Journey Toward Justice - (Turning South: Christian Scholars in an Age of World Christianity) by Nicholas P Wolterstorff (Paperback)

About the Book

One of today's leading Christian scholars reflects on what he has learned about justice from the global South.

Book Synopsis

Christianity's demographics, vitality, and influence have tipped markedly toward the global South and East. Addressing this seismic shift, one of today's leading Christian scholars reflects on what he has learned about justice through his encounters with world Christianity.

Philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff's experiences in South Africa, the Middle East, and Honduras have shaped his views on justice through the years. In this book he offers readers an autobiographical tour, distilling the essence of his thoughts on the topic. After describing how he came to think about justice as he does and reviewing the theory of justice he developed in earlier writings, Wolterstorff shows how deeply embedded justice is in Christian Scripture. He reflects on the difficult struggle to right injustice and examines the necessity of just punishment. Finally, he explores the relationship between justice and beauty and between justice and hope.

This book is the first in the Turning South series, which offers reflections by eminent Christian scholars who have turned their attention and commitments toward the global South and East.

From the Back Cover

Justice Matters

Nicholas Wolterstorff's encounters with world Christianity have shaped his views on justice through the years. In this book he reflects on what he has learned and distills the essence of his thoughts on justice.

"Drawing on his experience of being confronted by those who have suffered injustice, Wolterstorff helps us understand why and how such experiences should make a difference for how justice is understood. His reflections on the relations of beauty, hope, and justice are profound and moving."
--Stanley Hauerwas, Duke Divinity School; author of many books, including With the Grain of the Universe and Hannah's Child

"I have been so deeply grateful, over many years, for the gift of rigorous scholarship Dr. Wolterstorff has brought to the body of Christ. Now my gratitude expands all the more with his newest gift: his work on biblical justice made accessible for even wider audiences and, most of all, the sharing of his personal journey. This is a book that I will use in many settings for years to come."
--Bethany H. Hoang, director, IJM Institute for Biblical Justice

"Journey toward Justice is not only a fine primer in the basics of Christian political thought, it is an inspiring testimony about what it means to seek the shalom that God intends for the creation, narrated in firsthand encounters with the realities of human suffering."
--Richard Mouw, Fuller Theological Seminary

"Wolterstorff's Journey toward Justice is far more than his personal story of how his encounters with suffering people shaped his thinking (and life) around an active concern for justice. The book combines this story with deep and clear thinking, centered in the biblical revelation, about how Christians should think about justice and about the implications of a biblical concern for justice in the contemporary world."
--C. Stephen Evans, Baylor University

"If you have not read Wolterstorff's great books on justice, you should. This book--accessible and profound--is the easiest place to start."
--Miroslav Volf, Yale Divinity School; author of A Public Faith

About the Author

Nicholas P. Wolterstorff (PhD, Harvard University) is Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University and senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia. He is the author of numerous books, including Justice: Rights and Wrongs, Justice in Love, and Lament for a Son, and lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.