Quoting Jesus, the passage of Matthew 26:11 reads, “the poor you will always have with you,” leading to interpretations surrounding the inevitability of and moral shortcomings resulting in poverty. In Always with Us?, author Liz Theoharis uses both biblical text and the lived reality of the poor to reject these notions as dangerously out of context. Read More

PLT Contributor Nathan Walton, currently a PhD student at the University of Virginia, has received a dissertation fellowship by the Louisville Institute. Walton is one of eighteen students in the US and the only UVA student to receive the 2017 fellowship. Read More

All too familiar with the calamities of violence, war, and poverty, Africa is in desperate need of a theology of hope in the form of lament. In his newest release, Emmanuel Katongole advocates this development and explores the rich theological and social dimensions of the practice of lament in Africa through accounts of Christian activism. Read More

Amidst a pivotal era of change and mass movements, the church is poised to mobilize congregations with the embrace of community organizing. In their newest release, Tim Conder and Dan Rhodes offer a field guide to fulfill this calling and revitalize churches as leaders at the forefront of social justice issues. Read More

A trailblazer in the Civil Rights Movement, John M. Perkins remains a leading voice at the forefront of racial reconciliation. In his newest release, Dream with Me (Baker Books, 2017), Perkins uses raw, personal stories spanning from the civil rights era to today to call us to work for justice by living out God’s redemptive love in all of our relationships. Read More

The postmodern West has surpassed its Christian roots and its legacy of reason, freedom, human dignity and democracy. In Incarnational Humanism, author Jens Zimmerman presents the church as the vessel for change through the retrieval of an ancient Christian humanism for our time. Read More

On Tuesday, May 2, PLT Contributor Sarah Azaransky will deliver a guest lecture at UVA on her forthcoming book, This Worldwide Struggle: Religion and the International Roots of the Civil Rights Movement (Oxford University Press, 2017). Read More

The 1963 sit-in at the Jackson Woolworth’s has come to be largely recognized by a set of photographs capturing the violent tension between the raw virulence of racism and the defiance of visionaries. While the event’s importance in the civil rights context has been recognized as sparking to life the civil rights movement in Jackson, it has failed to be studied in its historical context. We Shall Not Be Moved fills this gap by translating biography and history into a gripping narrative to explore the hearts and minds of those participating in this harrowing sit-in experience. Read More

In a time of widespread conflict, achieving reconciliation and justice among all people is a difficult task. In Embracing the Other, Grace Ji-Sun Kim incorporates concepts from Asian and indigenous cultures to construct a border-crossing theology on the power of the Holy Spirit. Read More

On March 14, Firmin DeBrabander delivered a guest lecture entitled, “Do Guns Make Us Free? A Christian Critique of the Gun Movement.” In response to the gun rights movement that has driven the United States into achieving the highest rate of private gun ownership in the world today, DeBrabander argued that our freedom is greatly hindered by this armed society. Read More