Of Divine Economy - by Marion Grau (Paperback)

About the Book

God gives Green Stamps. A look at the theological and economic meanings of redemption.

Book Synopsis

Divine Economy expands upon the economic connotations of the theological doctrine of redemption. The term redemption refers to a process of "buying back" slaves from conditions of oppression and thus compares the crux of Christian dogma to an economic exchange involving human emancipation. The phrase "miraculous exchanges" refers to the problem of redemptive divine and human agency in an economic context in which many who desire justice and equity feel powerless and hopeless.

The originality of Divine Economy lies not only in its theological reading of redemption as an economic metaphor, but also in its focus on the economic subtexts of Christian tradition and how they form and are formed by society's economic constructions. Grau's unique project merges together economic, historical, and psycho-social analysis with theological critique and construction.

Review Quotes

."..Grau has written a sparkling, well informed, stimulating book on a vital issue for today."--Sanford Lakoff "Regent's Reviews "

"useful for political theology students"--Sanford Lakoff "Theological Book Review "

"Grau's book is valuable in this era of Enron, Gazprom, oil empires, and all controlling stock markets."--Sanford Lakoff "Regent's Reviews "

"If you are looking for a book to startle and stimulate new ideas for Christian living and teaching, try this!"--Sanford Lakoff "Regent's Reviews "

.".."--, "Regent's Reviews "

"useful for political theology students"--, "Theological Book Review "

"useful for political theology students"--Jhon Appleton, Bolton Parish Church "Theological Book Review "

"This is a thoroughly engaging and stimulating book. Often it made me stop and ponder a point, construct a train of thought and an argument, [and] nod in agreement...Divine Economy is worth a read."
-Roland Boer, The Bible and Critical Theory, Vol. 6

Is Christianity complicit in oppressive economic regimes or does it harbor the potential for their rectification? In Of Divine Economy, Marion Grau argues that both of these propositions are true, both for antiquity and our own time. In witty and astute readings of New Testament and patristic texts, Grau imagines a Christian economics that is responsible in its realism while revolutionary in its staging of a marketplace teeming with religious tricksters and an economy gone divinely awry. Naomi Seidman, director of the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and the author of A Marriage Made in Heaven: The Sexual Politics of Hebrew and Yiddish

About the Author

Marion Grau is Associate Professor of Theology at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, a member school of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.