A timely exploration of how different concepts of freedom threaten to tear apart our churches and our society.
Drawing on both her scholarship and her personal experiences growing up amid resurging religious fundamentalism, Hinson-Hasty traces how competing visions of what “freedom” means have been weaponized in today’s culture wars. Is freedom the rugged individualism celebrated in various media? Is “freedom” always freedom from something: other people, the government, the law?
From reframing the Exodus story to recasting the meaning of “freedom” as understood in US culture today, Hinson-Hasty includes insights from theology and ethics to provide a multi-dimensional basis for an authentic Christian understanding of freedom, one based on mutual responsibility with and care for others.
Authentic Christian Freedom is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand and heal our divided society.
Elizabeth L. Hinson-Hasty is J. Roy Davis Family Chair of Theology and History, Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, VA, and Charlotte, NC. Her first Orbis book, The Problem of Wealth, won a First Place in Catholic Social Teaching from the Catholic Media Association Book Awards in 2018.