Erotic Faith
Desire, Transformation, and Beloved Community In the Incarnational Theology of Wendy Farley
Edited by Mari Kim
Foreword by Ellen T. Armour
Afterword by Marcia W. Mount Shoop
Imprint: Pickwick Publications
The thought of contemporary North American theologian and ethicist Wendy Farley is an unflinching clarion call to justice and compassion. Farley invites us to discover ways of embodying the deep compassion capable of resisting pernicious distortions and traumatizing injustices that harm and dehumanize us all. This volume of essays embodies her invitation to awaken as beloved community. And when we are overwhelmed by the magnitude of struggle and despair, Farley reminds us that the powerful longing of hope, at times against all evidence, refuses to give up on seeking justice and wholeness. Compassionate justice, radical hospitality, creative liberation, and deep listening emerge as more than ethical values for Farley; they are expressions of erotic faith, a praxis of faithfulness born of divine desire.
These writings explore transformative perspectives and practices that have the capacity to help us recover and author our identity as the "god-bearers" we are. Erotic faith embodies the love-seeking persistence of divine faithfulness necessary to transform us from within; it meets the truth of human harm, vulnerability, and suffering by offering a complex, struggling, unscripted creativity capable of remaking us, and our world, until the beloved community is whole.
Mari Kim teaches Social Ethics and Philosophy for the Division of Communications and Social Sciences at Everett Community College. Kim resides in Seattle, Washington, and her constructive theological exploration of experiences of desire, ambiguity, and ambivalence in cultural identity formation, Eros in Eden: A Praxis of Beauty in Genesis 3, is forthcoming.
“At this time of virulent injustice, this essential book offers a clarion call for Christians to do two things—honestly confront and reckon with the ways that their tradition has justified domination, cruelty, and exploitation, and wholeheartedly embrace, nurture, and expand the aspects of that tradition that enable them to live with radical compassion, mutual respect, and reciprocity with other peoples and with the natural world that enchants, delights, and sustains us.”
—Sharon D. Welch, former Provost and Professor of Religion and Society, Meadville Lombard Theological School
“When Wendy Farley offered her alternative to classic Christian theodicies in her now classic work Tragic Vision and Divine Compassion, she became a prominent voice within constructive theology. By making human experience of suffering and evil her starting point, particularly the experience of those who have been pushed to the margin within church and society, Farley introduced a paradigm shift in contemporary theological discourse. This volume bears a witness to the significance of Farley’s unique and powerful theological contribution.”
—Arnfríður Guðmundsdóttir, Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Iceland