Reconciliation: Restoring Justice / Edition 1

by John W. de Gruchy

Overview

Whether born in the Mideast, Africa, Asia, or brought home to the streets of America, violent hatreds often threaten to swamp the minimal cooperation needed to foster life and health. Does Christianity have anything besides warmed-over pieties to offer a world torn by estrangement, alienation, and violently opposed worldviews? In this signal contribution to public theology, John de Gruchy, an internationally esteemed political theologian, emphatically affirms the possibility and necessity of reconciliation. For Christians, he says, reconciliation is the center and perennial test of their faith. De Gruchy expands reconciliation's relevance beyond personal piety and ecclesial harmony to encompass group relations, politics, and even the environment. In all cases, he argues, it involves the restoration of justice. Forged in the recent experience of South Africa, his work delineates the political and ecclesial significance of reconciliation and shows its importance for interreligious relations, addressing victimization, and international peace. Reconciliation will be welcomed by all whose faith leads them to help alleviate the world's mounting agonies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780800636005
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	12/20/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

John de Gruchy is professor emeritus of Christian studies and a senior scholar at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is also an Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch University.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part One: Discourse

How Dare We Speak of Reconciliation?

Holy Grail or secular pact?

Clarifying the Genre

Reconciliatoin: constructed and contest

Reconciliation as national project

Reconciliation in Christian Tradition

The 'grand narrative' of redemption

The Pauline trajectory of reconciliation

Constructing the doctrine

A public theology of reconciliation

Part Two: Agency

Reconciliation Embodied

Treasure in clay jars

Sociality, solidarity and vicarious action

Sacraments of reconciliation

Vicarious confession of guilt

Reconciliation and the Household of Abraham

Alienating memories and present realities

The household of Abraham and national reconciliation

Dialogue, commonality and difference

Conviction, pluralism and covenantal obligations

Part Three: Process and Goal

The Art of Reconciliation

Creating space for interfacing

Telling the truth

Listen to the sound of fury

Forgiveness as wisdom and power

Covenanting together to Restore Justice

Beyond the social contract

Acknowledging guilt

Reconnecting love, power and justice

A new covenant forged in hope

Notes

Select Bibliography

Index