Another compelling online offer from the Alternative Seminary in Philly. See details below for tomorrow’s gathering.

The cross can heal and hurt; it can be empowering and liberating but also enslaving and oppressive … I believe that the cross placed alongside the lynching tree can help us to see Jesus in America in a new light, and thereby empower people who claim to follow him to take a stand against white supremacy and every kind of injustice.” ― James H. Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree

We are witnessing how the Christian faith has been contorted to almost unrecognizable shape and put at the service of empire – even though the founder of the faith was executed by empire. The cross of Christ, perhaps the central image of Christian life and thought, has been frequently been used to promote the idea of “redemptive violence,” and has been directly or indirectly used to vindicate and even bless human violence.

The core assertion of our faith is that Jesus “died for our sins.”  As we move toward Good Friday, it is urgent that followers of Jesus’ grasp another truth: Jesus of Nazareth was executed by the Roman Empire as a political revolutionary. 

Join the Alternative Seminary this Saturday, March 19 for an online program, “The Cross of Christ: A Justification for Redemptive Violence Or a Call to Gospel Nonviolence?” We will explore the questions:  Why did Jesus die?  How is his death related to his ministry in the Gospels?  How did the early communities grasp his death, and how does it make us think differently about the Resurrection? 

In addition to Will O’Brien, coordinator of The Alternative Seminary, the program will feature Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart , a Black-queer church girl, preacher, teacher, and activist and an adjunct professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University; Rev. Sharon Delgado, founding director of Earth Justice Ministries and author of the soon-to-be-released The Cross in the Mist of Creation.; and Dasha Saintremy (Rev. DaSaint), an Afro-Caribbean American, Womanist, and founder of LiveLoveLiberate: A Sacred Space for Creative Expressions.

Join with others from around the country as we do the urgent work of freeing our faith from the clutches of empire and rediscovering its revolutionary power.

The Alternative Seminary invites you to

THE CROSS OF CHRIST:  

A JUSTIFICATION FOR REDEMPTIVE VIOLENCE 

OR A CALL TO GOSPEL NONVIOLENCE?

AN ONLINE GATHERING

Saturday morning, March 19, 2022

10:30 am – 12:30 pm EST

Registration is required. You can register at this link:

CrossofChrist2022

The cost is $20 (or whatever you can afford).

If you have any questions, please contact Will O’Brien at willobrien59@gmail.com or 267-339-8989.

The Alternative Seminary is a program of biblical and theological study and reflection designed to foster an authentic biblical witness in the modern world.