Saving Jesus From Those Who Are Right [Paperback]

Carter Heyward (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 11, 1999

In this theological resource for spiritual transformation and social change, Carter Heyward rethinks the figure and import of Jesus for church, academy, and society.

Rather than focus on the endlessly variable pictures of Jesus in contemporary biblical scholarship, and in radical opposition to the Jesus of the "Christian Right," Heyward presents "Jesus as our brother, infused with a sacred power and passion for embodying right (mutual) relation, and ourselves with him in this commitment." She goes on "to explore, concretely, how we might live this way."

Wonderfully clear-sighted, this brief, faithful, and intelligent Christology offers reconstructions of incarnation, atonement, evil, suffering, and fear. It also sheds light on the significance of Jesus for ecological, racial, economic, and gender justice. Heyward's book envisions "a mighty counter-cultural force," which she names christic power, that can help save American culture from its greed and domination and save the figure of Jesus from culture-generated distortions. In short, Heyward's book will help people come to terms with the life-changing implications of Jesus' person and ethic.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carter Heyward is a pioneering feminist theologian who has taught for twenty-five years at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is the Howard Chandler Robbins Professor of Theology. Since The Redemption of God (1981) this leader lesbian Christian voice has addressed issues of power, sexuality, and social and gender justice in relation to salvation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Fortress Press (October 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800629663
• ISBN-13: 978-0800629663
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,065,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and Unorthodox, May 15, 2000

By 

David Griffith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saving Jesus From Those Who Are Right (Paperback)

Heywood offers compelling arguments that dramatic changes in dogma, worship, and social action are needed to keep the church (and Jesus) alive. Writing from a feminist, liberation theology perspective, she suggests that authentic Christianity must abandon outdated patriarchal moral codes that alienate large groups of people. She spares no one in her attacks on those who distort the image of Christ to support their own political agenda. She is especially critical of the Christian right and neoorthodox evangelicals, but also recognizes that liberal Christianity can be a victim of distorted views of Jesus as the moralist. Her Jesus is a reconciler, a healer, and a lover. This book should encourage those of us who are tempted to be self-satisfied to become more willing to fight for people who are different from us and to experiment with ways of knowing God that are new to us.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly orthodox at the core..., March 11, 2010

By 

Shanna Kinser (Bakersfield, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saving Jesus From Those Who Are Right (Paperback)

I read this during seminary along with all of Heyward's other books and a few of her journal articles and sermons. What was surprising to me, taken as a whole and considered within the context of contemporary Anglican theological work in the West, is that peeling back the layers of this highly contextual theology reveals a refreshing contemporary orthodoxy missing in so much liberal and conservative work these days. Distortions of classic Christian doctrines encouraged by the Jesus Seminar, for instance, as well as conservative and fundamentalist distortions fed by narrow boundaries drawn on a socio-political as well as dogmatic basis damage the Church's ability to witness effectively to particular societies and the world. You cannot judge the work of a theologian as controversial and complicated as Heyward by one or two of her works. Invest some time if you're willing to be challenged (and you will be) and you may find yourself encouraged to grow, however painfully, in your spiritual journey.

17 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond the Mentality of Pharisees, October 29, 2000

By 

Carl J. Spier - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saving Jesus From Those Who Are Right (Paperback)

In stepping beyond the tradition of male-oriented, straight-oriented, white anglo-oriented thinking, Ms Heyward promptly induces a feeling in the reader of not-knowing-where-we-are -- a response to be welcomed, to be encouraged, to be deepened. In opposing "right-thinking", Ms Heyward does the Church, indeed all of us, a great service. In opposing "ruled-thinking", Ms Heyward actually may open the Church, and all of us, to the power and presence of God.