Christianity and Human Rights: Christians and the Struggle for Global Justice

Front Cover
Frederick M. Shepherd
Lexington Books, Jul 15, 2009 - Political Science - 294 pages
In Christianity and Human Rights: Christians and the Struggle for Global Justice, Frederick M. Shepherd has collected essays by scholars and activists who, in a wide variety of ways, confront the issue of Christianity's role in the burgeoning movement for human rights. The volume's contributors provide diverse perspectives on the theology behind the idea of human rights, the debate over the its meaning, and the evolution of the struggle for human rights. A wide variety of disciplinary perspectives are represented, from economics, political science and law to history, philosophy and theology. The essays also represent a broad political spectrum, including specific accounts from activists participating in the struggle for human rights. Separate chapters focus on cases from Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Christianity and Human Rights begins and ends with attempts to synthesize current theory and practice, acknowledging both Christianity's great success and its failures in defending basic human rights around the globe.
 

Contents

Genocide and the Christian World
3
Chapter Two A Dickensian Era of Religious Rights
21
Part Two RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS
45
A Challenge for the Church
47
Chapter Four The Enduring Alliance of Religious Freedom and Democracy
65
Chapter Five Religious Freedom and International Law
77
Chapter Six Democracy and Human Dignity
87
Part Three Theological and Philosophical Foundations for Human Rights
97
Chapter Ten Catholic Social Teaching Economic Rights and Globalization
149
Chapter Eleven Rights Capabilities and Human Flourishing
163
Part Four CASE STUDIES
177
Christian Theology and Human Rights Practices in Latin Americas Andean Region
179
The Case of the Ethnic Minorities 19752007
195
The Dramatic TurnAbout of the South African Pentecostal Movement
213
Concluding Remarks on Christianityand Human Rights
229
Bibliography
243

Chapter Seven Universal Rights or Personal Relations?
99
Chapter Eight Human Rights the Common Good and Our Supernatural Destiny
119
Toward an Existential Christian Philosophy of Human Rights
133
Index
257
About the Editor and Contributors
265
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2009)

Frederick M. Shepherd is chair of the political science department and associate professor of internaional relations at Samford University.

Bibliographic information