Critical Theory and Biblical Studies

In Jesus and the Politics of Mammon, Phelps uses contemporary critical theory, continental philosophy, and theology to develop a radical reading of Jesus. Phelps argues that theological traditions have on the whole blunted Jesus' teachings, particularly in regard to money and related concerns of political economy. Focusing on the distinction between God and Mammon, Phelps suggests instead that Jesus' teachings result in a politics that is anti-money, anti-work, and anti-family. Although Jesus does not provide a specific program for this politics, his teachings incite readers to think otherwise with respect to these institutions.

This book combines New Testament studies and cultural theory, and analyzes Acts of the Apostles as a product of imperial discourse. In five chapters, Christina Petterson engages Acts with ideology, gender, class, and empire with different emphases. All of these analyses argue that Christianity can never be set outside discourses of exploitation, discrimination, and hierarchies, but must always be set within them.