Hope for the Oppressor: Discovering Freedom through Transformative Community

by Patrick Oden, Jürgen Moltmann (Foreword)

The liberating work of God calls the oppressed out of oppression and the oppressor out of oppressing. The challenge in seeking a thorough liberation of oppressors is to help them understand their need for freedom and how to seek this freedom in their own contexts. Patrick Oden provides a holistic biblical, historical, and theological analysis that diagnoses the underlying motivations and inclinations that lead to oppression. Part one addresses the context of oppression, in which most participants in oppression do not actively seek to harm others but are caught up in systems that tend toward the diminishment of others. Part two examines the biblical and early Christian response to oppression, discovering a thread that avoids condemning participation in society generally while also cautioning the people of God about being co-opted by society. Part three discusses how oppressors can withdraw from oppression, through a constructive analysis of four contemporary theologians—Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jürgen Moltmann, Sarah Coakley, and Jean Vanier—each of whom contributes to a widening vision of liberated and liberating life in which the once-oppressed and former oppressor can find peace together in community.

340 pages, Hardcover

Published July 26, 2019

Reviews

[Carmen Imes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brave and hope-filled book. Oden makes a strong case that liberating the oppressed is not enough. Oppressors are also in bondage to systems where they falsely derive their sense of identity. If we stop short of liberating them, we perpetuate a broken system. The end vision is a world where oppressed and oppressors have learned new ways of Spirit-infused community marked by vulnerability, service, and love. His book engages with key theologians and sociologists. It is deeply thoughtful and opens up a new way forward. Highly recommended!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is the Good News for people living in our modern context of rampant individualism, competition, consumerism, and dehumanization - including those who perpetuate these things? Oden does not give us a new Gospel, but helps us understand how the Good News of Jesus is still good news for us today.

In a podcast episode, he mentioned that he might work on a shorter, more accessible version and I certainly hope that’s the case, because we very much need the hope of the Gospel that Oden highlights so well in this book.