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William Stringfellow: Essential Writings. Selected with an Introduction by Bill Wylie-Kellermann. Modem Spiritual Masters Series. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2013. 256 pp. $22.00 (paper).
Surprisingly little has been published about William Stringfeilow since he died in 1985, despite his seminal influence on such thinkers and activists as Walter Wink, Jim Wallis, and Elizabeth McAlister. Bill Wylie-Kellermann, a Methodist pastor and activist who serves an Episcopal parish in Detroit, has offered arguably the best introduction to date to the life and work of the radical Episcopal lawyer and lay theologian who articulated a biblical theology of the powers and served many of his generation as a prophetic voice against the ubiquitous forces of domination afflicting church, society, and politics. Wylie-Kellermann, who edited a longer Stringfeilow anthology two decades ago, more recently helped direct the project to reprint the works of his friend and mentor through Wipf and Stock.
The introduction briefly sketches Stringfeilow s life, setting up the judiciously selected primary text excerpts to follow. Raised in New England by working class parents, Stringfeilow studied debate at Rhodes College and became a leader in ecumenical student Christian work. After earning a Harvard law degree, he spumed more lucrative prospects to practice street law in East Harlem, where he confronted the principalities of...