Subversive Jesus

When Jesus left the most exclusive gated community in the universe to come live with the people he loved and gave his life for, he turned everything we know and believe about life on its head. Jesus said that he came to bring good news to the poor, but most Western Christians remain disconnected and isolated from the poor and their contexts of injustice. Even our churches echo society’s pressure to isolate ourselves from the margins (e.g. by moving to a better suburb) and instead teach us how to be “nice people” who worship a “nice Jesus” and don’t disrupt the status quo. Convinced that Jesus places love for the poor and the pursuit of justice central, Craig Greenfield has sought to follow in Christ’s footsteps by living among people at the edges of society for the last fourteen years. His quest to follow this Subversive Jesus has taken Craig and his young family from the slums of Asia to inner city Canada and back again. This is the story of how Jesus led them to the margins: initiating the Pirates of Justice flash mobs, sharing their home with detoxing crackheads, welcoming homeless panhandlers and prostitutes to the dinner table, and ultimately sparking a movement to reach the world’s most vulnerable children. This book is a strong and potentially controversial critique of the status quo too often found in our churches, but it offers an inspirational and hopeful vision of another way. While readers may not relocate to a slum, they will certainly come to view their lives and ministry through a fresh lens—reconsidering how they are uniquely called by Jesus to subversively love the poor and break down systems of injustice in their sphere of influence.

THEY'RE BRIGHT. THEY CAN BE BRUTALLY HONEST. THEY CAN BE CYNICAL. THEY'RE SPIRITUALLY HUNGRY. HOW WILL YOU TELL THEM ABOUT JESUS? There is a new, "postmodern" generation with a vast, unmet spiritual hunger. They don't know Jesus. In fact, they don't know much "about" Jesus. They need someone who can relate the truth of the gospel to them in terms they understand. But how does one communicate this transforming truth to a generation increasingly suspicious of religious words and cynical about religious claims? Robert Henderson invites you to look over his shoulder as he addresses the brutally honest questions of faith posed by a young postmodern man named Chip. Chip's questions echo those of a spiritually hungry generation uncertain of where to look for answers--and totally unimpressed with what they see as powerless religion that offers no hope for change. Discover how to introduce the next generation of seekers to the radical grace of Jesus--grace that will make a difference in their lives.

THEY'RE BRIGHT. THEY CAN BE BRUTALLY HONEST. THEY CAN BE CYNICAL. THEY'RE SPIRITUALLY HUNGRY. HOW WILL YOU TELL THEM ABOUT JESUS?There is a new, "postmodern" generation with a vast, unmet spiritual hunger. They don't know Jesus. In fact, they don't know much "about" Jesus. They need someone who can relate the truth of the gospel to them in terms they understand. But how does one communicate this transforming truth to a generation increasingly suspicious of religious words and cynical about religious claims?Robert Henderson invites you to look over his shoulder as he addresses the brutally honest questions of faith posed by a young postmodern man named Chip. Chip's questions echo those of a spiritually hungry generation uncertain of where to look for answers--and totally unimpressed with what they see as powerless religion that offers no hope for change. Discover how to introduce the next generation of seekers to the radical grace of Jesus--grace that will make a difference in their lives.

Noted missiologist/church researcher Ed Stetzer offers an accessible treatment of the doctrine of the kingdom of God, inviting readers to actively explore, advance, and live in this "subversive kingdom" today.

William Herzog shows that the focus of the parables was not on a vision of the glory of the reign of God but on the gory details of the way oppression served the interests of the ruling class. The parables were a form of social analysis, as well as a form of theological reflection. Herzog scrutinizes their canonical form to show the distinction between its purpose for Jesus and for evangelists. To do this, he uses the tools of historical criticism, including form criticism and redaction criticism.

Christ's Subversive Body offers a fascinating exploration of six historical examples of politically or culturally subversive usages of the body of Christ. Shining a light on the enabling potential of religious rhetoric, Solovieva examines how in moments of crisis or transition throughout Western history the body of Christ has been deployed in a variety of discourses, including recent neo- and theoconservative movements in the United States. Solovieva’s survey includes the iconoclastic polemics of Epiphanius at the moment of struggles for supremacy between the Roman state and the Christian church, the mystical theologico-political alchemy of an anonymous treatise circulated at the Council of Constance, Lavater’s counter-Enlightenment visions of the afterlife expressd through physiognomy, Dostoevsky’s refashioning of ethical communities, Pier Paolo Pasolini’s attempts to provoke the “scandal” of Jesus’s mission once more in the modern world, and the elaboration of a political theology subordinating democratic dissent to the higher unity of a corporately conceived “unitary executive” in early twenty-first-century America. Solovieva presents her findings not as an entry into theological or Christological debates but rather as a study in comparative discourse analysis. She demonstrates how these uses of Christ’s body are triggered by moments of epistemological, political, and representational crisis in the history of Western civilization.

In The End of Religion, Bruxy Cavey shares that relationship has no room for religion. Believers and seekers alike will discover anew the wondrous promise found in our savior. And Christ’s eternal call to walk in love and freedom will resonate with readers of all ages and denominations.

Known for her bestselling detective novels, Dorothy L. Sayers lived a fascinating, groundbreaking life as a novelist, feminist, Oxford scholar, and important influence on the spiritual life of C.S. Lewis. This pioneering woman not only forged a literary career for herself but also spoke about faith and culture in revolutionary ways as she addressed the evergreen question of to what extent faith should hold on to tradition and to what extent it should evolve with a changing culture. Thanks to her unmatched wisdom, prophetic tone, and insistent strength, Dorothy Sayers is a voice that we cannot afford to ignore. Providing a blueprint for bridge-building in contemporary, polarizing contexts, Subversive shows how Sayers used edgy, often hilarious metaphors to ignite new ways to think about Christianity, shocking people into seeing the truth of ancient doctrine in a new light. Urging readers to reassess interpretations of the Bible that impede the cause of Christ, Sayers helps twenty-first-century Christians navigate a society increasingly suspicious of evangelical vocabularies and find new ways to talk and think about faith and culture. Ultimately, she will inspire believers, on both the right and the left, to evaluate how and why their language perpetuates divisive certitude rather than the hopeful humility of faith, and will show us all a better way forward.