Rosemary Radford Ruether (1936–2022)

Wonderful work, just great, clear and learned writing. I think this is the most readable, and thus memorable, among the books on liberation theology that I've read. I am halfway through it, I like the chapters about Christian anti-Semitism, the one about celibacy and sexuality, the one about Christian apocalypticism, and how it contrasts with the intellectual and social ferment among young people during the late 60s. In short, I like most of what I've read. The chapter on Christian anti-Semitism is especially interesting because it focuses on the plight of the Jew, it is written from the perspective of the Jew who had to contend during the modern period with the anti-Semitism that existing socialist projects inherited from centuries of Christian anti-Semitism. It is not 'philo-Semitic' though as it is critical of the Zionist project in Israel. The comparison between Christian religio-political intolerance during the early period of its adoption by the Roman Empire and the more democratic methods of Jewish religious life and organization is also illuminating.

Liberation theology is my kind of theology. It is the kind of engaged religious thinking that makes me still view religions as being not that bad sometimes. Ruether's work is important, not just in terms of intellectual religious history and Biblical studies, but also as a part of a curriculum in social ethics and progressive politics.… (més)