Spirituality Social Justice

In recent years, a set of ideas rooted in postmodernism and neo-Marxist critical theory have merged into a comprehensive worldview. Labeled “social justice” by its advocates, it has radically redefined the popular understanding of justice. This book aims to replace confusion with clarity by holding up the counterfeit worldview and the Biblical worldview side-by-side, showing how significantly they differ in their core presuppositions. It challenges Christians to offer a better alternative which shapes cultures marked by genuine justice, mercy, forgiveness.

In a world that is “woke”, how many Christians are actually awake? This short theologically sound primer is a resource for pastors, ministry leaders, community leaders, and other thinking Christians that explains carefully and clearly what critical race theory and wokeness truly are, what the Bible teaches about race and ethnicity, why wokeness is distinct from Christianity and should be rejected, and how the church can work for unity based in the gospel of grace.

In the 1970s, many campus radicals raised in Christian homes brought neo-Marxist ideas from college back to church with them. At first, figures like Jim Wallis, Ron Sider, and Richard Mouw made great gains for their progressive evangelical cause. But, after the defeat of Jimmy Carter, the religious right stole the headlines. Today, a new crop of mainstream evangelicals has taken up the cause of the New Left, whether they know it or not.

Christianity and Social Justice is everything Christians need to understand and answer the social justice movement in one audiobook. From its history, secular manifestations, and Christian variations, Jon Harris thoroughly describes the movement, shows how it threatens orthodoxy, and offers powerful responses.

Critical theory and its expression in fields such as critical race theory, critical pedagogy, and queer theory are having a profound impact on our culture. Contemporary critical theory's ideas about race, class, gender, identity, and justice have dramatically shaped how people think, act, and view one another—in Christian and secular spheres alike. In Critical Dilemma, authors Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer illuminate the origins and influences of contemporary critical theory, considering it in the light of clear reason and biblical orthodoxy.

In this powerful audiobook, pastor, professor, and leading cultural apologist Voddie Baucham explains the sinister worldview behind the social justice movement and how it has quietly spread like a fault system, not only through our culture, but throughout the evangelical church in America. He also details the devastation it is already wreaking - and what we can do to get back on solid ground before it’s too late.

Social justice work, we often assume, is raised voices and raised fists. But what does it look like for those of us who don't feel comfortable battling in the trenches? Sustaining justice work can be particularly challenging for the sensitive, and it requires a deep level of self-awareness. In Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul, writer Dorcas Cheng-Tozun offers six possible pathways for sensitive types.

The history of the Western church is stained by injustice. The impulse to resist justice and look the other way has harmed the church and the people it aims to serve. But a different future is possible. In The Justice of Jesus, Joash Thomas surveys the history of injustice and colonization in the Global South at the hands of the Western church. He shows that in addition to harming colonized peoples, colonization has limited Western Christians' understanding of the gospel, leading us to devalue the pursuit of justice for our neighbors on the margins.

The 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, an African American teenager in Florida, and the subsequent acquittal of his killer, brought public attention to controversial "Stand Your Ground" laws. The verdict, as much as the killing, sent shock waves through the African American community, recalling a history of similar deaths, and the long struggle for justice. On the Sunday morning following the verdict, black preachers around the country addressed the question, "Where is the justice of God? What are we to hope for?"

Much of the church has forgotten that we worship a disabled God whose wounds survived resurrection, says Amy Kenny. It is time for the church to start treating disabled people as full members of the body of Christ who have much more to offer than a miraculous cure narrative and to learn from their embodied experiences. Written by a disabled Christian, this book shows that the church is missing out on the prophetic witness and blessing of disability.

In a moving example of unconditional love in dif­ficult times, Gregory Boyle, the Jesuit priest and New York Times bestselling author of Tattoos on the Heart, shares what working with gang members in Los Angeles has taught him about faith, compassion, and the enduring power of kinship. In his...

In Love in a Time of Climate Change: Honoring Creation, Establishing Justice, author Sharon Delgado invites listeners to embark on a deepening journey of faith that integrates personal spirituality with action for climate justice.

Addressing mission, evangelism, and social justice, two pastors draw listeners to the Bible's teaching on some contentious matters. Listeners in all spheres of ministry will grow in their understanding of the mission of the Church and gain a renewed sense of urgency for Jesus' call to preach the Word and make disciples.

Jesus told his followers that the entirety of the Old Testament’s law is encapsulated in the commands to love God and to love their neighbors as themselves. In Reforming Criminal Justice: A Christian Proposal, Matthew T. Martens argues that love of neighbor must be the animating force for true reformation of the criminal justice system, obligating us to seek the best for both the criminally victimized and the criminally accused.

In this audiobook, World Relief immigration experts Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang move beyond the rhetoric to offer a Christian response to immigration. They put a human face on the issue and tell stories of immigrants' experiences in and out of the system. With careful historical understanding and thoughtful policy analysis, they debunk myths and misconceptions about immigration and show the limitations of the current immigration system. Ultimately, they point toward immigration reform that is compassionate, sensible, and just.

In contrast to the oppressive Roman military occupation of the first century, Crossan examines the meaning of the non-violent Kingdom of God prophesized by Jesus and the equality advocated by Paul to the early Christian churches. Crossan contrasts these messages of peace with the misinterpreted apocalyptic vision from the Book of Revelation, which has been misrepresented by modern right-wing theologians and televangelists to justify US military actions in the Middle East.

Ordinary Heroes of Racial Justice is a beacon of hope for understanding America's complex racial landscape. Through rigorous historical research and compelling narrative storytelling, this book illuminates the past's intersections of Christianity, race, and place, offering profound insights for today's world. Beyond history, Ordinary Heroes of Racial Justice empowers listeners with practical recommendations, encouraging them to rethink and reshape their own communities for justice.

John Pavlovitz examines the bedrock ideas of our religion: the existence of hell, the utility of prayer, the way we treat LGBTQ people, the value of anger, and other doctrines to help all of us take a good, honest look at how the beliefs we hold can shape our relationships with God and our fellow humans - and to make sure that love has the last, loudest word.

The American church avoids lament. But lament is a missing, essential component of Christian faith. Lament recognizes struggles and suffering, that the world is not as it ought to be. Lament challenges the status quo and cries out for justice against existing injustices. Soong-Chan Rah's prophetic exposition of the book of Lamentations provides a biblical and theological lens for examining the church's relationship with a suffering world. It critiques our success-centered triumphalism and calls us to repent of our hubris. And it opens up new ways to encounter the other.

For five hundred years, Latina/o culture and identity have been shaped by their challenges to the religious, socio-economic, and political status quo, whether in opposition to Spanish colonialism, Latin American dictatorships, US imperialism in Central America, the oppression of farmworkers, or the current exploitation of undocumented immigrants. Christianity has played a significant role in that movement at every stage. Robert Chao Romero, the son of a Mexican father and a Chinese immigrant mother, explores the history and theology of what he terms the "Brown Church."