Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Connecting Jesus to Social Justice: Classical Christology and Public Theology

Many Christians see the societal dimension of their faith as a matter of biblical and social ethics. Returning to classical Christology, Connecting Jesus to Social Justice explores messianic potential in the Council of Chalcedon on the divine identity of Christ. Who Jesus is makes all the difference to Christian entrance into the public sphere on behalf of a just society. The Messiah's divinity bears on social mission directed toward a just social order. Theological appropriation of Chalcedon overcomes a gap between the professing the Creed and interpreting social existence in light of a just social order. Connecting Jesus to Social Justice argues a doctrinally traditional, orthodox basis for Christian participation in the public sphere on behalf of social justice. The book addresses a situation internal to churches in the U.S. from a Catholic perspective yet not without analogies in other churches and Christian movements. Applying traditional Christology to contemporary social mission solidifies an answer to adversarial queries on the appropriateness of a social agenda. Implications in the classical Christology also confirm churches and discipleship in commitment to social justice promoted through a subaltern counter-public and then by word and deed in the public sphere. Review Thomas Hughson's Connecting Jesus to Social Justice makes an important contribution to two distinctive realms of discourse in contemporary theology -- that is, to Christology and to Public Theology. And it does so by way of the suggestion that Chalcedonian Christology has prophetic potential for Christian discipleship in the public sphere. This is certainly a worthwhile book and read.--Benjamin Valentin, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry This is an outstanding book in public theology. It is theologically astute, scripturally oriented, philosophically nimble, and takes secular social sciences seriously as a valid input into theological-ethical analysis. The breadth and brilliance of the book derive from Thomas Hughson's dogged determination to ground public theology in classical Christology. The book forges a dynamic link between Christology and social justice in an original and inspiring scholarship. This is the kind of scholarship that powerfully speaks to multiple publics at the same time, even as it gently nudges them to link faith and social charity with concern for social justice. I eminently recommend this book to every student interested in social ethics or vested in the future of public theology.--Nimi Wariboko As awareness of the plight of the poor, the vulnerable, and the marginalized is growing, classical theological traditions speak with new urgency. That mainline Christian theologians in the United States are rediscovering the profound links between the divine and justice is a sign of hope.--Joerg Rieger, Vanderbilt University; author of Christ And Empire Hughson's . . . theoretical argument is compelling. Affirmations of Christ's divinity such as the Chalcedonian Definition can provide an important impetus for Christians to seek social justice.--The Ecumenist The relation of theology to society, or rather theological exploration to lived human experiences, is one that many Christians and theologians widely appreciate.... Thomas Hughson, a Jesuit scholar and associate emeritus professor of theology at Marquette University, joins this debate and addresses the above mentioned question in a refreshingly classical theological way.... [A]ny well-meaning Christian, theologian, and person of goodwill, deeply concerned with the search for a just social order and why Chrisianity ought to be involved in that search, must take seriously the full measure of Hughson's carefully researched, perspicaciously presented, and easily readable book. He not only provides us with brilliant historical, and now contextual and properly situated scholarship, but also demonstrates the enduring pertinence of the Chalcedonian