Ched Myers

{{Short description|American theologian}} {{no footnotes|date=January 2012}} {{Infobox person | name = Ched Myers | image =  | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = 20th century | birth_place = | nationality = | other_names = | citizenship = | alma_mater = | occupation = [[Theologian]] | years_active = Since mid-20th century | spouse = Elaine Enns | children = | parents = | relatives = | website = [http://www.chedmyers.org chedmyers.org] }}

'''Ched Myers''' is an American [[theologian]] specializing in biblical studies and [[political theology]].

==Career== Since the late 1970s, Myers has been involved in numerous issues including movement work for [[racial justice]], [[economic equity]], [[indigenous sovereignty]], [[anti-nuclear activism]] and [[ecological justice]] and restoration. He has traveled as an "old-school" itinerant teacher for over twenty years teaching in homes, churches, retreat centers and more.

In 1988, Myers published ''Binding the Strong Man{{spaced ndash}}A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus'', which was influential in the [[Radical Discipleship Movement]], particularly within the [[Catholic Worker Movement]]. The book was one of the earliest commentaries to take an empire-critical view, a view that was marginal in the 1980s, but is now widely accepted within the academy.{{clarify|date=January 2012|reason=what academy?}} Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, Myers devoted much of his teaching to what he calls [[Sabbath economics]].

He works alongside his wife, Elaine Enns, as part of [https://www.bcm-net.org/ Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries], where the emphasis is on education for [[restorative justice]], [[biblical literacy]], [[ecological discipleship]] and [[radical economic sharing]].

===Sabbath economics=== {{Economic systems sidebar}} '''Sabbath economics''' is an [[economic system]] championed by Myers.<ref>{{cite book| title=The Biblical Vision of Sabbath Economics| year=2002| publisher=Church of the Saviour| author=Ched Myers}}</ref> The model is an application of the economic aspects of the [[Biblical Sabbath]] to modern [[socioeconomics]]. In the introduction of his book introducing this model, Myers states that "God's people are instructed to dismantle, on a regular basis, the fundamental patterns and structures of stratified wealth and power, so that there is 'enough for everyone.' " This statement contains two of the core principles of Myer's socioeconomic vision: # The focus on voluntary [[redistribution of wealth]] # A foundation of [[:wikt:abundance|abundance]] as opposed to [[scarcity]] in other modern economic models.<ref>{{cite journal|title = The Liturgy of Abundance, The Myth of Scarcity|author = Walter Brueggemann|journal = Christian Century|publisher = Christian Century Foundation|year = 1999|url = http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=533|accessdate = 2006-08-12|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060722083551/http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=533|archivedate = 2006-07-22}}</ref>

The Biblical concepts from which Sabbath economics draws are:{{cn|date=August 2016}} * [[Biblical Sabbath|Sabbath day]], particularly during the journey through the wilderness as described in [[Book of Exodus#The journey through the wilderness to Mount Sinai (13-18)|Exodus 15–17]] * [[Sabbath year]], described in [[Book of Exodus#Covenant|Exodus 23]], where the land was not cultivated, and Israelite slaves were released every seventh year * [[Jubilee (biblical)|Year of Jubilee]] every 50th year, when all debts were cancelled and all property returned to the original owners

Others have since sought to explore the ideas of a Sabbath economy in practical ways.<ref>{{cite web| title=Jubilee Economics Ministries| url=http://www.jubilee-economics.org/| accessdate=2006-08-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title= Sabbath Economics Collaborative|url= http://www.sabbatheconomics.org/content/index.php|accessdate= 2006-08-12|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060818053915/http://www.sabbatheconomics.org/content/index.php|archivedate = 2006-08-18}}</ref> Sabbath economics and related concepts of jubilee economics have also received attention from the [[liberation theology]] community, and other Christian thinkers who focus on [[social justice]], [[gender equality]] and other [[humanitarian]] issues.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Jubilee – the Biblical Vision| author=Ross Kinsler| journal=The Catholic Agitator| volume=28| issue=2|date=March 1998}}</ref>

== Selected works ==

=== Single-author books === '''2008/1988''' Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus. Maryknoll: Orbis Books. 20th anniversary edition with new front matter. 1989 Catholic Press Association Book Award in scripture. Translated into Portuguese as O Evangelho de Sao Marcos, Grande Comentario Biblico series, São Paulo:Edicoes Paulinas, 1992. <br /> '''2001''' “...and distributed it to whoever had need.” The Biblical Vision of Sabbath Economics. Tell the Word, Washington, DC: Church of the Savior.

'''1996''' Proclamation 6, Year B, Pentecost 1. Minneapolis: Augsburg/Fortress.

'''1994''' Who Will Roll Away the Stone? Queries for First World Christians. Maryknoll: Orbis Books.

=== Co-authored books === '''2012''' Our God Is Undocumented: Biblical Faith and Immigrant Justice. With Matthew Colwell. Maryknoll: Orbis Books.

'''2011''' Liberating Biblical Study: Scholarship, Art and Action in Honor of the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice. With Laurel Dykstra. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.

'''2009''' Ambassadors of Reconciliation, Vol. I: New Testament Reflections on Restorative Justice and Peacemaking. With Elaine Enns. Maryknoll: Orbis Books. <br /> Ambassadors of Reconciliation, Vol. II: Diverse Christian Practices of Restorative Justice and Peacemaking. With Elaine Enns. Maryknoll: Orbis Books.

'''1996''' “Say to This Mountain”: Mark's Story of Discipleship. With Stuart Taylor, Cindy Moe-Lobeda, Joseph Nangle, OFM and Marie Dennis. Maryknoll: Orbis Books.

'''1991''' The American Journey, 1492-1992: A Call to Conversion. With Stuart Taylor, Cindy Moe-Lobeda, and Marie Dennis. Erie, PA: Pax Christi Press.

'''1990''' Resisting the Serpent: Palau's Struggle for Self-Determination. With Robert Aldridge. Baltimore: Fortkamp Press.

==See also== {{portal|Biography|Theology}} * [[List of theologians]] * [[Lists of American writers]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.chedmyers.org chedmyers.org], his official website * [http://bcm-net.org bcm-net.org], official website of [[Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Ched}} [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:20th-century American writers]] [[Category:21st-century American writers]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American theologians]] [[Category:Christian radicals]] [[Category:American Christians]]