Product Description

Although we loathe admitting it, Christians have often, through crusade, conquest, and commerce, used the name and power of Christ to promote and justify political, economic, and even military gain.

Rieger's ambitious and faith-filled project chips away at the colonial legacy of Christology to find the authentic Christ - or rather the many authentic depictions of Christ in history and theology that survive our self-serving domestications. Against the seeming inevitability of globalized unfairness, Rieger holds up a "stumbling block" that confounds even empire.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #166081 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 334 pages

Review
"...reveals the hidden grammar of Christology by elucidating how theological depictions of Christ have been laden with colonial biases." -- Kwok Pui-Ian, Episcopal Divinity School, author of Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology

"A work of fierce luminosity, if classic didn't evoke the imperial aura that this Christology dispels, we could announce one." -- Catherine Keller, Drew University, author of God and Empire

About the Author
Joerg Rieger is Professor of Systematic Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. He is author of Remember the Poor: The Challenge to Theology in the Twenty-first Century (1998) and God and the Excluded: Visions and Blindspots in Contemporary Theology (Fortress Press, 2000). He is also editor of Liberating the Future: God, Mammon, and Theology (Fortress Press, 1998) and Theology from the Belly of the Whale: A Frederick Herzog Reader.

Customer Reviews

Highly recommended for Christology shelves.
Joerg Rieger (Professor of Systematic Theology, Perkins School of Theology) presents Christ & Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times, an examination how our modern-day perception of Jesus Christ has been shaped by empires at critical turning points of history. Crusades, conquest, and commerce have spread the Christian faith for hundreds of years; Christ & Empire seeks to peel away the colonial legacy of Christology to find the true Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ's own refusal to submit to empire offers an intriguing and ironic contrast to the historical legacy of Christian empires, in this thoughtful, scholarly, and extensively researched treatise. Highly recommended for Christology shelves.

Wonderful
This is an amazing combination of current biblical, historical, and postcolonial studies to present a readable yet profound reflection on Christ that allows Christ to disturb us and awaken us from our slumber and imperial allegiance.

The Interaction Between Empire and Christianity
This well-researched book reveals how the "empire" shapes our theologies - both dominant theologies and the alternative theologies. Rieger explores the church during the periods of different empires (eg. Roman, Spanish, U.S., etc) to show the theological shaping force of empire. This is a book I will keep for constant reference.