News

Audacious Readers Roundtable Reportback and Read-a-thon Update

On December 19, a small group of Audacious Readers gathered to share some closing reflections on our experiences reflecting on...

Reading the Bible with Pharrell Williams

Amy L. Dalton

Over the last few months, its been challenging to say the least to make sense of the divisive and distraction-filled...

Reading Scripture and Strengthening Resolve with Wendell Berry

Betsy Simpson

In the October 2024 issue of Christian Century I was struck by Wendell Berry’s article entitled “Against Killing Children,” and...

Reading Deuteronomy with Critics

Jane Dawson

I am reading Deuteronomy alongside the following interpretive texts: Opening Israel’s Scriptures by Ellen Davis The Bible in History by...

Reading Genesis 1 with the enslaved

Ludwig Noya

At this year’s meeting of the Society for Biblical Literature, Ludwig Noya presented a critique of the way Genesis 1...

A call to read scripture with Refaat Alareer today

Amy L. Dalton

Today, on Human Rights Day, Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer’s poems, prose and interviews are being published posthumously in a book...

Reading the Prophets with Leonard Cohen

Brian J. Walsh

The following selection, used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers (www.wipfandstock.com), is from Rags of Light: Leonard Cohen and...

The Gospel According to Casey Plett

Laurel Dykstra

Content Warning: addiction, sexual violence, murder, dismemberment For CLBSJ’s 2024 Read-a-thon: Reading Audaciously, supporters are reading the Bible in solidarity...

Reading Job with Sherman Alexie

Rev. Betsy Simpson

Intrigued by Sherman Alexie’s book title, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I added it to my reading...

Armistice Day, 1 Samuel 8, and the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval

Amy L. Dalton

On Armistice Day, Take Action for CEASEFIRE Today, November 11, is now known in the United States as “Veteran’s Day.”...

A reflection on Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish’s I Shall Not Hate

Rev. Betsy Simpson

As President Jimmy Carter puts it, “In this book, Dr. Abuelaish has expressed a remarkable commitment to forgiveness and reconciliation...

Some thoughts on Playground by Richard Powers

Wes Howard-Brook

Richard Powers is one of my favorite authors, and his most recent, Playground, is one of his best. My wife,...

Parables for Urgent Times

Amy L. Dalton

As yet another epic US election approaches, its appropriate to lift up the legacy of Octavia Butler’s work Parable of...

A reflection on Ai Wei Wei's "Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn"

Dong Hyeon Jeong

This 3-part visual montage from 1995 interrogates how we form values and authority. A certain entity/object at one point in...

A Review of Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine

Dr. Gale A. Yee, Nancy W. King Professor of Biblical Studies emerita, Episcopal Divinity School

For the CLBSJ Read-A-Thon, I chose to read Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler...

A Review of Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes

Rev. Betsy Simpson

Jodi Picoult’s book, Nineteen Minutes, is a fictional story about a mass shooting at a high school in a relatively...

A reflection on Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer

Amy L. Dalton

On top of the list of the ten most banned books for the last three years has been Maia Kobabe’s...

CLBSJ Read-a-Thon 2024: Reading Audaciously!

This fall, CLBSJ is reading the Bible in solidarity with banned and controversial texts. Please join in and support our...

Summer 2024 Fundraising Challenge

A Mid-Year Report and Special Request from Nick Johnson, CLBSJ Board President Dear Friends of CLBSJ, I pray this note...

Rising Up: An Ascension Reflection

Amy L. Dalton

The account of Jesus’ Ascension in Acts 1:6-11 (1) could be seen as among the most “pie in the sky”...

Review of Guerrilla Gospel by Bob Ekblad

Laura Gottwald

Bob Ekblad’s book Guerrilla Gospel offers readers a transformative experience in Bible study. He defines the word gospel - which...

Edward LeRoy Long, Jr. — Presenté!

A Reflection on his Life and Legacy by Rick Ufford-Chase Christian ethicist, longtime Presbyterian peace advocate, and CLBSJ book donor...

Let’s Read for Justice! Read-a-Thon 2023

Please join with CLBSJ to celebrate and extend critical engagement with the Bible! As students of all ages are resuming...

Help build CLBSJ's capacity with a regular gift!

From Rev. Betsy Simpson, CLBSJ Board Co-Secretary: Dear friends, I’m so grateful that you are with me on this journey...

Biblical Inspiration for Earth Care: A Report on Lenten Bible Detox 2023

Amy Dalton

This Lent, the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice (CLBSJ) reckoned with the way the Bible has...

