The Gospel According To The Marginalized

The Gospel According to the Marginalized evaluates the development of liberation theology and feminism in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the United States of America. While exploring the common elements within liberation theology as a whole, the book also identifies and discusses the issues that are particularly relevant for each region. Encompassing womanism, mujerista, and the Han of Asian American women, the book briefly examines liberation and feminist literature as well. The experiences, reflections, voices, and works of women struggling for umunthu (dignity and fullness of life) or liberation are gathered in this book.

The Gospels of the Marginalized provides an exciting new study of three of the most maligned figures in the New Testament story of Jesus: Thomas, usually considered the quintessential doubter among the disciples; Mary Magdalene, characterized as a repentant prostitute during much of the history of the church; and Judas Iscariot, presented as the despicable disciple of Jesus who betrayed his master for money. In this book Marvin Meyer, one of the most prominent of the scholars of gnostic texts and other early Christian literature, offers fresh and accurate translations of the Gospels of Thomas, Mary, and Judas, with their proclamation of the good news of the wisdom of Jesus, and he uses these gospels as the occasion to reexamine the place of Thomas, Mary Magdalene, and Judas Iscariot in the Jesus movement. His striking analysis suggests that Thomas was no doubter, that Mary Magdalene was a beloved disciple in the inner circles of disciples around Jesus, and that the tale of Judas Iscariot as betrayer of Jesus is a piece of fiction. Meyer adds a "Gospel of the Redeemed" as a vivid illustration of how the gospel story of Jesus might read with Jesus as a Jewish teacher of wisdom and Thomas, Mary, and Judas restored as loyal followers of the teacher from Nazareth.

The first-century Judaic understanding of the identity and nature of the Messiah has been a much-debated topic among biblical scholars and preachers alike. So too has the messianic identity and nature of Jesus himself. Bekele Deboch informs these debates with fresh evidence outside the traditional scriptural references to miracles, and supernatural identifications by demons and God himself, as well as earthly identification by human beings. With thorough narrative criticism and analysis of contemporaneous literature, this book brings insightful new conclusions that transform our understanding of the biblical messianic identity revealed in the person of Jesus. Jesus not only self-identified with the marginalized and liminal but also experienced extreme marginality himself, to the point of shameful death on a tree. Jesus’ church around the world has the responsibility to herald his messianic identity and salvation to the marginalized of today. Bekele Deboch has followed Christ’s example of walking with the marginalized and makes here a powerful case for the church to do the same.

"In this moving exegesis of the gospel of Mark, Mexican theologian and biblical scholar José Cárdenas Pallares explores the disquieting message of Jesus Christ, effectively demonstrating how Jesus' identification with poor and outcast persons--lepers, women, cripples, tax collectors--was seen as subversive by political and religious authorities. The author unravels the liberative dimension of Jesus' words and miracles, and traces the response of Jesus' detractors from mere indignation to spirited agitation for his death. Engagingly written and cogently argued, this study is a valuable tool for students and scholars interested in Jesus' emancipatory proclamation for the poor of both the first and twentieth centuries."--Back cover

Despite the explicit proclamation in John's Gospel of the ‘Word made flesh’ it is hard to preach such an esoteric Gospel in a way which offers something concrete, relevant and timely for congregations. Focused around the lectionary readings from the Gospel, "The Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor" suggests that far from being a Gospel which sits at a safe remove from every day life, it can in fact be preached as an urgent call to hear the voices of the oppressed in our world. Encouraging preachers to engage in the ancient practice of lectio divina, the book offers an accessible resource to help address the divorce between what is heard from pulpit, and the urgent social and ecological justice concern of our times.

In this book the author contends that communal holiness is the central theme of the vine metaphor in John 15:1-17. Illumination of the Johannine vine metaphor is illustrated by drawing on background information on the vine and its metaphorical usage in the Ancient Near East, Old Testament, and Second Temple Period and to suggest understanding in light of the communal holiness of the covenant people of God. Comparing the themes of holiness and corporateness pertinent to the covenant the book also reflects the covenant with Israel in relation to John’s understanding of the people of God. The notion of covenant, which embraces reference to the people of God as vine/vineyard in the Old Testament and Second Temple Period, underlies John’s vine metaphor. The book focuses research on ANE viticulture to determine the context(s) of when the vine was used to refer to Israel in a covenant relationship with God. In this historical context the Johannine vine metaphor receive fresh meaning and relevance for the people of God.