Christianity and Human Rights

Abstract

In Christianity and Human Rights: Christians and the Struggle for Global Justice, Frederick M. Shepherd has collected essays by scholars and activists who, in a wide variety of ways, confront the issue of Christianity's role in the burgeoning movement for human rights. The volume's contributors provide diverse perspectives on the theology behind the idea of human rights, the debate over the its meaning, and the evolution of the struggle for human rights. A wide variety of disciplinary perspectives are represented, from economics, political science and law to history, philosophy and theology. The essays also represent a broad political spectrum, including specific accounts from activists participating in the struggle for human rights. Separate chapters focus on cases from Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Christianity and Human Rights begins and ends with attempts to synthesize current theory and practice, acknowledging both Christianity's great success and its failures in defending basic human rights around the globe.