Christian Faith and Social Justice: Five Views

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The Judeo-Christian tradition testifies to a God that cries out, demanding that justice "roll down like waters, righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:24). Christians agree that being advocates for justice is critical to the Christian witness. And yet one need not look widely to see that Christians disagree about what social justice entails. What does justice have to do with healthcare reform, illegal immigration, and same-sex marriage Should Christians support tax policies that effectively require wealthy individuals to fund programs that benefit the poor Does justice require that we acknowledge and address the inequalities borne out of histories of gender and ethnic exclusivity Is the Christian vision distinct from non-Christian visions of social justice Christians disagree over the proper answer to these questions. In short, Christians agree that justice is important but disagree about what a commitment to justice means. Christian Faith and Social Justice makes sense of the disagreements among Christians over the meaning of justice by bringing together five highly regarded Christian philosophers to introduce and defend rival perspectives on social justice in the Christian tradition. The positions advocated and critiqued are: libertarianism, political liberalism, liberation theology, feminism, and virtue ethics. While it aspires to offer a lucid introduction to these theories, the purpose of this book is more than informative. It is purposefully dialogical and is structured so that contributors are able to model for the reader reasoned exchange among philosophers who disagree about the meaning of social justice. The hope is that the reader is left with a better understanding of range of perspectives in the Christian tradition about social justice.

Reviews

This is a really useful and genuinely innovative work that will be excellent for teaching students about the nature of many of the most important complexities about and controversies regarding the idea of 'social justice,' especially as that idea figures in the Christian traditions. The authors of the five foundational essays have done a very good job of laying out their own views, and the follow-up response essays are a brilliant pedagogical device. Conversational yet controversial, rich in detail but never losing sight of the main point, McCracken and his authors have given us a tremendous gift for use in teaching Christian ethics and theories of justice. -- Charles Mathewes, Carolyn M. Barbour Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia, USA
McCracken has done a masterful job of putting five current, but very different, social justice 'voices' in critical conversation with one another. This is ethics pedagogy at its bestproviding a diverse range of resources for ones own social ethical reflection! -- Jack A. Hill, Professor of Religion (Social Ethics), Texas Christian University, USA
This is a valuable collection of contemporary writings on the relation between Christian faith and social justice. Rather than merely assembling secular and religious pieces from different perspectives, Vic McCracken has orchestrated a progressive dialogue between five notable authors, allowing each to comment on all the others. The five authors represent libertarianism, liberalism, liberation theology, feminism, and virtue ethics. Each asks how Christian belief impacts and is impacted by our understanding of what we owe each other and what constitutes a moral community. No consensus is arrived at that is not the goal but the conversation is highly edifying. -- Timothy P. Jackson, Professor of Christian Ethics, Emory University, USA
This edited volume presents five views of social justice from Christian scholarly perspectives. Editor McCrackens introduction presents the essential connection between Christianity and social justice, using biblical and traditional sourcesThe lively exchanges between the authors make for good reading, sustained by the quality of the scholarship and argument, especially between Elizabeth Phillips (virtue) and Daniel Dombrowski (Rawls). The feminist and liberationist perspectives of Laura Stivers and Miguel De La Torre, respectively, concur in seeking to replace the status quo and challenge theoretical categories. Though the liberationist motif is most clearly rooted in Christian thought, the various views make fruitful connections to Christian faith, with the exception of libertarianism. This volume would work well as a supplemental text for a course. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers. -- R. Ward, Georgetown College * CHOICE *

Author Bio

Vic McCracken is Assistant Professor of Theology and Ethics at Abilene Christian University, USA, and co-convener of the pedagogy working group of the Society of Christian Ethics. In 2010 he was recognized as the Honors College Professor of the Year at Abilene Christian University and the College of Bible's Professor of the Year in 2012.