Of Divine Economy: Refinancing Redemption

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Divine Economy expands upon the economic connotations of the theological doctrine of redemption. The term redemption refers to a process of "buying back" slaves from conditions of oppression and thus compares the crux of Christian dogma to an economic exchange involving human emancipation. The phrase "miraculous exchanges" refers to the problem of redemptive divine and human agency in an economic context in which many who desire justice and equity feel powerless and hopeless. The originality of Divine Economy lies not only in its theological reading of redemption as an economic metaphor, but also in its focus on the economic subtexts of Christian tradition and how they form and are formed by society's economic constructions. Grau's unique project merges together economic, historical, and psycho-social analysis with theological critique and construction.

Reviews

"This is a thoroughly engaging and stimulating book. Often it made me stop and ponder a point, construct a train of thought and an argument, [and] nod in agreement...Divine Economy is worth a read." -Roland Boer, The Bible and Critical Theory, Vol. 6
Grau's reconstruction of divine economy serves her readers best as itself a tricksterlike agent, luring her readers into that "third space", that ambiguous uneasy space where the dark side of ransom theories of atonement and the oppressive tendencies of market capitalism are nuanced by attention to their usefulness in the development of countereconomic theologies of redemption... the ease with which Grau engages classical and biblical texts in her reconstruction of divine economy offers her readers insight into the concepts of redemption, exchange, capitalism, and gender that challenge us to acknowledge their complexity, as well as our complicity in the employment of these concepts in oppressive ways. This book will be useful in the theology classroom with adequate interpretive help. It is a must-read for those scholars with interests at the intersection of theology, economy, feminist theology, and poststructuralism."- Anglican Theological Review, Vol. 88, No.1 * Anglican Theological Review *
"Is Christianity complicit in oppressive economic regimes or does it harbor the potential for their rectification In Of Divine Economy, Marion Grau argues that both of these propositions are true, both for antiquity and our own time. In witty and astute readings of New Testament and patristic texts, Grau imagines a Christian economics that is responsible in its realism while revolutionary in its staging of a marketplace teeming with religious tricksters and an economy gone divinely awry." -Naomi Seidman, director of the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and the author of A Marriage Made in Heaven: The Sexual Politics of Hebrew and Yiddish * Blurb from reviewer *
"Grau's book is valuable in this era of Enron, Gazprom, oil empires, and all controlling stock markets." -- Timothy Bradshaw * Regent's Reviews *
"...Grau has written a sparkling, well informed, stimulating book on a vital issue for today." -- Timothy Bradshaw * Regent's Reviews *
"If you are looking for a book to startle and stimulate new ideas for Christian living and teaching, try this!" -- Timothy Bradshaw * Regent's Reviews *
"useful for political theology students" -- Jhon Appleton, Bolton Parish Church * Theological Book Review *

Author Bio

Marion Grau is Professor of Systematic Theology, Ecumenism and Missiology at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, Norway.