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Search: the Politics of Scripture

The Libyan situation poses very different questions as whatever regime Gaddafi was leading has clearly been removed by the revolutionaries, and hence the question of what will replace it is currently vexing minds in Libya and beyond.

To The Ends of the Earth: Politics and Power in Acts 1:6–14

Jesus offers power through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Rather than being consolidated in one place or in one person, this power is dispersed, establishing not a national entity but an ever-expanding community of belonging.

The Secularization of Hope Revisited

Hope can persist even when things seem impossible. This affinity with the miraculous, rupturing the force of prevailing law, gives hope its extra-rational power.

Rejecting Death: Bodies are not Commodities

If the words of Paul sound harsh, it is because they are–and I am glad that they are. To those who treat other people as bottomless vessels for pain, Paul delivers these rebukes: “This is not lawful. This does not please God. Christ is not in this.”

The Montage of Privation: Islam and the Architecture of Sinicization in China

Islam in China is going through a period of architectural amputation called Sinicization. The result is a haunting landscape where dome-less and minaret-less mosques visualize deficiency as a definition of what it means to be Muslim in China today.

The Collapse of Meaning

For those witnessing today’s televised violence and mass destruction, the collapse of meaning renders nihilism seductive. Can the collapse of meaning be resisted?

The First Modern Political Theologian?

Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy reveals how religion became not a check on power—but its strategic lifeblood.

From James Cone to Donald Trump

Why did Dwight Hopkins, a leading Black liberation theologian and a longtime University of Chicago professor, move toward MAGA?

Religion and Public Life

Luke Roberts introduces the essays in the symposium on Religion and Public Life.

What Is African Political Theology?

We need to critique the fact that political theology has turned into ideology in Africa.

Crucifying Jesus and the Politics of Roman “Justice”

Jesus’s violent crucifixion exposes the inadequacy of Roman “justice” and raises important questions that are deeply relevant for today. For example, what aspects of our justice systems are designed—intentionally or unintentionally—to diminish human dignity and even dehumanize people?