Mission and Vision
a living document
Our Mission
The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice (CLBSJ) connects biblically informed activists and justice-oriented scholars through critical, creative and contextual education initiatives aimed at forging empowering uses of the Bible for enacting social justice today.
Our Work and Vision
CLBSJ pursues our mission by providing resources — including a library of books, periodicals, archives and electronic materials — and by curating online educational programming on topics and problems central to furthering the critical study of the Bible and other sacred texts and empowering liberatory engagement with the scripture in movements for social justice. We aim to create a synergy of theory and practice in a dynamic action-reflection climate that renders justice-oriented biblical scholarship as exciting and accessible to specialist and lay audiences alike.
Library and Archives
Our research library is populated by donations from scholar-activists and faith leaders, each of whom has endeavored in their own way to overcome the divide between academic understanding and grassroots activism which tends to dominate our institutions and frame our journeys. The combined result is a first-class collection of books and periodicals in biblical studies, the history and practice of social justice activism, and related fields. These include titles on exegesis, hermeneutics, history of biblical interpretation, theology, social ethics, practical theology, and the social sciences (sociology, anthropology, political science, economics and psychology), socio-political history and religion studies. Our initial library holdings were donated from the libraries of three biblical scholars who were pioneers in the fields of critical, contextual, multi-disciplinary biblical studies: Norman Gottwald, Jack Elliott and Herman Waetjen. Since then we have added collections from Walter Wink, Alice Hageman, Mark Johnson, Lynn Gottlieb, Ed Long, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Muslim Peace Fellowship, and others. Our titles speak from and interpret all religious backgrounds as well as social justice perspectives that are not explicitly religious. We also hold a small collection of notes and correspondences from our book donors. These holdings are available for researchers and community members to use onsite. (At present we do not have the capacity to lend out books.)
To respond to and further cultivate this creative interweaving of theory and practice, CLBSJ develops educational programming and publications designed to propagate and interpret the embodied biblical and justice-oriented intellectual work represented by our collection. These resources include online sessions exploring contemporary topics in activism and biblical studies; finding aids that summarize and orient segments of our collection; and books, pamphlets and study guides that assist individuals and groups to undertake focused studies. Our books are published through a partnership with Wipf & Stock’s Cascade Books. We have a particular commitment to centering the voices of BIPOC and other marginalized biblical interpreters, and providing resources to aid in the correction of misuse of the bible. Through all these resources, we strive to uplift the voices of scholars, students, activists, educators, community organizers, clergy and lay leaders who are seeking biblical resources to support campaigns for social justice today. Taken together, these resources weave a synergy of theory and practice in a dynamic educational climate dedicated to nurturing critical and socially engaged study of the Bible and other sacred texts.
Our biggest hope is that CLBSJ will aid in connecting and cross-fertilizing projects and activities of justice-oriented scholars and students and biblically-informed activists and community organizers who currently tend to work separately and without the rich resources and insights they can offer one another. If you or your congregation or organization are engaged in reclaiming the Bible for justice — through research, preaching, teaching, or representing scripture in the streets, we would love to connect with you, learn about your work, and discuss how we can support each other. Please find options for connecting at clbsj.org/connect.