Reconciling All Things - (Resources for Reconciliation) by Emmanuel Katongole & Chris Rice (Paperback)

About the Book

What makes real reconciliation possible? Katongole and Rice work from their experiences in Uganda and Mississippi to recover distinctively Christian practices that can help the church be both a sign and an agent of God's reconciling love in the fragmented world of the 21st century.

Book Synopsis

Christianity Today Book Award winner

Our world is broken and cries out for reconciliation.

But mere conflict resolution and peacemaking are not enough. What makes real reconciliation possible? How is it that some people are able to forgive the most horrendous of evils? And what role does God play in these stories? Does reconciliation make any sense apart from the biblical story of redemption?

Secular models of peacemaking are insufficient. And the church has not always fulfilled its call to be agents of reconciliation in the world. In Reconciling All Things Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice, codirectors of the Center for Reconciliation at Duke Divinity School, cast a comprehensive vision for reconciliation that is biblical, transformative, holistic and global. They draw on the resources of the Christian story, including their own individual experiences in Uganda and Mississippi, to bring solid, theological reflection to bear on the work of reconciling individuals, groups and societies. They recover distinctively Christian practices that will help the church be both a sign and an agent of God's reconciling love in the fragmented world of the twenty-first century.

This powerful, concise book lays the philosophical foundations for reconciliation and explores what it means to pursue hope in areas of brokenness in theory and practice.

Review Quotes

"Reconciling All Things is a faithful book, glowing with the joy and hope that come from walking with God and God's people in the world. Inviting all to join in God's reconciling work across the myriads of ways we live in brokenness, Katongole and Rice do a new thing--they retrieve a deeply theological vision of God's gift of reconciliation and show what the inbreaking of this gift looks like in the real stories of people who have embarked on this journey. These stories of pain and hope make clear that the real work of reconciliation is not as much about programs, strategies or fixing all things as it is about the ordinary, mundane, daily work of living faithfully and patiently in our local, particular, face-to-face contexts. And if we do, if we enter humbly into God's work in the world, what can happen? New creation!"

--M. Therese Lysaught, associate professor and assistant chair, Department of Theology, Marquette University

"Reconciling All Things is an excellent book that provides a solid framework for the books that will follow in IVP's Resources for Reconciliation series. It also would serve well as a conversation starter in our church communities, particularly as we seek to discern what the Mission of God looks like in our particular location."

--Chris Smith, The Englewood Review of Books (erb.kingdomnow.org) 2, no. 13

"Reconciling All Things is the best book I have read during the preceding course of twelve months. I call this book 'true theology in practice.' What makes this book an invaluable resource is its message of reconciliation, the wisdom it embodies, and the fact that both Rice and Katongole have been actively involved in this journey!"

--Celucien L. Joseph, Christ, My Righteousness (christmyrighteousness9587.wordpress.com), February 21, 2009

"Deeply theological, this short book needs slow reading by anyone interested in harnessing the power of the spirit for social change."

--Publishers Weekly, September 1, 2008

Center for Reconciliation founders Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice use personal experiences and historic examples to illustrate their roadmap for reconciliation work. Reconciliation is not a theory or an achievement, they teach, but a gift of God, an invitation to a story, a journey with God's new creation as the goal.

--KB, Mennonite Brethren Herald, October 2009

There is much to commend this slim volume. Catholic and Protestant lay persons and seminary students alike will benefit from the authors' expansive theological vision of reconciliation.

--Philip D. Kenneson, Reviews in Religion Pyschology, Vol 17, Issue 2

About the Author

Chris Rice (M.Div., Duke Divinity School) spent many years living and working in Jackson, Mississippi, with Voice of Calvary Ministries. He is the author of Grace Matters and coauthor (with Spencer Perkins) of More Than Equals. Together Katongole and Rice are the founding codirectors of the Center for Reconciliation at Duke Divinity School.

Emmanuel Katongole (Ph.D., Catholic University of Louvain) is associate research professor of theology and world Christianity at Duke Divinity School. He is the author and editor of several books, including A Future for Africa and African Theology Today.