Books by Peter Goodwin Heltzel
Resurrection City: A Theology of Improvisation (Prophetic Christianity Series)
In Resurrection City Peter Heltzel paints a prophetic picture of an evangelical Christianity that eschews a majority mentality and instead fights against racism, inequality, and injustice, embracing the concerns of the poor and marginalized, just as Jesus did. Placing society's needs front and center, Heltzel calls for radical change and collective activism modeled on God's love and justice.
In particular, Heltzel explores the social forms that love and justice can take as religious communities join together to build "beloved cities." He proclaims the importance of "improvising for justice" -- likening the church's prophetic ministry to jazz music -- and develops a biblical theology of shalom justice. His vision draws inspiration from the black freedom struggle and the lives of Sojourner Truth, Howard Thurman, and Martin Luther King Jr. Pulsing with hope and beauty, Resurrection City compels evangelical Christians to begin "a global movement for love and justice" that truly embodies the kingdom of God.
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Mobilizing for the Common Good: The Lived Theology of John M. Perkins
by Charles Marsh, Peter Slade, Peter Goodwin Heltzel
Born into a sharecropping family in New Hebron, Mississippi, in 1930, and only receiving a third-grade education, John M. Perkins has been a pioneering prophetic African American voice for reconciliation and social justice to America's white evangelical churches. Often an unwelcome voice and always a passionate, provocative clarion, Perkins persisted for forty years in bringing about the formation of the Christian Community Development Association―a large network of evangelical churches and community organizations working in America's poorest communities―and inspired the emerging generation of young evangelicals concerned with releasing the Church from its cultural captivity and oppressive materialism.
John M. Perkins has received surprisingly little attention from historians of modern American religious history and theologians. Mobilizing for the Common Good is an exploration of his theological significance. With contributions from theologians, historians, and activists, this book contends that Perkins ushered in a paradigm shift in twentieth-century evangelical theology that continues to influence Christian community development projects and social justice activists today.
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$30.00
Evangelicals and Empire Christian Alternatives to the Political Status Quo
by Peter Goodwin Heltzel, Bruce Ellis Benson
This groundbreaking collection considers empire from a global perspective, exploring the role of evangelicals in political, social, and economic engagement at a time when empire is alternately denounced and embraced. It brings noted thinkers from a range of theological perspectives together to engage the most explosive and discussed theorists of empire in the first decade of the twenty-first century, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. Using their work as a springboard, the contributors challenge evangelicalism's identification with right-wing politics and grapple with the natures of both empire and evangelicalism.
Contributors
Jim Wallis
Helene Slessarev-Jamir and Bruce Ellis Benson
M. Gail Hamner
Lester Edwin J. Ruiz and Charles W. Amjad-Ali
Jennifer Butler and Glenn Zuber
James K. A. Smith
John Milbank
Patrick Provost-Smith
Sébastien Fath
Kurt Anders Richardson
Juan Martínez
Eleanor Moody-Shepherd and Peter Goodwin Heltzel
Elaine Padilla and Dale T. Irvin
Donald W. Dayton and Christian T. Collins Winn
Mark Lewis Taylor
Corey D. B. Walker
Amos Yong and Samuel Zalanga
Michael S. Horton
Mabiala Kenzo and John Franke
Paul Lim
Mario Costa, Catherine Keller, and Anna Mercedes
"Powerful, urgent, and rigorous. Evangelicals and Empire's diverse voices combine solid scholarship and moral passion to produce a challenging rethinking of what it means to be evangelical."--Ronald J. Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action
"Evangelicals and Empire is a significant book because it deals with religious groups that are usually identified with the politics of empire. Helping the reader understand the deeper reasons for the connection of empire and religion, the essays in this book come together to provide a truly invaluable resource for our time as they flesh out alternative resources that resist empire within the evangelical traditions. The future belongs to such efforts that seek to identify new horizons for the interplay of religion and politics."--Joerg Rieger, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University
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