Christian Ethics and Social Renewal : From Dystopia and Utopia to Apocalyptic

Will capitalism bring about the end of the world or is a different future possible? In this book, Daniel P. Rhodes diagnoses the dystopic reign of capital in the contemporary world. He shows how it captures politics and history while colonizing the state and its subjects under its dominion, for the purpose of constructing a (dis)order that achieves extravagant wealth for a few at the top by enabling exploitation of and extraction from an expanding lower class. Surveying Marxist and theological utopian alternatives, Rhodes then recovers an apocalyptic, theological politics drawn from the person and work of Jesus Christ and argues for an ecclesial vision of social renewal. The Church, by acting in a way that reflects Christ's fundamental humanity, can be a site and source of radical solidarity, material and spiritual forgiveness, justice-infused deliberation, and creative peace-making. It can also offer a powerful foretaste of an alternative future that, eschatologically, will last.