Patrick Oden – författare

Amos Yong has stated that Veli-Matti Karkkainen has become "one of the more important theologians to be reckoned with in our time." This becoming has developed over the course of many decades with prolific contributions in essays, monographs, lectures, and other mediums. The goal of this book, then, is to offer a curated selection of Karkkainen''s essays for both new and established reader of Karkkainen. This volume offers an accessible introduction to Karkkainen''s diverse contribution for readers who are only familiar with his popular survey texts or are new to his work overall. And yet, for those familiar with his theology, this volume provides insights into the journey his theological contributions have taken over the last fifteen years and serves as a kind of intellectual storyboard leading into his five-volume constructive systematics. In sum, this book seeks to offer a wide-ranging taste of Karkkainen''s trajectory that will inspire more research into his work and ever more attention to his important constructive contributions to global twenty-first-century theology.

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.