Additional information
by Matthew John Paul Tan (Author)
Does social justice promote Christian unity? With reference to paragraph 12 of Unitatis Redintegratio--Vatican II's declaration on ecumenism--this book argues that an emphasis on justice and unity without proper consideration of social context actually risks obscuring a clear public declaration of Christ, by having Christians uncritically accept the presumptions that underpin the sociopolitical status quo. This constitutes a failure in Christian interpretation, the crux of which is a failure in ecclesiology. Matthew John Paul Tan suggests the beginnings of a corrective with reference to works by Pope Benedict XVI, theologians such as Graham Ward, and postmodern theorists like Michel Foucault. Ultimately, Tan invites the reader to begin considering how answering this seemingly simple question will implicate not only theology, but also philosophy and political theory, as well as considering the need for the church to engage in a bolder confessional politics in place of the politics of the public square often favored by Christian and non-Christian commentators.
Author Biography
Matthew John Paul Tan is the Felice and Margredel Zaccari Lecturer in Theology and Philosophy at Campion College Australia, and Director of the Centre for the Study of Western Tradition. Prior to this, he served as a Lecturer and Research Fellow at the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology in DePaul University in Chicago. He received his doctorate in Political Theology at the Australian Catholic University, and his License in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He is also editor of the theological blog, "The Divine Wedgie," and is a regular contributor on the Sydney-based internet radio station, cradio.org.au.
