Principalities in Particular: A Practical Theology of the Powers That Be

by Bill Wylie-Kellermann

Overview

If the 1960s were a watershed in American politics, they were no less formative a period in political theology, as figures like Jacques Ellul, Karl Barth, Walter Wink, Daniel and Philip Berrigan, and William Stringfellow shed new light on the biblical language of "the powers." In these essays, activist pastor Bill Wylie-Kellermann critically appreciates the legacy of these figures and gives an urgent specificity to the theology of the powers, relating biblical concepts to contemporary struggles for civil rights, clean air, fair housing, safe affordable water, public education, and civic responsibility after the 2016 election, highlighting throughout the vital importance of a community of struggle connected through time and across space. The book‘s uniqueness lies in its practicality, as biblical and theological analyses arise from, and are addressed to, particular historical moments and given ecclesial and movement struggles. Appendixes present resources for teaching and training people in movement organizing and for thinking through the presence of the powers in our life and ministry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506438245
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	10/15/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Bill Wylie-Kellermann is a Methodist pastor serving an Episcopal Church in Detroit, the cofounder of Word and World People's School, and founding faculty of the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education (SCUPE) in Chicago. He is the author of Where the Water Goes Around: Beloved Detroit (2017) and Seasons of Faith and Conscience: Reflections on Liturgical Direct Action (1991).

Table of Contents

Foreword xv

Acknowledgments and Thanks xxiii

Introduction: From Moment to Moment xxix

Part I A Theological Introduction

1 William Stringfellow: A Story of This Theological Conversation 3

2 A Personal and Activist Appreciation: The Life and Legacy of Walter Wink (2016) 29

3 Death Shall Have No Dominion: Daniel Berrigan of the Resurrection (2017) 37

4 From the Beginning: Two Creation Liturgies 45

Part II Particular Powers

5 Barbed Wire and Beyond: The Freedom to Unmake Nuclear Weapons (1983) 71

6 Discerning the Angel of Detroit: The Spirits and Powers at Work in One City (1989) 85

7 Fallen: The Law and the State (1991) 99

8 The Machinery of War: Technology and the Powers That Indwell (1991) 105

9 Confronting the Drug Powers; Freeing the Captives (1992) 111

10 Family: Icon and Principality (1994) 125

11 Spiritual Warfare and Economic Justice (1994) 135

12 The Powers in Healing and Hospital Ministry (1996) 143

13 Death Has Its Day: The BP Oil Spill (2010) 149

14 Readers before Profits: The Detroit Newspaper Strike (1996) 151

15 Labor Unions and the Principalities (1998) 157

16 Exorcising an American Demon: Racism Is a Principality (1998) 165

17 The Fall in Play: Sports as a Principality (1998) 173

18 Global Economy: False Gods and the Power of Love (2003) 185

19 Unholy Alliance: John Wesley and Global Powers of Slavery (2003) 193

20 Be Not Awed: The War in Iraq (2003) 199

21 Katrina and the Wrath to Come (2005) 205

22 Surveillance and Impeachment (2007) 209

23 Lest Death Prevail: Harry Potter and the Principalities (2011) 217

24 Coming to a City Near You: Emergency Management (2014) 221

25 The Dismantling of Public Education: Separate and Unequal (2014) 229

26 Her Name Was' Charity: The Detroit Water Struggle (2014) 239

27 Church and the Powers (Church as a Power) (2016) 245

28 Trump Powers: Principalities and the President (2017) 259

Appendix I Thinking Biblically and Theologically about a Particular Power: An Inventory of Provoking Questions 289

Appendix II Theological Exegesis of the Neighborhood 291

Appendix III The Angel of a Congregation: Possible Elements of a Continuing Discernment Process (After the work of Walter Wink) 293

Appendix IV 297

Index of Names and Subjects 299