Elizabeth Johnson and The Quest for the Living God -- Part 2

Sep. 08, 2009
By NCR Podcasts
Sr. Elizabeth Johnson
Click the player to listen to the podcast: 

Episode two: The liberating God of life (20 min.)
"In the book of Exodus, when the slaves are in dire straits in Egypt, it's interesting that the God of Abraham does not identify with Pharaoh, which most deities do identify with the one in power, but instead chose the slaves as a very dear treasure," Johnson tells Fox. "That is the way God acts in the world when people are in oppressed suffering. Rather than siding with the oppressor, God is with the oppressed in order to liberate them."

All the episodes in this series

Elizabeth Johnson and The Quest for the Living God -- 1 of 2
Elizabeth Johnson and The Quest for the Living God -- 2 of 2


Sr. Elizabeth Johnson, distinguished professor of theology at Fordham University, talks with Tom fox about her new book, Quest for the Living God Mapping the Frontiers in the Theology of God. Of this book, Roberto S. Goizueta, Associate Professor of Theology, Boston College, wrote, "Karl Rahner had an abiding concern that much of Christian theology presented God ‘unworthy of belief.' Here Johnson has given us a God truly worthy of our belief, fidelity, and love. Every word breathes with the author's own deep love of God, the church, and the world."

A transcript of this interview is available here: A God worthy of belief

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More about Sr. Elizabeth Johnson

A sister in the congregation of St. Joseph who hails from Brooklyn, Elizabeth Johnson has been president of both the Catholic Theological Society of America and the American Theological Society.

She has served as a member of the national Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue, a consultant to the Catholic Bishops' Committee on Women in Church and Society, a theologian on the Vatican-sponsored dialogue between science and religion, and on the Vatican-sponsored study of Christ and the world's religions.

She is also the author of the much acclaimed She Who Is, as well as Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints, Consider Jesus: Waves of Renewal in Christology, The Church Women Want, and Friends of God and Prophets. Today, Elizabeth Johnson is a distinguished professor of theology at Fordham University.

Listenig to your interview, I

Submitted by Fritz (not verified) on Apr. 03, 2011.

Listenig to your interview, I wonder why you never mention that the God of Jeus and therefore Christians, is the God of Israel, the God of the Jewish people. I don't doubt that you mean this God, however, not to mention this fact that links us intimately to the Jewish people, misses an opportunity to emphasise "Nostra Aetate" and resist "Christian" and any other antisemitism.

I realise, of course, that the podcast I just heard is an interview. You may have mentioned the Jewish connection in your book that I have not read yet.

I have a great respect for

Submitted by Kathleen Cuneo (not verified) on Apr. 07, 2011.

I have a great respect for Sr. Elizabeth Johnson and have several of her books. I have just ordered her latest book, Quest For the Living God. The interview was enlightening, clarifying and, as always, delightfully delivered.
I support Sr. Johnson, especially in light of the current issues surrounding Quest For the Living God. I deeply desire a more mature theology and, as stated by Sr. Johnson, the present day holilies do not provide it. Homilies, in my estimation, are in great need of mature substance.

Thank you, Sr. Elizabeth, for your work and your words. Kathleen Cuneo

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