Hope for the Oppressor: Discovering Freedom Through Transformative Community

The liberating work of God calls the oppressed out of oppression and the oppressor out of oppressing. The challenge in seeking a thorough liberation of oppressors is to help them understand their need for freedom and how to seek this freedom in their own contexts. Patrick Oden provides a holistic biblical, historical, and theological analysis that diagnoses the underlying motivations and inclinations that lead to oppression. Part one addresses the context of oppression, in which most participants in oppression do not actively seek to harm others but are caught up in systems that tend toward the diminishment of others. Part two examines the biblical and early Christian response to oppression, discovering a thread that avoids condemning participation in society generally while also cautioning the people of God about being co-opted by society. Part three discusses how oppressors can withdraw from oppression, through a constructive analysis of four contemporary theologians—Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jürgen Moltmann, Sarah Coakley, and Jean Vanier—each of whom contributes to a widening vision of liberated and liberating life in which the once-oppressed and former oppressor can find peace together in community.

Table of Contents:
Part One: The Context of Oppressing 1. The Crisis of Social Identity 2. The Crisis of Self-Existence 3. The Crisis of Becoming Part Two: Liberating Oppressors in Scripture and the Early Church 4. The Liberating Way of God 5. The Liberating Way of Christ 6. The Liberating Way of the Early Church 7. The Liberating Way of the Desert Part Three: Constructing Hope for the Oppressors 8. Hope from God 9. Hope with God 10. Hope for Transformation 11. Hope in the Kingdom 12. Hope among Community 13. Conclusion

About the Author :
Patrick Oden is visiting assistant professor of theology at Fuller Theological Seminary and a minister in the Wesleyan Church.

Review :
This interdisciplinary work is refreshing as it avoids a mentality of us vs. them and engenders a participatory communal perspective that fosters compassion and hope, making it a recommended read in today’s highly charged and hostile culture. Hope for the Oppressor is a brave undertaking. Patrick Oden suggests that efforts to liberate the oppressed will never be successful until oppressors experience liberation, too. Without true liberation of all parties, new cycles of coercion result. But there's hope. He locates that hope in the Christian community, where our notion of selfhood can be reconceived and our fractured selves healed in light of God's holy love. Oden's thesis is grounded in theologically rich readings of biblical texts and skillful engagement with historical and systematic theology. His book issues a life-giving invitation for all of us — those with privilege and those without — to participate in a different kind of kingdom. His book has the potential to fuel a revolution for those who dare to reexamine their lives in light of his claims. Following in the footsteps of Jesus, Christians seek to liberate the oppressed. The work of liberation includes the transformation of both the oppressed and oppressors. Patrick Oden’s Hope for the Oppressor is a landmark book on liberating oppressors that entails both ending harmful practices and embodying a prophetic politics of hope. Liberation theology has come of age. And even more than that: it has taken a whole new step in envisioning the healing and redemption of even those who used to be oppressors! Here is a robust theological vision for a Christ-like transformative lifestyle and community in search of hope and reconciliation. This highly innovative, insightful, and bold book by Patrick Oden is embedded deeply in biblical and theologico-historical traditions while at the same time tapping widely into multidisciplinary contemporary resources. A must-read for all who are interested in the latest developments in constructive theology.