Redeeming Memories: A Theology of Healing and Transformation FROM THE PUBLISHER
This book remembers, from the perspective of those who have been victimized, in such a way that we might remember and redeem Christianity and society. Though the church has often been complicit in regimes of domination that have perpetrated abuse, persecution, and violence, Keshgegian reminds us that the witness of the church is to remember for transformation. Such remembrance is shaped by the narrative of Jesus' life and ministry, death and resurrection, knit together in the promise of incarnation. As it does most centrally about Jesus himself, the church as a community of remembrance also more generally honors and preserves memories of suffering; evokes, recognizes, and validates memories or resistance and agency; and actively supports, embodies, and celebrates memories of connection and life affirmation.
In particular, Keshgegian draws our attention once again to those who have suffered childhood sexual abuse, those in the Armenian genocide and the Jewish Holocaust, and those historically disinherited peoples and groups, especially women and African Americans. With such human memories of suffering in mind, she insists that redeeming memories is the purpose and mission of the church. The church's structure and practices are measured by how well they enable and enhance the work of remembering as a multiform and ongoing process. She challenges us to understand that the redemptive potential of the memory of Jesus Christ will be made known and realized by the capacity of that memory to hold and carry not only the story of Jesus, but of all those who suffer, struggle, live, and die. She invited us to understand Christianity as saving
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