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Essays

Good and Pleasant Unity

The unity embodied in this psalm is idealistic, imaginative, and radical, embodying fluidity. It disrupts the exclusivist notion of nationalism common in its contemporary literature and embraces unity, which is symbolized as inherently good and pleasant.

In the Absence of a Liberating God – 50 years after A Theology of Liberation

Fifty years after the publication of Gustavo Gutiérrez’s A Theology of Liberation, what, if any, relevance does Christian liberation theology and Gutiérrez’s work have for our present moment? Do we still have a memory of a liberating God? And if not, is there a liberative power in grappling with the absence of this memory?

Ecowomanist Parables: Ecowomanist Ethics and Praxis in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower

In an era of systemic collapse, we need radical ecowomanist theory for survival and liberation.

Rethinking Easter: Towards Radical Inclusivity

As a motif of Easter grace, the mountain is a place of new beginnings and renewal for all who seek abundant life.

From the Archives: Just War

For the twenty-fifth anniversary of the journal Political Theology, we are diving into the journal’s archives to share highlights of what we have published. In this installment, here are some of the articles we have published on questions of just war

Announcing the Political Theology Article Contest

The journal Political Theology announces its first ever article contest for all accepted unsolicited submissions in the year 2024. Submit your article now!

Real or Rhetorical Humility

Like the humble talk in the psalm, this hand-wringing fear about a loss of Christian identity in the US masks the devastating power that white Christians wield against others in this country and elsewhere. It is a rhetorical humility in the service of actual power and dominance.

Trans Talmud Reminds Us Things Aren’t Forever Doomed to Suck

Max Strassfeld’s groundbreaking Trans Talmud: Androgynes and Eunuchs in Rabbinic Literature is a masterclass in denaturalizing oppressive structures. As political backlash against trans folk continues its deadly escalation, Trans Talmud is a crucial intervention in both scholarly and explicitly political domains.

Contested Signs

The son of Man, the son of God gives us a sign that, once more, he is not only at odds with but opposed to the structures that administer (a certain kind of) life and death.

From the Archives: Hope

For the twenty-fifth anniversary of the journal Political Theology, we are diving into the journal’s archives to share highlights of what we have published. In this installment, here are some of the articles we have published on questions of hope:

The Light in the Darkness

In this passage in John, light is associated with Jesus and with the love of God for the entire world. Light is explicitly linked with a capacious love that was present from the beginning of creation and includes all of creation. It is therefore opposed to racism of any kind.