Rent God of Deliverance and Transformation: The Ten Commandments for the Twenty-First Century

Synopsis

According to God of Deliverance and Transformation: The Ten Commandments for the Twenty-First Century, the Decalogue expresses a revolutionary vision and path for a formerly oppressed and newly liberated people. First proffered to the Hebrews in their escape from slavery in Pharaoh's Egypt, the Decalogue initiated the development of communities characterized by human dignity, peace, justice, and equality while mandating resistance to all coercive and enslaving powers.
 
This claim is surprising to Twenty-first Century audiences whose primary exposure to the Ten Commandments comes from religionists seeking dominance while perpetuating the status quo in favor of the powerful. And yet radical resistance against oppression is the contextual core that underlies the Decalogue as presented in the Bible. Throughout Hebrew and Christian scripture, the God who spoke through the Decalogue continued to offer liberating life to all. Legalized injustice could never be divine justice, and God's deliverance of the oppressed was needed again and again in ever-new historical circumstances. And so the God of deliverance and transformation became the One trusted by people of faith throughout the Biblical story for salvation and purposeful meaning and aspirational direction.
 
Calling faith communities to reclaim the Ten Commandments for preaching, teaching, and ethical life, God of Deliverance and Transformation outlines contemporary relevance to be found in this ancient text. Individuals and communities making personal escapes from dehumanizing enslavement and journeying toward a land of promise and equality will find a template that is life giving and equitable for all. 
 
Accessible to general audiences (and of special interest to those engaged with Biblical studies, spirituality, and the interface of ethics and religion), the book mines recent scholarship on the Decalogue, disclosing nuances of meaning and application typically absent from today's discussions of the Ten Commandments.

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