Wednesday 25 November 2015

The End of Jewish History? What makes radical theologian Marc H. Ellis too hot to handle?

I've just read 'The Heartbeat of the Prophetic', the latest book by the radical Jewish theologian Marc Ellis.

Ellis has, and still is, making a highly important contribution to modern Jewish thinking particularly on Israel/Palestine.

My review of 'Heartbeat' and thoughts about Ellis' career have just been published at Patheos

Here's an extract:

Are Jews across the world really tearing their communities apart over the question of Israel’s behaviour towards the Palestinians? Are things so bad that we face the demise of Judaism as we know it and the abandonment of the community by a disaffected generation fed up with the hypocrisy of it all?
There was a time when Marc H. Ellis was in favour with at least some parts of the Jewish religious and cultural establishment. I can tell by the fact that quotes from his writings can be found anthologised in the study sections of my prayers books.
But I doubt Ellis gets quite so many copyright requests these days. His views have become too hot to handle.
'Heartbeat of the Prophetic’ goes a long way to explaining why Ellis has fallen out of favour even within the liberal Jewish elite that once championed him following the publication of ‘Towards a Jewish Theology of Liberation’ nearly 30 years ago.



I will also be posting a new interview with Marc in the coming days.



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