Reparations and the Theological Disciplines - (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Historically, many churches and theologians defended and supported race-based slavery and subsequent forms of racial hierarchy and violence. The essays in Reparations and the Theological Disciplinesargue that it is urgent that the theological disciplines engage the issue of reparations by revisiting Scripture and our theological traditions. The time is now for remembrance, reckoning, and repair.

Review Quotes

Here is practical theological inquiry at its best: an urgent topic addressed from diverse perspectives with a rigor that can be trusted. Building on a broad and firm exegetical base, with an eye to the particularities of historical and contemporary contexts, this strong group of scholars creates a multi-faceted framework for new social and economic models expressing sincere Christian commitment to repentance and remembrance.

This is a remarkable book of remarkable essays written by an equally remarkable set of contributors. While they don't see eye-to-eye on everything, the authors are univocal that in response to the question of reparations, the answer is "yes" and "now." The collection is at once thorough, poignant, and profound, and will leave readers both somber and motivated-with a kind of adrenalized sadness-to remember, reckon with, and repair. Those who know Scripture will recall Israel's four-hundred year enslavement in Egypt, a duration that echoes all-too eerily with the history of American slavery. They will also remember that Scripture repeatedly commands God's people to never forget that time. Let those with ears to hear, listen to the what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

What makes reparations for entrenched inequity so urgent in our society is that it is the place where the hard question of economics and the hard questions of race converge. It is abundantly clear that nothing less than reparations are required for our society to move toward peaceable, generative wellbeing. For this reason, this book is both welcome and urgent. It is welcome because it mobilizes in a most compelling way the inescapable evidence in our deepest theological tradition on behalf of reparations. It is urgent because the church, for the sake of the body politic, must be awakened to the requirements and possibilities latent in our tradition. The book makes it possible that the issue of reparations can be seriously and honestly taken up in local communities that are willing to engage the resources of our shared faith. These several writers pull no punches about the truth-telling that the tradition requires. We may hope for a broad, deep engagement with the sharp-edge insistence of this rich study.

About the Author

Michael Barras is professor of theology and religious studies at Saint Mary's College of California.
Drew G. I. Hart is associate professor of theology at Messiah University and program director of Thriving Together Congregations for Racial Justice.
Gimbiya Kettering is a writer and workshop leader whose work focuses on the intersections of race, religion, and political policy.
Michael J. Rhodes is lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist College.