No Religion But Social Religion: Liberating Wesleyan Theology

With contributions by Paulo Ayres Mattos, Helmut Renders, and José Carlos de Souza, this book invites you to rethink core concepts of the Christian faith in the invigorating, life-giving light of grace that has the power to change everything. We all live with the pressures of life; but those at the margins, at the edges, the fringes of society struggle mightily. Our thinking about God, our theology, is rooted in the bloody tooth and claw of gritty existence. Those of us who enjoy the privileges of life are too easily preoccupied with ourselves, our problems, our idiosyncratic view of self and other. Without grace, we cannot formulate hopes and dreams for the future; and the church, as the community of faith, cannot make a difference and transform the world. Without re-envisioning our self-serving images of God, we exist as a people without a vision and many are already perishing. This book is not about religion or morality. It is about grace, grace that works in the midst of pressure to liberate us in sync with the struggles of others around the world for liberation. Thus we can authentically experience God and others in the midst of the everyday not just on the mountaintop.