Walking with the Mud Flower Collective: God's Fierce Whimsy and Dialogic Theological Method
Arguing for a retrieval of the landmark work, God’s Fierce Whimsy, Stina Busman Jost establishes the critical importance of this volume for the construction of a dialogic theological method. This is accomplished through a close reading of God’s Fierce Whimsy in which the author identifies key methodological characteristics informing the volume’s formation. Critical importance also is established through interviews with the volume’s authors, the Mud Flower Collective—which included Katie G. Cannon, Beverly W. Harrison, Carter Heyward, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Bess B. Johnson (Delores Williams), Mary D. Pellauer, and Nancy D. Richardson.
Undergirding this endeavor is a recognition of the theoretical importance of difference to the project of theological construction and the vital form of the dialogic as constitutive of theological practice; this is carried forward through engagement with the pivotal theorists Martin Buber and Mikhail Bakhtin, who helped pioneer the philosophical and literary critical importance of otherness, difference, and dialogue. Finally, the author constructively engages recent developments in feminist theologies and postcolonial theories—ultimately making the argument that a dialogic theological method is relevant for the doing of theology today.
Undergirding this endeavor is a recognition of the theoretical importance of difference to the project of theological construction and the vital form of the dialogic as constitutive of theological practice; this is carried forward through engagement with the pivotal theorists Martin Buber and Mikhail Bakhtin, who helped pioneer the philosophical and literary critical importance of otherness, difference, and dialogue. Finally, the author constructively engages recent developments in feminist theologies and postcolonial theories—ultimately making the argument that a dialogic theological method is relevant for the doing of theology today.
- Publisher Fortress Press
- Format Paperback
- ISBN 9781451465693
- eBook ISBN 9781451469615
- Dimensions 6 x 9
- Pages 176
- Emerging Scholars category Theology
- Publication Date October 1, 2014
Endorsements
"Many will learn much about justice-making from this wise and intelligent book, Walking with the Mud Flower Collective. Stina Busman Jost shows readers how a dialogic methodology carries us further along in actualizing a relevant trajectory of feminist liberation theologies. This book is essential for understanding how women of all races, and men who cast their lot with us, can be different but not alienated."
—Katie G. Cannon
Union Presbyterian Seminary
"Unless you think that sexism and racism have been solved, you will find here no nostalgic memorial to second wave Christian feminism. Cultivating with older and newer interlocutors the relational method of the Mud Flower Collective, Stina Busman Jost stirs its vital rhizome to blossom afresh."
—Catherine Keller
Drew University
“In the aftermath of Christendom and its legacy of colonialism, the intuitions and assumptions that have governed the discipline of theology are being challenged and rethought. In this remarkable volume, Stina Busman Jost addresses this situation through a detailed investigation and analysis of the Mud Flower Collective and their landmark work, God’s Fierce Whimsy. In so doing, she recovers an important conversation in the history of contemporary theology and makes a significant contribution to the construction of a dialogic approach to theological method."
—John R. Franke
Yellowstone Theological Institute
"Busman Jost makes a compelling argument for a look back at an underappreciated text of Christian feminism, God’s Fierce Whimsy, and its innovative attempt to reimagine theological education. Busman Jost’s book will be of interest to scholars already engaged with how theology and theological education can be transformed by dialogical approaches attentive to differences of gender, race, class, and sexuality. Moreover, Busman Jost’s self-reflective style makes her proposals widely accessible to those readers who share similar evangelical backgrounds but who may not have yet considered doing theology in light of societal inequalities."
—Margaret D. Kamitsuka
Oberlin College
—Katie G. Cannon
Union Presbyterian Seminary
"Unless you think that sexism and racism have been solved, you will find here no nostalgic memorial to second wave Christian feminism. Cultivating with older and newer interlocutors the relational method of the Mud Flower Collective, Stina Busman Jost stirs its vital rhizome to blossom afresh."
—Catherine Keller
Drew University
“In the aftermath of Christendom and its legacy of colonialism, the intuitions and assumptions that have governed the discipline of theology are being challenged and rethought. In this remarkable volume, Stina Busman Jost addresses this situation through a detailed investigation and analysis of the Mud Flower Collective and their landmark work, God’s Fierce Whimsy. In so doing, she recovers an important conversation in the history of contemporary theology and makes a significant contribution to the construction of a dialogic approach to theological method."
—John R. Franke
Yellowstone Theological Institute
"Busman Jost makes a compelling argument for a look back at an underappreciated text of Christian feminism, God’s Fierce Whimsy, and its innovative attempt to reimagine theological education. Busman Jost’s book will be of interest to scholars already engaged with how theology and theological education can be transformed by dialogical approaches attentive to differences of gender, race, class, and sexuality. Moreover, Busman Jost’s self-reflective style makes her proposals widely accessible to those readers who share similar evangelical backgrounds but who may not have yet considered doing theology in light of societal inequalities."
—Margaret D. Kamitsuka
Oberlin College