Introducing Political Theology 16.3

We are happy to announce the publication of Vol. 16, Issue 3 of our journal, Political Theology.  Unlike several recent issues, this issue is not organized around a single theme, but brings together a range of high-quality contributions on diverse topics in contemporary political theology. In the three featured articles, Myroslava Rap of the University of Leuven analyzes the post-Communist experience of Ukrainian churches through the lens of Paul Ricoeur, Rhoderick Abellanosa of Cebu Theological Forum considers the preferential option for the poor in the Phillipines Catholic Church, and a co-authored piece by John Reader, Christopher Baker, and Thomas A. James introduces a new approach to public theology, which they call “relational Christian realism.”

In this issue’s Guest Editorial, “Justice in this World” (to be posted here in full next week), Charles Mathewes of the University of Virginia critiques the American criminal justice system. This editorial serves as a fitting introduction to the extended book discussion of William J. Shuntz’s The Collapse of American Criminal Justice (Belknap, 2013), with short articles by Elizabeth Bounds (Emory University), Mark Storslee (Stanford University), and Luke Bretherton (Duke University).

The full Table of Contents is below:

Featured Articles

“The Conflict between Traditional Christian Churches in Ukraine as a Conflict of Identities: Where to Search for the Prospects of Reconciliation? A Reflection in the Light of the Theories of Paul Ricoeur and John Paul Lederach”
Myroslava Rap
pp. 201–225

“Discursive Detours and Weak Gate-keeping: The Deficit of the Philippine Bishops’ Church of the Poor Discourse”
Rhoderick John S. Abellanosa
pp. 226–246

“Entangled Fidelities: Towards a Relational Christian Realism for the Public Sphere”
Christopher Baker and John Reader and Thomas A. James
pp. 247–263

Guest Editorial

“Justice in This World”
Charles Mathewes
pp. 264–266

Book Discussion

“Criminal Justice and Christian Community”
Elizabeth Bounds
pp. 267–272

“Democracy and the Criminal Justice System”
Luke Bretherton
pp. 273–278

“Reading Legal History as Political Theology”
Mark Storslee
pp. 279–283

Book Reviews
pp. 284–297