To Learn More About Child Liberation Theology

Posted byR.L. StollarPosted inChild Liberation TheologyTags:, , , , , ,

Author note: this is the seventh and final article in a multi-part series I am writing that provides an overview of child liberation theology. It highlights the best people, articles, and other resources if you would like to delve further into the growing field of child liberation theology. You can read the previous installment, “Including Children in Child Liberation Theology,” here.

The resources listed in this final article are by no means everything written or thought about in the growing field of child liberation theology. You can find an exhaustive list of such content here. The resources listed here are instead the people, writings, videos, and so forth that I think are moving the conversation about child liberation theology forward most effectively or provocatively.

Books and Chapters on Child Liberation Theology:

Not many books are dedicated solely to the subject of child liberation theology. My new book, The Kingdom of Children, was released just last year in 2023. Prior to my book, the last time authors wrote books dedicated to the subject was 1991, when Janet Pais wrote Suffer the Children and Joseph A. Grassi wrote Children’s Liberation. Apart from Pais and Grassi, however, the only writings on child liberation theology are in chapter or journal article form, as opposed to full books. Here are, in my opinion, the most important books and chapters on this subject:

Books on Children, Christianity, and the Bible:

We cannot begin to understand Jesus’s teachings about children and how revolutionary they are until we understand how children have historically been treated in both Christian and non-Christian spaces. The following books will provide you with that much-needed context as well as make you think about how we can transcend that context and move towards liberating children:

Books on Liberative Parenting:

Child liberation theology should never be esoteric or unrelated to the real, concrete problems that children and their families encounter in everyday life. The following books are simple, easy-to-understand explorations of how parents and other caretakers of children can treat children in humane, and thus revolutionary, ways:

Books for Children:

Children have a right to be a part of child liberation theology! The following books are excellent resources to help children start thinking about their identity and place in the world and how they can use the resources they have in their own communities to make the world a better, more liberating place for everyone:

Articles:

Several of the following articles provide short yet thorough overviews of child liberation theology as a field. The other articles address common issues that arise while discussing child liberation theology: how to interpret the Bible, the differences between authoritarian and liberative parenting, as well as practical issues like teaching children healthy disobedience and practicing non-violence as a parent in both your communication and physical acts.

  • Craig Nessan, “Child Liberation Theology,” Currents in Theology and Mission (link)
  • Rebecca Stevens-Walter, “God of the Oppressed Child” (link)
  • Samantha Field, “Theological Foundations: Child Liberation Theology” (link)
  • Julie Faith Parker, “Children in the Hebrew Bible and Childist Interpretation,” Currents in Biblical Research (link)
  • D.L. and Krispin Mayfield’s “Strongwilled” article series on authoritarian parenting (link)
  • Adrian Thatcher’s articles on child liberation theology: “A Theology of Liberation for Children” (link), “Theology and Children: Towards a Theology of Childhood” (link), and “Justice for Children Too!” (link)
  • Cindy Wang Brandt’s article archive on the “Unfundamentalist Parenting” blog (link)
  • My article, “Love Does Not Abuse: The Parenting Philosophy of bell hooks” (link)
  • My article (and especially check out the resources at the end of the article!), “Teaching Children to Disobey” (link)

Videos:

Not everyone is into reading, so I wanted to include some videos on this list to give visual and auditory learners a deeper understanding of child liberation theology:

  • Virtual event on child liberation theology with R.L. Stollar and CFCToo (link)
  • Instagram Live on child liberation theology with R.L. Stollar, Marissa Burt, and Kelsey McGinnis (link)
  • Abram Kielsmeier-Jones’ video review and discussion with The Christian Century about R.L. Stollar’s book on child liberation theology, The Kingdom of Children (link)
  • Child Theology webinar series by Abram Kielsmeier-Jones (link)

Social Media Accounts:

The following social media accounts include both child liberation theologians as well as parenting teachers and child advocates who emphasize either liberative or gentle parenting.

Published by R.L. Stollar

R.L. Stollar is a child liberation theologian and an advocate for children and abuse survivors. The author of an upcoming book on child liberation theology, The Kingdom of Children, Ryan has an M.H.S. in Child Protection from Nova Southeastern University and an M.A. in Eastern Classics from St. John’s College.

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