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I Was a Stranger: A Christian Theology of Hospitality
by Arthur Sutherland
Abingdon, Nashville, 2006. 100 pp. $12.00. ISBN 978-0687-06324-6.
IN THIS HIGHLY READABLE volume, Arthur Sutherland offers a theological account of hospitality understood as the practice of welcoming strangers, enemies, and the distressed. Sutherland develops his thesis by linking hospitality to Christology (Jesus as a homeless stranger), reconciliation (we were once both strangers and enemies to God), and most persuasively, eschatology (hope enables Christians both to welcome and wait).
A most interesting aspect of Sutherland’s analysis is the range of resources he incorporates into his argument. These include African American spirituals, the theology of Karl Barth, feminist theology, and prison letters (from Kim Dae Jung, Alfred Delp, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer). The key claim of his book is that hospitality is “the practice by which the church stands or falls”
(p. 83). The church requires this practice, according to Sutherland, because God’s goal for all of creation is a kind of homecoming: a welcoming and a receiving.
The strength of this slim volume is the attention Sutherland gives to hospitality as a theological practice of the church. While some fear hospitality and others regard it as mere entertainment, Sutherland creatively shows how hospitality is both a joyful and serious practice, one to which God calls us because of who God is. Thus Sutherland appeals to God’s Son, God’ s time, and God’s mission as breaking false allegiances and circumscribing all things in Christ.
While Sutherland acknowledges that he does not attempt to cover all Christian doctrines, his analysis could have been strengthened by a richer account of the church. At times he tends to locate the practice of hospitality in a common humanity located in a common creation. While this is an unexceptional theological claim, it does not fully address how the church as God’s new creation is necessary for Christian hospitality. Further, does saying that the church falters because of an ecclesial failure unwittingly undercut God’s faithful hospitality toward the body of Christ? That stated, Sutherland’s thoughtful examination of hospitality in a theological light is well worth reading. I recommend it especially for generating discussion about how we might be more faithful practitioners of God’s hospitality today.
ELIZABETH NEWMAN
BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT RICHMOND RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
Good News from the Barrio: Prophetic Witness for the Church
by Harold J. Recinos
Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2006. 124 pp. $19.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22940-5.
HAROLD RECINOS’ BOOK is a bracing call for the renewal of the mainline denominations’ faith and evangelism informed by barrio Christianity. It represents a significant and accessible contribution to a long tradition of prophetic challenges directed toward those within the community of faith. According to Recinos,
Mainline churches need to let go of their survival mentality....The hostility on the part of many people in modern culture toward the church is far less threatening to the future of Christianity than the rejection that comes from people who decide the gospel represented by mainline churches does not bring hope to situations of despair or the experience of being a reconciled people of God. (p. 34)
Although such prophetic announcements may be difficult to hear (or read) because they dare to challenge what passes for common sense, Recinos’ book admirably provides not only a direct and uncompromising critique of mainline captivity to sociocultural and political trends, but also an inspiring and resolutely hopeful vision for the future.
Good News from the Barrio offers an overdue corrective to social, political, and theological discussions that presuppose a black-white duality in the United States—a conceptual framework that has effectively marginalized other (particularly Latino) voices and traditions. Recinos’ work seeks to overcome this incomplete picture by reflecting on the vibrant faith characteristic of Latino barrios (literally, “neighborhoods”) in the U.S.
The heart of the book outlines a Latino theology of the underside—an approach that mainline churches would do well to explore and embrace: “[t]he reality of the barrio reminds mainline churches that Christ died at the margins of established society to give all people life—especially the neglected, powerless, and poor” (p. 9). Recinos’ basic thesis, that “[t]he prophetic imagination of mainline churches” can be recovered through “openness and commitment to the barrio” (p. 9), is both urgent and compelling.
Recinos conveys the salutary effect that the faith of poor and marginalized Latino communities could have on mainline theology and behavior. His argument merits thoughtful and open-hearted consideration. His criticisms and suggestions are timely and comport well with biblical perspectives that highlight the significance of the poor and marginalized in the reign of God.
MICHAEL BARRAM
SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA
A Muslim View of Christianity: Essays on Dialogue by Mahmoud Ayoub
edited by Irfan A. Omar
Orbis, Maryknoll, N.Y., 2007. 264 pp. $25.00. ISBN 9781-57075-690-0
MAHMOUD AYOUB, Professor of Islamic Studies and Comparative Religion at Temple University, has been a significant and highly respected figure in Christian-Muslim dialogue for several decades, and has written extensively on Christian-Muslim relations. In this book, Irfan Omar brings together sixteen previously published essays written by Ayoub over the past four decades. These particular essays were selected because of “their relevance to contemporary Muslim-Christian dialogue” and “their comparative theological and/or historical content” (p. xii). They are arranged topically into four sections.
The first section reflects on the context and need for Christian-Muslim dialogue on some commonly-held beliefs and values. The second offers a comparative treatment of important theological and juridical issues. The third discusses Muslim perspectives on Jesus and contends that there is a genuine Islamic Christology that needs to be taken seriously. The final section examines specific issues of contemporary Christian-Muslim dialogue. The book also includes a brief biography of Ayoub, a selected bibliography of his writings, a glossary, and an index.
The essays evidence the faith of one firmly grounded in Islam. Ayoub is well-versed in, and has reflected deeply upon, Christian history and theology. He freely expresses appreciation for aspects of Christian faith and practice, and seeks to engage Christians in a respectful and conciliatory spirit. He challenges both Christians and Muslims to reflect critically upon their past and present engagement. He also presses them to explore what divides them and to embrace what they have in common for the sake of deeper understanding and living together in peace and harmony.
Many of Mahmoud Ayoub’s published essays are no longer easily accessible. This book offers a well-chosen selection of those that continue to be pertinent and thought-provoking. Indeed as Omar observes, “Even though these studies have been previously published in various scholarly venues, their increasing relevance in the twenty-first century merits their renewed presentation”
(p. xi). Anyone interested in Christian-Muslim engagement will find this a helpful collection. It should be part of any library’s section on the field of Christian-Muslim relations.
MICHAEL T. SHELLEY
LUTHERAN SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY AT CHICAGO CHICAGO, ILLINOIS |
