The Universe Bends Toward Justice: Radical Reflections on the Bible, the Church, and the Body Politic

by Obery M. Hendricks Jr.

Overview

An innovative and informed analysis that dissects political economy, history, and Biblical studies and makes plain the failings of those who profess charity but do not perform it. Barbara D. Savage, author of Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion

Juxtaposing biblical and historical evidence with the rampant greed and self aggrandizement of the American right, Hendricks demolishes the ideas put forth by both the business community and prominent conservatives that there is even an iota of the teachings of Jesus Christ which could justify what they are doing to their fellow human beings. - Howard Dean, former Governor of Vermont

A dense and ambitious exploration of the most politically relevant aspects of the Christian Gospel.... The Universe Bends Toward Justice is an important contribution to the American jeremiad. - Melissa Harris-Perry, Tulane University

Obery Hendricks is one of the last few grand prophetic scholars in these dark and difficult times. This book exemplifies his courageous and visionary vision. Don't miss it. - Cornel West, Princeton University

Hendricks provokes a much-needed argument about what it means to be Christian today. And after reading this powerful book, I am on his side! - Eddie S. Glaude, jr.

He sings like a poet, thinks like a sage, rages like a prophet, creates intellectual drama like a novelist—and fights like a street-wise, book-smart advocate of the vulnerable. - Michael Eric Dyson

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781570759406
Publisher:	Orbis Books
Publication date:	09/16/2011
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Obery M. Hendricks, Jr. a former Wall Street investment executive and past president of Payne Theological Seminary, the oldest African American theological seminary in the United States, Dr. Hendricks is currently Professor of Biblical Interpretation at New York Theological Seminary and Visiting Scholar at Columbia University in the Department of Religion and the Institute for Research in African American Studies. He holds the Master of Divinity with academic honors from Princeton Theological Seminary, and both the M.A. and Ph.D. in Religions of Late Antiquity from Princeton University.

Editorial Reviews

Reading any book-length work centered around one man’s reflections on the Bible’s abhorrence of poverty might be a tedious undertaking, no matter who authored such a tome. But the disorganization of this book by Hendricks, professor at New York’s Theological Seminary and visiting scholar at Columbia University, makes this uneven collection of musings a particularly tough sell. He writes that his aim is to center the book around misapplications of biblical meaning when it comes to sociopolitical sensibilities, and while he writes authoritatively on economic disparities and historiography, he quickly veers off course, condemning the “clowning trickeration” of contemporary gospel music. Other verbal ticks include an abrupt shift from third person to first person toward the end of the book and a dense overview of modern wealth in the U.S. He later pairs the gospels with awkwardpassages from The Grapes of Wrath in explicating the theme of “economic dispossession.” There are reflections in the book and some of them may be radical. The question is who these meandering musings will reach. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly