James Alison

What if Christianity was far more liberating than the culture wars suggest? Can the conflict concerning Christianity and homosexuality be viewed from a more interpretative lens? James Alison, a Catholic priest who is also a gay man, has been wrestling with the matter for over forty years.This luminous and rigorous book dismantles the fear-based binaries which have dominated conversations in the Church. Striving to address potential concerns about accepting LGBTQ+ individuals within the church, James draws on scripture, tradition and his lived experience to form a broader understanding of faith and humanity.

This classic book asks what it is to know Jesus. It will enable thinking Christians to ask new questions about their faith, their reading of the New Testament, and the theology of redemption.

"James Alison has a very rare gift in making the New Testament really new to the reader. This book takes up and takes further the brilliant work he has already published on Jesus, and thinks through a comprehensive theology of how we are transformed, set free from a culture of terror and violence into a new condition of sharing in the imagination of Jesus. A deeply compelling book." - Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury This groundbreaking book by controversial theologian James Alison was originally published in the UK under the title Living in the End Times: The last things re-imagined. In this revised version, the author has added an all-new chapter reflecting on his work in the light of the decade and more since publication, bringing a seminal work into the twenty-first century with a fresh and revealing relevance. 'James Alison gives us a book exceptional both for its realism regarding the psychic misery of our world and for its focusing on the central mysteries of the Gospels, the Passion and the Resurrection. What makes the book truly unique is its supreme and vibrant Christocentrism in a world where even many people of good will do not know, once again, where they have put the Lord. Instead of further undermining our faith, Raising Abel helps our unbelief.' - René Girard, of the Académie Française, Emeritus Professor, Stanford University

What do Rowan Williams, Stanley Hauerwas, Rene Girard, Richard Rohr, Timothy Radcliffe, Monica Furlong, Richard Rohr, Andrew Sullivan, and Mark Jordan have in common beside their Christian faith? Answer: the fact that they have all heaped praise on one or another of James Alison's books. "Intellectual dynamite and spiritual joy" (Rohr); "wit, clarity, depth and surprises" (Williams); "deeply moving and liberating" (Radcliffe). Perhaps James Keenan has put it most memorably: "Not since C.S. Lewis has an English Christian summoned his readers into such holy conversations." And Andrew Sullivan has spoken for the community most touched by Allison's work: "a rich resource for gay Catholics trying to reconcile their own deep and profound faith with the hostility of the hierarchy." About half of his new book deals with lesbian and gay issues, particularly in light of the the latest Vatican ukase banning gays from seminaries, and the rest with a variety of tropes central to Christian faith and life: reconciliation, the Eucharist, psychology and evil, worship in a violent world. But whatever the topic Alison turns to he writes with the edgy brilliance of a "break-in" artist who is always full of surprises.

Provides analyses of religion and violence, reconciliation and forgiveness and gay/straight issues by one of the most original voices in Catholic theology.

With questions of religion and homosexuality on the front pages again, and debates raging about the nature of marriage and the ordination of priests, James Alison invites us into deep, lucid reflection about God, the wonder of creation, and the way that God not only loves but likes every one of us.

On Being Liked is the transforming and joyful sequel to Faith Beyond Resentment, which established James Alison as one of the most striking, original, and intellectually irresistible voices in the church. In this book he invites us to let go of a commomnly-held account of salvation and takes us step-by-step through a bold adventure of re-imagining the central axis of the Christian story, not as 'How does God deal with sin?' but as 'How do we take up God's invitation to sharein the act of creation?'.

Discrimination against gays and lesbians extends from the highest echelons of the Catholic Church to the pews. For James Alison, a gay Catholic theologian, the key to moving beyond resentment is a radical re-conversion to the gospel message of God’s love and understanding that even those in power are our brothers and sisters.

Offering thought-provoking approaches to the contraversial issue of homosexuality and faith, the author presents an account of Christianity that is rooted in the Catholic tradition.

This original work of theological anthropology looks at original sin in the light of the Resurrection, and shows how forgiveness has become the way of transformation.

Raising Abel is a theological exploration of a huge change of mind: the change which the apostolic group underwent as a result of the Resurrection—and how that paradigm can transform the world today. Making use of the thought of Rene Girard, the author shows how the God who was revealed by Jesus subverted the violent language, imagery and expectations of the early Christians.