Beatitudes Blog

A 'New Way' to Proclaim Jubilee

Submitted by Brian Swarts on April 10, 2008 - 7:57pm.

"Must we starve our children to pay our debts?"

-- Julius Nyerere, former president of Tanzania

This week Congress will vote on the Jubilee Act, the most important debt legislation since 2000. I was an undergraduate theology student when the Jubilee 2000 movement made headlines, and it transformed the way I saw my faith. In short, I discovered the prophetic power of faith to transform injustice and what it looks like to see the Word made flesh. Now, eight years later, I have the honor of working for the Jubilee USA Network and writing to you about the ways in which people of faith around the world continue to fulfill the call to "proclaim jubilee."

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“Prophetic Art” and the Politics of Jesus

Submitted by Brian Swarts on November 27, 2006 - 9:04am.

By Brian Swarts

Good art is, by nature, prophetic – it unveils truths about our world around us, by bringing us face-to-face with realities we normally let pass unnoticed or purposefully choose to avoid.  In the Bible, the work of a prophet was to bring people face-to-face with God’s truth.  Today, there is a great need for “prophetic Christian artistry” – encompassing diverse art forms from music to painting to film. Following the prophetic tradition from Jeremiah to Jesus, prophetic Christian art juxtaposes the kingdom of God with our own culture and society. 

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