Liberating the Politics of Jesus

Bold, faithful, challenging—this book uncovers the social and political implications of the gospel message by looking at Anabaptist theology and practice from a female perspective. The contributors approach the gospel from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds, liberating the radical political ethic of Jesus Christ from patriarchal distortions and demonstrating that gender justice and peace theology are inseparable.

Beautifully illustrated with pen drawings, Liberating the Politics of Jesus recognizes the authority of women to interpret and reconstruct the peace church tradition on issues such as subordination, suffering, atonement, the nature of church, leadership, and discipleship. The contributors confront difficult topics head-on, such as the power structures in South Africa, armed conflict in Colombia, and the sexual violence of John Howard Yoder. The result is a renewed Anabaptist peace theology with the potential to transform the work of theology and ministry in all Christian traditions.

Elizabeth Soto Albrecht is Adjunct Instructor and former Advisor for Global Theological Education at Lancaster Theological Seminary, USA.

Darryl W. Stephens is Director of United Methodist Studies and Director of the Pennsylvania Academy of Ministry at Lancaster Theological Seminary, USA.

Contributors include Nancy Bedford, Carol Penner, Karen Suderman, Alix Lozano, Regina Shands Stoltzfus, Linda Gehman Peachy, Erin Dufault-Hunter, Hilary Jerome Scarsella, Sara Wenger Shenk, and Karen V. Guth. Pen and ink images by Teresa Pankratz (www.teresapankratz.com).

Reviews

Liberating the Politics of Jesus is an indispensable resource to students in peace and justice studies, peace theology, and women and gender studies in religion for its attention to women’s experiences of violence and peacemaking and its vision of a constructive, communal, and liberative politics of Jesus.

Kimberly Penner, St. Stephen’s College, University of Alberta, Reading Religion, September 25, 2022.

The examples of collaboration, acknowledgment of suffering, and struggle for justice and healing provided . . . offer tremendous resources opening out into the next generation of Mennonite theology.

David Driedger, First Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, Canadian Mennonite 25, no. 4, February 10, 2021.

This collection of vibrant, sensitive, and thoughtful reflections . . . significantly advances a constructive and holistic peace theology that promises to reshape future scholarly and ecclesial directions in important ways.

Melanie A. Howard, Fresno Pacific University, The Mennonite Quarterly Review, 95 no 3 (July 2021): 381-3.

While originating and of acute importance to the Anabaptist tradition, its contents are pertinent across Christian traditions and deserve to be read widely.

Fran Porter, IBTS, Amsterdam, Practical Theology 14, no. 5 (2021): 493–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/1756073X.2021.1980701

How can peace theology move beyond Yoder? . . . This new edited volume . . . begins from wounds and moves toward healing by centering the agency of the wounded.

Nathan Hershberger, Duke University, Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 41, no. 1 (2021): 171-2.

For those seeking peace theology relevant to contemporary contexts, this book provides a fresh and emancipatory view.

Hyejung Jessie Yum, The Conrad Grebel Review 39, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 58-60.

. . . from those who speak with the previously unsought authority of the survivor. . . . The voices in this book, speaking about suffering that is not chosen, challenge the assertion about its redemptive qualities.

Ruth Gouldbourne, Anabaptist Mennonite Network, in Anabaptism Today 3 no. 2 (2021): 140–3.

an essential read . . . significantly contributing to constructive peace theology and ethics . . . Liberating the Politics of Jesus critically addresses the fundamental theological errors that have left both victims and victimisers trapped in the cycles of unchecked violence and its bitter consequences..

Wan-Yin Lim, Holiness 9, no. 2 (October 2024): 113–14

Interview and Promotions

Women in Leadership Webinar: Women’s Wisdom and Experience. Panelists: Elizabeth Soto Albrecht, Regina Shands Stoltzfus, and Linda Gehman Peachey, October 4, 2020.

A conversation with Drs. Darryl Stephens and Elizabeth Soto-Albrecht on their new book, “Liberating the Politics of Jesus: Renewing Peace Theology through the Wisdom of Women,” interview by Pastor Liz Fulmer, Monday, Sept. 28, 2020.

John Walk, “New book from Lancaster Theological Seminary instructors explores Jesus’ teachings on sexual abuse,” LancasterOnline, September 12, 2020. Includes video interview.

For Table of Contents, see https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/liberating-the-politics-of-jesus-9780567692788/.

Promotional flyer, August 2020.

Endorsements

“Bubbling up from beneath the surface of this insightful collage of theological pieces, we hear the stories of women who have courageously responded to the radical political stance of Jesus. The essays overlap, stretching our imaginations as we too are called to embody a robust and compassionate peace theology.”
—LYDIA NEUFELD HARDER, Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, Canada

“John Howard Yoder was a theological genius and an ecclesial prophet. He was a sexual abuser. This reality generates a quandary over how to transmit Yoder’s legacy honestly. This book does that superbly and originally, gathering women scholars, brilliant in their own right, who negotiate the paradox by moving creatively through and beyond it.”
—LISA SOWLE CAHILL, Boston College, USA

Funding

This research was made possible through the generous support of the Schowalter Foundation and JustPax Fund.