Essential writings from one of America's outstanding sources of prophetic theology.

Robert McAfee Brown (1920-2001), an American Presbyterian, was a master theologian, a spiritual guide, and an engaged activist, whose long career reflected many of the critical movements and concerns of the twentieth century. As an official Protestant observer at the Second Vatican Council, he was an influential figure in the ecumenical movement. But his concerns ranged widely over the intersection between faith and the issues of his time: the Holocaust and Jewish-Christian relations; the Civil Rights movement and race relations; the emergence of Latin American liberation theology; the Vietnam War and the struggle for peace in Central America; and the changing shape of global theology. Overall, his work represented a prophetic style of public theology in which faith and practice, prayer and action, words and deeds, and religion and politics came full circle.

Drawing on previously uncollected material and with a helpful introduction this volume presents an essential guide to Brown's work and a message that remains as timely and challenging as ever.

Paul Crowley is a Jesuit priest and professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University. His books include Unwanted Wisdom: Suffering, the Cross, and Hope (Continuum, 2005).