Speaking of Christianity: Practical Compassion, Social Justice, and Other Wonders

Brown, Emeritus Professor of Theology and Ethics at Pacific School of Religion In Berkeley, Calif., has assembled a collection of 21 pieces composed over the last 25 years, organized around the challenge embodied in the title, ""speaking of Christianity."" The collected pieces include a Christmas Eve sermon delivered during the bombing of Hanoi and one delivered during the buildup to the bombing of Iraq in which he condemns the American government's use of violence as a means of resolving the situation; a public reflection on the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and a discussion of ecology and the biblical concept of Jubilee. There are also reflections on the Holocaust, presented in Holocaust memorial services and at international Holocaust conferences (Brown has written extensively on the life and work of Elie Wiesel) where Brown urges his listeners not to allow the evil of the Holocaust to occur again. On every occasion, the tone is popular, the material accessible; Brown is always consistent in his commitment to justice and compassion. ""The test of true spirituality,"" he says, quoting Karen Armstrong, ""is practical compassion."" These collected pieces show Brown putting his theology into practice, and they show his reflections on both the practical and intellectual demands of putting theology to work in society. (Nov.)