May 9, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS – Our images of Christ have been shaped by empire at significant turning points, says theologian Joerg Rieger. In fact, he says in his new book Christ and Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times, the figure of Christ was inextricably bound to the bloody advance of empires in the past and even today is implicated in new and subtler empires. Although we are loathe to admit it, crusade and conquest and commerce have formed the Christian faith.

Through bold historical Analysis of Christianity from earliest times, Rieger's ambitious and faith-filled project chips away at the colonial legacy of Christology to find the authentic Christ. The surprising and liberating insight of this book is that despite constant pressure from empire, Christ could never be co-opted altogether. There is something in the reality of Jesus Christ's own peculiar refusal to acquiesce to empire that continues to inspire Christians throughout the ages and even today.

Contents
1. Resisting and Reframing Lord: Christology and the Roman Empire
2. Resisting and Reframing Co-Equality: Christology and the Creeds
3. Resisting and Reframing God-Human: Christology and Empire in the Middle Ages
4. Resisting and Reframing the Way of Christ: Christology and Early Colonialism
5. Resisting and Reframing Prophet, Priest, and King: Christology and Later Colonialism
6. Resisting and Reframing Christus Victor: Christology and Neocolonialism
7. Resisting and Reframing the Cosmic Christ: Christology in a Postcolonial Empire
8. Conclusion: The Truth Shall Make You Free

"In this stunning book, Joerg Rieger reveals the hidden grammar of Christology by elucidating how theological depictions of Christ have been laden with colonial biases. Yet he also shows that the Christ symbol cannot be simply domesticated and offers resources to construct a hope-filled Christology to address the empires of our day." – Kwok Pui-lan, Episcopal Divinity School, author of Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology.

"A work of fierce luminosity; if classic didn't evoke the imperial aura that this Christology dispels, we could announce one. Christ and Empire is a stunning sequel to Christ and Culture, with a more complex Christ to resist the more manifest empire in his name." – Catherine Keller, Drew University, author of God and Empire.

Joerg Rieger is Professor of Systematic Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. He is also author of Remember the Poor: The Challenge to Theology in the Twenty-First Century (1998) and God and the Excluded: Visions and Blindspots in Contemporary Theology (Fortress Press, 2001), and editor of Opting for the Margins (2003) and Liberating the Future: God, Mammon, and Theology (Fortress Press, 1998).

Christ and Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times, By Joerg Rieger, Item Number: 978-0-8006-2038-7, Price: $20.00 / CAN $24.00 / UK £11.99, Specs: 6" x 9," paperback, 280 pages.

To order Christ and Empire call Fortress Press at 1-800-328-4648 or visit the Web site at http://www.fortresspress.com/.

Fortress Press