Product Description

This unique collection of six "letters" written by Denise Ackermann to family and friends both living and dead is one woman's account of her life, faith, and work as an Anglican theologian during South Africa's apartheid years and afterwards.

In the letters, which are intensely personal memoirs as well as reviews of the theological and political issues that have marked her career as a feminist Christian in a deeply wounded society, Ackermann discusses such issues as identity and difference, her struggles with sexism and racism, the power of naming, the evils of the apartheid years, the scourge of AIDS, and the function of faith in the midst of misery and conflict.

"After the Locusts" will interest a great range of readers; few will fail to find insights of profound relevance to the task of living Christianly in today's trying world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #967040 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

Customer Reviews

Suffering and Faith
Written in the form of letters to the people in her life closest to her, these essays blaze with the intensity of life deeply felt and faith forged in the crucible of base cruelty, soaring beauty and redemption that is South Africa. Having stripped away the usual academic lingo, this theologian, who describes herself as a cultural hybrid and a feminist, takes on such subjects as cultural and racial identity, political, theological and physical domination, and the paradox of the presence of an all-powerful and compassionate God in a world riven by suffering from AIDS, misogyny, torture, injustice, hunger, and hatred. Ms. Ackermann refuses to look away from suffering or be paralyzed by her anger, or to take refuge in apathy or denial. All suffering and helplessness are held up to the example of scripture, most particularly the poetry of suffering and praise in the psalms, and in the passion of Jesus. This is a book for readers whose need is to explore the wilderness more than for those who demand comfort and certainty.