Thanks to You: READ-A-THON SUCCESS!!

The CLBSJ Board is thrilled to report that we have reached our end-of-the-year fundraising goal of $25,000 through our “Will...

Reportback from SBL/AAR 2022

CLBSJ was well represented at this year’s meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion...

Fall Read-a-Thon: Will Read for Justice!

Calling all Friends of CLBSJ! We have amazingly been challenged by a donor to raise $25,000 before the end of...

Annual Report for 2021

2021 was an amazing year for CLBSJ, in which old friends and new comrades came together to help galvanize a...

Remembering and Honoring Norman K. Gottwald

We are so very sorry to share that pioneering Hebrew Bible scholar and CLBSJ co-founder Norman Gottwald passed away on Friday, March 11, 2022.

TESTIMONIALS: Why I Support CLBSJ

I support CLBSJ because it is a platform for connecting people and ideas across domains, countries and movements. ~ Hillel...

Challenge: help launch CLBSJ into our second decade on strong footing!

Cass Shaw and Nick Johnson

Dear friends, Among the things we are grateful for this season is the opportunity to support CLBSJ. Throughout our lives,...

Muslim Peace Fellowship Donates Library to CLBSJ

We are elated that the Muslim Peace Fellowship has donated their collection of scholarly and devotional titles to CLBSJ! The collection...

Ten Years Later: A Reflection and Invitation from Dr. Norman Gottwald

Norman Gottwald

Dear Friends, As we approach the 10 year anniversary of the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice...

A Tribute to John "Jack" Elliott

Norman Gottwald

John H. Elliott better, known as "Jack," is solidly established in the scholarly world as a master interpreter of 1st Peter and an ardent advocate of social-scientific criticism in biblical studies.

Re-Potting Update: Help Cultivate our Roots & Shoots!

As we near the close of this year of trauma and transformation, we are glad to be able to provide you with a hope-filled update from the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice — and to invite you to join with us to strengthen our foundation for the year to come.

CLBSJ's New Neighbor Hosts a Virtual Indigenous Elders Wisdom Sharing Gathering on Thanksgiving Day

The Sweetwater Cultural Center, an indigenous people’s embassy that opened its doors just down the street from CLBSJ earlier this fall, is hosting an online gathering of talks, stories, ceremony and music at 2pm Eastern Time this Thursday, November 25.

Activist Theology by Robyn Henderson-Espinoza

Reviewed by Laura Gottwald

For Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, "activist theology" is an “invitation to enter into a movement of becoming that spirals toward justice.” The author the uses term activist theology “to describe my work of translating theory to action and theology to practice.

More about our new Board President, Nicholas Johnson

Did you know that, in addition to being a pastor, a scholar, and an activist, the new President of CLBSJ's Board was once a park ranger?

Statement of Solidarity with Black Lives Matter Uprisings

Recent events in our nation have tested our collective heart and soul and exposed the lingering wounds of racism and...

Doug Bendall's Quantum Theology

Did you know that one of our Board Members is writing a book on theology and quantum physics?

Building Connections: Urban Theology Unit, Sheffield, England

John Vincent’s visit to CLBSJ last November delivered a resounding jolt to us in Stony Point, NY, as well as to the faculty and students he addressed at New York Theological Seminary, the staff at InnerChange East Harlem, and discipleship groups in Jersey City. At 91 years of age, John serves as elder of the social justice organization he founded in Sheffield, England. His Urban Theology Unit is closely parallel to CLBSJ in mission and vision.

When Christians Were Jews: the First Generation by Paula Fredriksen

Reviewed by Norman Gottwald

This addition to our library will be of particular interest to the multifaith Community of Living Traditions at Stony Point Center, because it shows precisely how the Jesus followers remained thoroughly Jewish, and, moreover, that there was a Jewish presence alongside Gentile converts well into the first three centuries, C.E.

Radical Jesus: The Way of Jesus, Then and Now by John Vincent

Reviewed by Laura Gottwald and Amy Dalton

There should be a warning at the beginning of the book Radical Jesus: Read only if you are willing to have your life and your idea of the “way” of Jesus shaken and challenged.

Introducing John Vincent: Radical “Mark-sist”

The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice is pleased to host John Vincent this November 5-8, 2019, for a series of seminars and discussions in the greater NYC region.

