2023 Book Review Roundup: Journal of Ecumenical Studies

As 2023 comes to a close, we are happy to report that the Journal of Ecumenical Studies reviewed 14 books this year! We had a great selection of important interreligious and ecumenical works highlighting the diversity of the fields in 2023. 

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Our year started with Eugene Fisher reviewing Fred Lazin’s book American Christians and the National Interreligious Task Force on Soviet Jewry: A Call to Conscience, published by Rowman & Littlefield.

Read it here: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/890324.  

Glenn B. Siniscalchi reviewed David Bentley Hart's That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation, published by Yale University Press, commenting that “This book is a mesmerizing defense of the claim that everyone will freely submit to the Christian God…” Read it here: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/890325. 

Seth Ward reviewed Susanne Scholz’s and Santiago Slabodsky’s edited volume, The New Diaspora and the Global Prophetic: Engaging the Scholarship of Marc H. Ellis, published by Lexington Books/Fortress Press. Review: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/890326 

"The supreme value of the book is Kasimow’s remarkable gift of self-portraiture.” Peter A. Huff reviewed Harold Kasimov’s book Love or Perish: A Holocaust Survivor's Vision for Interfaith Peace, published by iPub Global Connection.

Read it now at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/890328. 

Jonathan C. Friedman reviewed Peace and Faith: Christian Churches and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Cary Nelson and Michael C. Gizzi and published by Academic Studies Press. The review is available here at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/890327.

Journal of Ecumenical Studies co-editor David Krueger reviewed Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry’s book The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy, published by Oxford University Press. Check it out at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/890329  

Our summer edition included three reviews, starting with Joseph Loya’s review of Catholics without Rome: Old Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and the Reunion of Negotiations of the 1870s by Bryn Geffert and Leroy Boerneke and published by the University of Notre Dame Press. Available now at at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/902009 

“What is most interesting about this impressive, multi-authored volume is its genuinely ‘catholic’ character.” – Robert Nicastro in his review of Marc Pugliese and John Becker’s Process Thought and Roman Catholicism: Challenges and Promises published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. Read it now at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/902010 

Eugene Fisher reviewed Teaching the Shoah: Mandate and Momentum by Zev Garber and Kenneth L. Hanson for @CamScholars. You can read it on our ProjectMUSE at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/902011!  

We finished the year strong with 5 reviews in our winter edition! Zev Garber returned with a reviews of @RMikva’s Interreligious Studies: An Introduction published by @CambPressAsses Read it here: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/914311

Zev Garber additionally reviewed Kenneth Hanson’s Luke: Illuminating the Sage of Galilee for @centergcrr.

Read it at the JES now! https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/914312 

“This book is an emotive and critical reflection by Jewish and Christian clergy and academics on To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven (TDW)” Zev Garber’s review of From Confrontation to Covenantal Partnership: Jews and Christians on Orthodox Rabbinic Statement of "To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven Read it hear at: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/914313 

Nathan Maroney reviewed A Handbook on the Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith by @DrCraigAEvans and David Mishkin, published by @hendricksonpub.

Available to read now at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/914315

Finally, Zev Garver also reviewed The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel by Emma O'Donnell Polyakov for @PSUPress.

You can access it like all other reviews on our ProjectMUSE at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/914314 

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We had a great selection of books and are excited to see what 2024’s releases offer. If you are interested in reviewing a book with the JES, visit https://dialogueinstitute.org/book-reviews for more information and our recommendations of books to review. See you in 2024!

Featured JES Author: Gabrielle Thomas on Receptive Ecumenism

Dr. Gabrielle Thomas

The Fall issue 57:4 of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies is now available. For each issue, the Diablogue features one author and makes available a full-text version of their article for 30 days. In this issue, we are featuring Gabrielle Rachel Thomas's "The Gift of Power in Methodism: Learning from Women’s Experiences of Working in Diverse Churches in England through Receptive Ecumenism."

Gabrielle Thomas is an Assistant Professor of Early Christianity and Anglican Studies, at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., and is a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Theological Reflection Group in the U.K.  She earned her Ph.D. in Historical Theology from the University of Nottingham in Nottingham, U.K. in 2017.

In two sentences, what is the argument of your J.E.S. article?

My article identifies possible ecclesial learning by using receptive ecumenism to explore women’s experiences of working in diverse churches in England. I examine a Methodist approach to power and use it to critique current practices across diverse Christian traditions in England, providing the potential for churches to transform the way that power is distributed, especially with respect to women flourishing in leadership roles.

How does your article help us better understand Receptive Ecumenism?

Simply put, receptive ecumenism asks, “What do we need to learn from another Christian tradition to help us address some of the wounds and weaknesses in our own?” My contribution puts Receptive Ecumenism to the test with a practical example of women who follow the way of receptive ecumenism to explore their experiences of working in churches in England, with a view to identifying areas for potential ecclesial learning.

How did you get interested in the topic?

I have long been committed to Christian unity. Receptive Ecumenism is a fresh way into the conversation. With respect to the project I developed on exploring women’s experiences– I am ordained in the Church of England and am interested in ministry from the perspective of a researcher but also as a practitioner.

What is your next project?

My next project explores a theology of the Devil bringing into conversation the perspective and experience of diverse traditions such as Pentecostal, Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox.

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Article Abstract:

Global attention to receptive ecumenism has grown in recent years, prompting ecumenical theologians to ask, “What do we need to learn from another Christian tradition to help us address some of the wounds and weaknesses in our own?” Hitherto, much of the published work on receptive ecumenism has focused on its place in the formal ecumenical movement with little attention directed toward the grassroots. This contribution is a case study that identifies possible ecclesial learning by using receptive ecumenism to explore women’s experiences of working in diverse churches in England. It focuses on a particular example emerging from the broader research, during which Baptist women identified how the distribution of power in their churches can inhibit women’s flourishing, particularly in ministerial roles. Following the way of receptive ecumenism, after outlining the research context, I examine gifts shared by Methodist participants who spoke of positive structures of power. These, I argue, critique current practices, not only in the Baptist tradition but across diverse Christian traditions in England, providing the potential for churches to transform the way that power is distributed, especially with respect to women’s flourishing in leadership roles.

The full text article can be accessed via Project Muse HERE.  

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