On September 16, Nathan Walton spoke as part of “The Civil Rights Movement in Theological and Religious Perspective,” a UVA undergraduate seminar taught by Charles Marsh, director of The Project on Lived Theology and a professor of religious studies at UVA. Walton placed Martin Luther King, Jr. within the history of the black church and showed how the church shaped King’s theological outlook and social engagement. Walton then examined how King was a byproduct of the black church and other social traditions. Read More

Freedom Faith, by Courtney Pace, examines the life and philosophy of Rev. Dr. Prathia Laura Ann Hall, an undersung leader in both the civil rights movement and African American theology. Pace chooses to focus mainly on her her civil rights activism, her teaching career, and her ministry as a womanist preacher, all while examining the most central concept of Hall’s theology: Freedom Faith, the belief that God created humans to be free and assists and equips those who work for freedom. Read More

Thomas Merton had many roles he filled in his lifetime — monk, writer, social activist — but one of his main passions was explorations of interfaith understanding. He explored different religions and their relation to the human experience, as well as examining some of the Catholic traditions he had learned about in his studies. A Course in Desert Spirituality, edited by Jon Sweeney, is a collection of some of Merton’s lectures which showcase his teachings and personal thoughts about the concept of desert spirituality. Read More

When white people of faith act in a specific way, it is often attributed to their religious commitments. But when religious people of color act in specific way, it almost exclusively attributed to their racial positioning. In Religion is Raced, authors Grace Yukich and Penny Edgell argue that all religion must be acknowledged as a raced phenomenon, even though America tends to look at religion only through the lens of white Christians. Read More

The use of religion to rehabilitate and redeem formerly incarcerated individuals has been around for many years, but it typically places an emphasis on private spirituality, with efforts focused on repentance, conversion, and restorative justice. In Jesus Saved an Ex-Con, author Edward Orozco Flores examines two faith-based organizations that utilize the public arena to expand the social and political rights of former inmates. Read More

The debate over what does and doesn’t count as a religion has been ongoing for centuries, and in MOVE, author Richard Kent Evans attempts to answer this question using the fascinating story of a little-known group. It was called MOVE, and while the members of the group considered it a religion, the courts saw it as anything but. Read More

For years, anti-Muslim propagandists have circulated horror stories about shariah, insisting wrongly that it is a draconian and oppressive Islamic law that all Muslims must abide by. Demystifying Shariah, by Sumbul Ali-Karamali, seeks to explain the realities of shariah in an accessible, engaging style, while also confronting the misconceptions that remain so prevalent in many American minds today. Read More

Rabbi Ira Sanders was a dedicated advocate for social justice long before the term entered everyday usage. He led Little Rock’s Temple B’nai Israel for nearly forty years, and was a trained social worker in addition to being a rabbi. Just and Righteous Causes, by James L. Moses, is a complete biographical study of Sanders, and examines how this bold social-activist rabbi expertly navigated the intersections of race, religion, and gender to advocate for a more just society. Read More

Throughout the past few decades, the study of religion has shifted away from essentialist arguments that claim to explain what religion is and why it exists. It is commonly viewed as something that people practice, whether in the presence of others or alone. But what is meant by “practice”? Read More

In White Too Long, author Robert P. Jones demonstrates how deeply racist attitudes have become embedded in the DNA of white Christian identity over time and calls for an honest reckoning with a complicated, painful, and even shameful past. Drawing on lessons gleaned from case studies of communities beginning to face these challenges, he argues that contemporary white Christians must confront these unsettling truths because it is the only way to salvage the integrity of their faith and their own identities. Read More