The Non-Violent Radical: Seeing and Living the Wisdom of Jesus
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
This book interprets the wisdom of Jesus’ sayings in the gospels in words and images. McCollough examines Jesus’ wisdom in the context of the political and economic world of the Roman Empire and then applies it to our own time for both personal growth and social action. Original works of art by McCollough illustrate the texts of these sayings and can be used in private reflection, worship, and educational settings. In addition, readers may use the images for newsletters, church bulletins, and program announcements. A DVD with color images of many more illustrations of the book is available from the author. The short wisdom sayings of Jesus are almost always interpreted as private or interpersonal instruction and ignore the political/economic context of his time. The result is often sentimental piety or otherworldly speculation. Yet it is hard to imagine that Jesus and his followers were blind to the tyranny of Rome and the economic exploitation of a tiny minority over the vast majority of people living desperate lives in the Roman colonies. This book uses the insights of formerly colonized Bible readers in the non-Western world to understand the postcolonial meanings of Jesus’ time and our own.
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”Charles McCollough assembles much wisdom in this wonderful
book, from Jesus, scholars, his own life, and friends. Some of it
he presents with words, some he presents in an extensive array of
extraordinary, sculptured visual images. Read, look, and look
again."
--Warren Carter, Brite Divinity School
“Tell the truth. Keep it simple. Anyone charged with the
responsibility of this paradox of preaching will appreciate, even
treasure, this book from Charles McCollough. Dense theories of
postcolonial biblical studies, tender mercies from a life of
ministry, and articulate forms of an artist are molded skillfully
together. The reader, teacher, and preacher will feel the heat of
its firing and carry that flame into their task of living the truth
that is both justice and love."
--Heather Murray Elkins, Drew University
"The Nonviolent Radical is a sumptuous tapestry that offers
a new angle of vision and an invitation to walk wisely so that all
might experience God’s shalom. Weaving together insights from
postcolonial biblical studies, his own everyday experiences,
stories from around the globe, and his whimsically serious
sculptures, McCollough probes the depths of Jesus’ wisdom sayings.
McCollough’s gifts as sculptor and scholar come together here to
gently and powerfully re-form our perceiving and living."
--Rene House, New Brunswick School of Theology
"The Nonviolent Radical by Charles McCollough is an inspired
melding of lively, accessible scholarship and visual art in a study
of Jesus’ proverbial wisdom teachings. As the foreword attests,
McCullough sculpts both words and clay so that the sayings of Jesus
‘cut to the marrow of our being.’ McCollough places Jesus’ often
spiritualized, individualized wisdom sayings in their political
economic context, the brutality and inequity of the first century,
highlighting parallels with the twenty-first century . . . The
sculptures the author/artist has created and the stories behind
them become an incarnation in clay of Jesus’ wisdom
teachings."
--Alyce M. McKenzie, Perkins School of Theology
Product Details
- Title : The Non-Violent Radical: Seeing and Living the Wisdom of Jesus
- Author: McCollough, Charles
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Publication Date: 2012
- ISBN: 9781621893554
Charles McCollough, PhD, is a sculptor and the author of seven books, including The Art of Parables. He was the resident artist at five seminaries, and a former policy advocate on the national staff of the United Church of Christ in Washington, DC. He lives in Hopewell, New Jersey.