New articles from CLBSJ board members

Advent 3: Joy and Justice

Laura Gottwald

Without justice- making there is no peace. This is what both John and Jesus are calling us to do as we model Christ’s life in our own. Rejoicing comes from doing justice. Our other readings call us to rejoice. Luke gives us the way to rejoicing.

The Messenger and Our Broken Covenants

Brian Merritt

Covenants are important indications of our obligations to our fellow world and to the God we hope to have allegiance. It is passed time for us to raise our voices for all humans in this world as brothers and sisters in whom we recognize a covenant.

Advent One - A Thin Veil of Peace

Jennifer Henry

In these times, the veil seems very thin. To anyone with even an ounce of the will to see, “the signs” (21:25) are 24-7 neon lights. In Canada, oil spills and melting ice signal man-made eco-destruction, as we, despite what might be called positive leadership rhetoric, buy pipelines, disregard Indigenous rights, and miss every greenhouse gas reduction target we set for ourselves.

Jesus Rules: Reign of Christ Sunday

Amaury Tañón-Santos

The Feast of the Reign of Christ marks the last Sunday of the liturgical year. If your community is one that follows the Revised Common Lectionary, you would have followed the gospel of Mark this year (Year B). The oldest of the canonical gospels, and the shortest, Mark is both encouraging and challenging to the social justice activist. In the words of Dr. Eliseo Pérez Álvarez, “Mark focuses his (narrative) in the day to day of the Nazarene, in his liberating works and on the death on the cross as a consequence of his lifestyle, one in favor of the untouchables, the destitute and the anonymous.” (Conozca su Biblia: Marcos, pg. 3).

Struggling with Faith

Shannan Vance-Ocampo

A lectionary blog of the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice

Watch Out For the Billionaire Philanthropist

Aric Clark

The “story of the widow’s mite” as it’s often called, most commonly gets read as a feel-good story about the generosity of the poor. It is frequently used in congregational settings as an encouragement toward sacrificial giving on the part of members toward the church. It is unfortunate, that the context of the story makes this a most unlikely reading.

Director, Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice

The Board of the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice seeks a quarter-time Director to lead the development of CLBSJ.

The Little Book of Biblical Justice by Chris Marshall

Reviewed by Norman Gottwald

It is amazing what this "little" book accomplishes in 67 pages! The author, a theological educator in New Zealand, sets forth the essential ingredients of justice as commonly understood (distribution, power, equity and rights), preparatory to a comprehensive account of justice as a central theme of the Bible.

Spirited Reflections on Sheep and Goats from KAIROS

Hillel Arnold

Tim Woods has written a reflection on the “Sheep and the Goats” parable from Matthew 25 over on KAIROS’s website....

Standing Rock #NoDAPL. It’s not so complicated. But it is complex.

Mark C. Johnson, Executive Director, The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice; UN Representative, International Fellowship of Reconciliation, New York; Member of The Community of Living Traditions, Stony Point Center, Stony Point, New York

Reflections on November 11-19, 2016. Destination Standing Rock North Dakota Oceti Sakowin.

Contextual Bible Study — Report from Colombia

Crystal L. Hall

Bible study is not just about the head and the hands. It’s also about the feet. It’s about where one’s...

Zionism and the Quest for Justice in the Holy Land

Mark Johnson

Zionism and the Quest for Justice in the Holy Land is a critique of the history and nature of political...

Pursuing the Spiritual Roots of Protest: Merton, Berrigan, Yoder and Muste at the Gethsemani Abbey Peacemakers Retreat.

Mark Johnson

Gordon Oyer’s book is an almost magical bridging of a half dozen genre in a single work. It starts out...

Just Water

Mark Johnson

Christiana Peppard’s book is a perfect introduction to the issues of climate change and rationale for participating in the forthcoming...

“Mayhem (and Murder) in the Middle East: The Search for Reconciliation in a Mad, Mad World”

Mark Johnson

This statement was presented as one of six at an event hosted by the Imam Al-Khoei Foundation on Saturday, July...

Presidential Inauguration of Salvador Sanchez Ceren: From Conquest to Liberation

Eileen Purcell

 San Salvador, El Salvador - We were afraid it would pour rain! But Madre Tierra watched and waited as thousands...

Trail Guide to the Torah of Nonviolence

Mark Johnson

As we celebrated Passover with a Seder in the Community of Living Traditions at the Stony Point Center on Monday...

Riverside Church's Pulpit Shared by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Rev. James Forbes

Mark Johnson

“When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees…” Samuel 5:24. The self-chastising mayor...

