This is the first collection of the essays by J. Deotis Roberts, one of the most respected and influential figures in modern American theology. Roberts has spent much of his distinguished career doing theology in the service of the church. His desire has always been to influence church, academy, and world so that all may participate in the Kingdom of God. He has steered a middle way between the deadly metaphysical approach of some theology and the often unthoughtful pragmatism of Black religious studies that focuses only on social relevance. This book gathers Roberts' most important essays, arranged to show the development of his thinking. They reveal his commitment to the church and to his theological model of liberation-reconciliation. Theology is free, Roberts writes, because it moves one toward a fuller realization of what God is calling one to do; Christian theology is reconciling because Christians are reconciled to God through Christ and are called to a ministry of reconciliation. J. Deotis Roberts has served as president of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, and has taught at numerous institutions including Duke Divinity School and Howard Divinity School. His books include Quest for a Black Theology and Liberation and Reconciliation: A Black Theology. He currently lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. David Emmanuel Goatley is the Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the Lott-Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Committee in Washington, D.C.
