Church Of The Second Chance: A Faith-Based Approach to Prison Reform [Kindle Edition]

Jens Soering (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When we draw inspiration from "the great cloud of witnesses" to the Christian faith (Hebrews 12:1), we often forget that many of those witnesses were people we might shun and condemn if we met them today: namely, convicts and criminals. In his fourth book, Jens Soering demonstrates that, despite committing or abetting theft, murder, and even terrorism, figures like Adam and Eve, Samson, and Paul were raised to places of honor in what we might call the Church of the Second Chance. In fact, the stories of these biblical outlaws contain the clues to solving a social crisis that has been building for over thirty years: the problem of America's prisons.

Today, criminal justice experts and legislators are struggling to fix the public health and safety disasters resulting from mass incarceration in the United States. The Church of the Second Chance explains how victims, offenders, and society at large can heal through the careful, considered and Christian application of the same key that freed Moses, David, and others to do great things after they broke the law. Each chapter begins with a fruitful Bible study, goes on to examine a crucial problem besetting our jails and penitentiaries, and ends with an interview that demonstrates how people are working today, in and out of prison, to apply God's word to our own lives and times.

About the Author

Jens Soering is a German citizen and Centering Prayer practitioner who has been incarcerated since 1986. His case has been featured on Court TV and A&E's City Confidential. He has written articles for America, Sojourners, The Merton Annual and many other publications. He is also the author of An Expensive Way to Make Bad People Worse and The Way of the Prisoner.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 2658 KB
• Print Length: 351 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1590561120
• Publisher: Lantern Books (April 30, 2008)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001QXDXEA
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #524,465 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Jens Soering is a German citizen and Centering Prayer practitioner who has been incarcerated since 1986. His case has been featured on Court TV and A&E's City Confidential. His work has been featured in Christianity Today, The Christian Century, Sojourners, America, National Catholic Reporter, and The American Conservative. His book The Convict Christ: What the Gospel Says about Criminal Justice was the first place winner of the Catholic Press Association's 2007 awards.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars CLEAR. POWERFUL. IMPORTANT. STUNNING. REQUIRED, September 24, 2011

By 

James Schaller "Physician" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Church of the Second Chance: A Faith-Based Approach to Prison Reform (Paperback)

While crime is down each decade, inmate numbers are utterly exploding in the USA. This is clearly a sign of EXCESSIVE POWER AND IMMENSE AGGRESSION AGAINST USA CITIZENS.

Jens has material that is in the top 1% in this area. He is a phenom and an exceptionally clear writer with content that is fantastic. I feel this is required reading for ANY PERSON OF ANY FAITH OR WITH ANY JOB INVOLVED IN JUSTICE AND PRISONS. If you are not a Christian, ignore those limited parts.

This man is nothing short than a gift to the planet.

He is also a gift to the USA. Since America is the leading PRISON NATION, with 25% of prisoners, we are a total joke in terms of freedom in this area. And if you are one annoyed police encouter from jail, what freedom exists? And if you think this is false, you are niave. It happens relentlessly but is variable depending on counties and states.

We crush all nations including Russia, Iran, N. Korea, China, etc in the % and numbers we have in jails.

The get "tough on crime" approach in the past which I stupidly believed in ten years ago makes me sick--I had low contact with real courts, and only as an expert witness. It you feel we should get tough on crime, read the falling crime numbers and how easy it is to go to jail. In Philly, one just needs to drop some illegal item, and you are gone. And it only takes a uniform to make a person seen to the jury as a saint in some areas, and they can simply say you tried to punch them. I have seen corruption, and when reported in Naples, Florida it was ignored. One Florida county, Collier, is so corrrupt, that is the platform to be Sheriff--I am not corrrupt."

Many people are like me ten years ago when I had a fetal level of knowledge--no idea police and sheriffs were moving from peace officers to paramilitary arrest workers. Many weekly abuse their power.

Some police are utter wonders and really great very balanced people. But I have sensed a great shift in 40 years from the police as my protector, to the police as the enemy of freedom, as more and more paper laws and other laws exist. And I have seen overworked AG's who have no idea what is going on in a case, because thier limited life experience does not allow them to see obvious lies and corruption in thier own "victims."

Dearest Jens, as with others I talk to who are in prison, and who call my home daily to talk of life, faith, justice, prison reform and family, I would prefer an hour with you more than perhaps anyone on the earth.

You are a great and immensely wise prophet. I fear for those who ignore prisoners, because as CHRIST JESUS said, "Since you never came to visit me [in prison], I never knew you--depart from me you wicked ones."

While no one can do all Jesus asks, rejection of inmates is simply anti-CHRIST. I WOULD BE TERRIFIED IF I WENT OUT OF MY WAY TO FILTER REALITY TO GET A GREATER PUNISHMENT FOR SOMEONE.

We are already seeing the end of justice in the USA, as noted by our UTTER LACK OF SOLUTIONS other than the stupid, inept answer to all problems-"jails, jails, jails,"-- it should make some pause who despise the convicted.

In the real world, the arrest reports are cooked as often as a Julia Child's cookbook, some sheriffs and police routinely violate ethics and act criminally, Internal Affairs is utterly a joke, the AG's are looking for wins not justice, and some judges are clueless about what an hour in jail is like and can be frankly impaired or sadistic.

I support firm sentences on those who are clearly guilty and certainly repeat violent offenders. Meaning, people obviously criminal to someone with an IQ of 90--below average. If you need a lawyer to know the law, that is messed up in any aspect of criminal law. It means the crime is not obvious.

I DO NOT SUPPORT PAPER CRIMES UNLESS the criminal STEALS THE PENSIONS OF MANY, AND DO NOT SUPPORT NON-VIOLENT DRUG CRIMES WITH LONG SENTENCES.

I do not support the secret war against people who carry firearms to protect themselves. The notion the police or a sheriff is going to save you during a crime--one that might last two seconds to four minutes is fascinating denial.

Having one item on a restaurant menu is usually a junk place to eat. Well that is the USA's answer to everything wrong--prison, prison, prison, and it makes me see why we are a country on the decline, because the smart people with ideas are on the edges of power.

Jens, I love you brother and keep writing. You are as good as any top international reporter--only better.