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

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?

Love disrupts both the ruin and misery we inflict upon others as well as our preoccupation with ourselves, for these are interdependent, synergistically working together for the degradation of all.

While deeply engaged with the concerns of everyday life such as healing, feeding, and engaging people in matters of justice and community, Jesus offers an alternative vision: one shaped by self-giving love and radical faithfulness to God’s kingdom, rather than by the structures and strategies of empire.