One Struggle, Many Fronts: U.S. – Africa Environmental Justice Tour

Mark Johnson

On the 25th “anniversary” of the Exxon Valdez catastrophe in the straits of Alaska, we are reminded that the risks...

White House and EPA Host Faith Leaders on Environmental Stewardship and Climate Change

Mark Johnson

The White House, on Tuesday, demonstrated its interest and capacity to engage the faith-based community and leadership in its strategy...

Zionism Unsettled: A Congregational Study Guide

Mark Johnson

**The latest resource developed by The Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is apparently stirring up some resistance,...

The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Appoints Executive Director

Mark Johnson

The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice today announced the appointment of Mark C. Johnson, Ph.D. to...

'Birmingham and the Bible' at the Stony Point Center: Communications Director's Report

Matthew Johnstone

We had a bit of a whirlwind weekend here at the CLBSJ, with the final arrival of Rev. Osagyefo Sekou...

Birmingham and the Bible with Rev. Osagyefo Sekou

Matthew Johnstone

Our keynote speaker for the “Birmingham and the Bible” Seminar this Saturday, Nov. 2 is Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, the Pastor for Formation...

The Meaning of Mutuality

Alissa Jones Nelson

The criticism of being “unwise and untimely,” the criticism Dr. King faced from his fellow clergymen while he was imprisoned in...

My History with the Work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Douglas Bendall

Dr. King is the Church leader who inspired my ministry. Growing up in Baltimore in the 40’s and 50’s I...

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Matthew Johnstone

Today, for the first time in my life, I sat down and actually read Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter...

The Biblical and Social Movements Webinar

Matthew Johnstone

Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries has made a webinar, recorded on July 20th, 2013 entitled “The Bible and Social Movements: Ched Myers...

On the St. Ambrose Conference on Bible and Justice

Matthew Johnstone

The St. Ambrose Conference on Bible and Justice, sponsored by St. Ambrose University with support from the CLBSJ, gathered about...

The CLBSJ Office Reflects: Ash Wednesday

Matthew Johnstone

Isn’t this the fast I choose: releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke, setting free the mistreated, and...

The CLBSJ at SBL

Matthew Johnstone

In an inter-session lull here for me at the Society for Biblical Literature/American Academy of Religion annual meeting at McCormick...

The Church of Scotland, Poverty, and Scriptural Activism

Matthew Johnstone

By pure chance today at the Stony Point Center, we were lucky enough to run into Rev. Martin Johnstone of...

Seminar Success

Matthew Johnstone

We here at the CLBSJ are delighted to report that our Fall Seminar was a smashing success, with well-attended sessions...

New Media and the CLBSJ

Matthew Johnstone

A few folks have asked about the ability for our seminar to be taped for later redistribution - presumably using...

The Circle of Protection and the 2012 Election

Matthew Johnstone

Today’s Twitter and blog buzz here at the CLBSJ has centered around economics and poverty. Sojourners has a link on their...

Social Media and the CLBSJ

Matthew Johnstone

With the arrival of our new Interim Director of Communications, social media will be a greater focus of ministry and...

Welcome to Our New Interim Director of Communications

Matthew Johnstone

We at the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice are delighted to announce the arrival on our...

Catholic Agitator reviews Liberating Biblical Study

Hillel Arnold

The Catholic Agitator, the newspaper of the Los Angeles  Catholic Worker, published a review of Liberating Biblical Study by Theo...

Liberating Biblical Study reviewed in Sojourners Magazine

Hillel Arnold

This month’s edition of Sojourners magazine contains an extremely positive review of Liberating Biblical Study by Tim Kumfer, director of the...

New course on the Bible and Social Justice

Hillel Arnold

CLBSJ Board member Matthew JM Coomber has developed and is teaching a new course on the Bible and Social Justice....

Liberating Biblical Study now available in Kindle format

We’re pleased to announce that Liberating Biblical Study is now available in Kindle e-reader format in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, and...

Statement of Support for the Occupy Movement

Hillel Arnold

The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice, compelled by the Biblical mandate for justice, stands with the...

CLBSJ Opening Celebration

Hillel Arnold

The CLBSJ Opening Celebration at Stony Point Center on Oct 22, 2011 featured both music and drama. Among the performers...

Post from Laurel Dykstra on 99 Brattle

Hillel Arnold

Laurel Dykstra, one of our board members, has just added an excellent post to 99 Brattle, the blog of the...

The books are here!

Hillel Arnold

The past two weeks we have been busy cataloging, labeling and shelving just over 800 books!