviously many clear differences, but on many occasions the authors wish to point out the possibility that their view is compatible with certain versions of other viewpoints. To this end, it might have been helpful for each author to address a uniform and concrete example through the lens of their viewpoint. McCracken offers three "case studies" in her introduction and I would have been interested in each author specifically addressing these situations.
From my perspective, I found Elizabeth Phillips presentation and defense of virtue ethics to be the most persuading. To be fair, I read the book already very appreciative of the work of Alasdair MacIntyre and Stanley Hauerwas. Likewise, I found the libertarian position to be most lacking, although it was presented much more attractively than it is often represented by its ideological leaders in the media.
I greatly enjoyed reading Christian Faith and Social Justice and would recommend it for:
- Individuals looking to learn more about the interaction between Christian faith and social justice (especially those who might benefit from seeing the actual diversity of Christian opinions on the issue)
- Supplemental reading for an introductory Christian ethics/political philosophy course
- An adult study group looking for an academically orientated look at social justice
Note: I received this book from Bloomsbury in exchange for an unbiased review.
The most helpful part of the book was witnessing the generous, yet vigorous, conversations between the respective authors. This interaction is what makes books of this variety (competing perspectives in dialogue) so valuable. It's much easier to assess positions and arguments when you are able to immediately see the critiques posed to each position. I also appreciated that each author had one last chance to respond to the other writer's critiques. I haven't found this feature in all books that present multiple perspectives, but the longer the conversation goes the more able the reader is able to assess the arguments.
Each author did a fair job presenting their position and the main chapters thus serve as a good introduction to these different approaches to social justice. If one is unfamiliar with one of these positions, it's possible to use the quotes and footnotes to compose a good list of primary texts for further study. A suggestion: it might be helpful to have each author provide a recommended reading list for their viewpoint. Two possible downsides to the book: first, one finds many different approaches (some more philosophical, some more exegetical, some more theological) throughout the book. I'm not sure that can be avoided with so many authors involved, but some readers might be disappointed if they are expected a discussion that is primarily philosophical, exegetical, or theological. Second, it is not always clear how the five viewpoints interact and overlap with each other. There are obviously many clear differences, but on many occasions the authors wish to point out the possibility that their view is compatible with certain versions of other viewpoints. To this end, it might have been helpful for each author to address a uniform and concrete example through the lens of their viewpoint. McCracken offers three "case studies" in her introduction and I would have been interested in each author specifically addressing these situations.
From my perspective, I found Elizabeth Phillips presentation and defense of virtue ethics to be the most persuading. To be fair, I read the book already very appreciative of the work of Alasdair MacIntyre and Stanley Hauerwas. Likewise, I found the libertarian position to be most lacking, although it was presented much more attractively than it is often represented by its ideological leaders in the media.
I greatly enjoyed reading Christian Faith and Social Justice and would recommend it for:
- Individuals looking to learn more about the interaction between Christian faith and social justice (especially those who might benefit from seeing the actual diversity of Christian opinions on the issue)
- Supplemental reading for an introductory Christian ethics/political philosophy course
- An adult study group looking for an academically orientated look at social justice
Note: I received this book from Bloomsbury in exchange for an unbiased review.
January 21, 2021
An excellent discourse which frames the debate around what it means to value social justice in society today.
The fact that I found myself changing my opinion each chapter testifies to the strengths of each of the arguments. I doubt you will finish the book with a settled position on the subject, and for that reason I’d say the book is a great success.
The fact that I found myself changing my opinion each chapter testifies to the strengths of each of the arguments. I doubt you will finish the book with a settled position on the subject, and for that reason I’d say the book is a great success.
May 12, 2015
Ah yes. Here we have Christians grossly misunderstanding arguing about one another's political views.
P.S. Jason Jewell, I commend you.
P.S. Jason Jewell, I commend you.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews