- Paperback: 228 pages
- Publisher: Fortress Press (Mar 18 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0800632834
- ISBN-13: 978-0800632830
- Product Dimensions: 2.3 x 1.5 x 0.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 363 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,213,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
As more Christians begin taking stands on the justice system (see review of Charles Colson's Justice That Restores, this issue), some are critiquing it as an "injustice" system. In The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America, Princeton Theological Seminary professor Mark Lewis Taylor attacks U.S. prisons as racist and unjust. Taylor discusses violations such as prison rape, excessively long sentences and capital punishment, employing the example of Jesus as a means of transforming an evil system. "It is time to confess forthrightly that in Jesus of Nazareth, God suffered not just death but execution... supported by religious officials," he notes. Taylor's voice is strident and uncompromising, making this a moving if controversial read.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In this work, Taylor (theology and culture, Princeton Theological Seminary) discusses the similarities between the current U.S. prison system and that of imperial Rome, where Jesus Christ and his followers were considered a criminal element. He explains how economics, a culture of terror, and other methods of catalyzing people have created a "lockdown society" in which the downtrodden suffer punitive indignities. The rise of the prison population, under the premise of protecting society, has diminished the freedom for society as a whole, with the United States leading the way for a global lockdown. Taylor shows how ancient Rome saw the crucifixion as a just deterrent and method of control over poorer and slave populations who might threaten the system of imperial privilege if they resisted authority. Jesus created a popular movement that dared to challenge the elite, leading Pontius Pilate to deploy his only means of control over the unrest execution. Taylor points to a current movement that also seeks to undermine police brutality, prison industries, and the death penalty. This book serves as a reminder and expos of the systemic failure of criminal justice as it creates more victims of crime and dishonors those already victimized, but Taylor strays from his premise. This is recommended only for larger religious and sociology collections. Leo Kriz, West Des Moines P.L.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
In my own church in Trenton, New Jersey, Tamika rises, with all of her thirteen years of age, to share a concern before the adults go their "Prayers of the People" during Sunday morning worship. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Index | Back Cover
In my own church in Trenton, New Jersey, Tamika rises, with all of her thirteen years of age, to share a concern before the adults go their "Prayers of the People" during Sunday morning worship. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Index | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing,
By Lucky Lou (Fredericksburg, VA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Executed God: The Way Of The Cross In Lockdown America (Paperback)
The Executed God covers an important and controversial issue, but it did not rise to the task. I expected to be challenged by the author's approach, yet his methodology left me feeling ill used. Taylor's tone and presentation hindered his message. I found many of his arguments superficial for such a weighty subject. His use of Mumia Abu-Jamal echoed the cries of too many Hollywood elite. They know little of the facts of the case as available to criminal justice professionals, and they trust what Abu-Jamal says despite evidence and conflicts in his statements. Facts don't matter, only emotional responses. I expected more from a theologian and academic from Princeton. Instead, I felt as if I was reading propaganda. References to "gulag America," the "theatrics of terror," "big house nation," "lockdown America," and the like further confirmed this. I am well aware there are many injustices in our (and any) political system, and I am open to the possibile abolition of the death penalty. Yet, his use of these terms and method of argument make me suspect the merit and academic value of his work. I wanted a thoughtful, challenging examination of the issue. Instead, I got annoid.
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Cross and Prison Reform,
By
This review is from: The Executed God: The Way Of The Cross In Lockdown America (Paperback)
According to Mark Lewis Taylor, the "executed God," the God who suffered not just death but execution, is, "a force of life that is greater than all imperial powers and thus can foment the resistance and hope that all suffering peoples need." Comparing contemporary America to imperial Rome, Lewis, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, argues passionately against a penal system he regards as monstrously punitive, inherently unjust, and deeply racist. Using both statistical evidence and experiences drawn from a quarter century's involvement in prison reform, Taylor describes the American prison system as a "theater of terror" that relies on the institutionalization of prison rape, excessive sentences, and executions to maintain a prison population that has tripled since 1980 to two million.Proposing a radical Christian response to this scandal as a "theatrics of counterterror," Taylor places the Way of the Cross at its heart. To redress the agony of our prisons, he outlines a solution based in adversarial politics, dramatic action, and the building of people's movements. A God entangled in crucifixion is, in Taylor's scheme, "an antidote to pieties and theologies that would seek their God above the earth and its suffering peoples." The executed God takes believers on a journey into the pain and suffering of a broken world and proffers the power to persist and transform. The Way of the Cross finds God in the marginalized, abandoned, and despised, the people who know life through struggle. The Executed God is an important book grappling with an important topic. Taylor himself, however, diminishes his book's effectiveness. His tone is shrill and his language polemical, perhaps too polemical for those he seeks to persuade. His arguments, especially in Part Two, often rely on emotive generalities and could be more tightly structured and detailed. References to "gulag America," the "theatrics of terror," "big house nation," "lockdown America," and the like seem pugnacious rather than passionate after reading them a few times. And his use of the plight of Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted Philadelphia police killer and cause celebre, as the centerpiece of an argument against injustice in America is bound to be controversial and alienate otherwise sympathetic readers.
5.0 out of 5 stars
An important and unique voice to be heard,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Executed God: The Way Of The Cross In Lockdown America (Paperback)
Mark Taylor explores the responsibility of Christians to follow Jesus Christ's entire "way of the cross" by engaging in dramatic actions and movements to counter the oppressive, biased imperial systems in our world. This book challenged me to think differently about my faith, and to be willing to truly engage it publicly. The book is readable and thought-provoking; I would suggest it to any who seek a more just world.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Law > Academic Materials > Criminal Procedure
- Books > Law > Criminal Law > Criminal Procedure
- Books > Law > Procedures & Litigation > Criminal Procedure
- Books > Nonfiction > Crime & Criminals > Criminology
- Books > Nonfiction > Crime & Criminals > Penology
- Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology
- Books > Professional & Technical > Law > Criminal Law > Criminal Procedure
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Theology
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
