BROKEN YET BELOVED: A PASTORAL THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS

"The personal is political," Thornton tells readers, arguing that human suffering doesn't randomly happen, but is embedded in a host of political and social structures that oppress certain groups of people more than others. In this book, she unpacks some of those structures, her writing informed by liberation theology and social theory. A "pastoral theology of the cross," she contends, offers hope because Jesus' suffering addresses "the eclipse of the holy" and "the loss of hope" that many individuals feel. This well-written but highly specialized book will appeal primarily to pastors and counselors who share Thornton's views about injustice and are undaunted by her frequent citations of theorists such as Antonio Gramsci and Dorothee Soelle. (Apr.)