Unsettling the Word

Overview

“The Bible has been used in so many contexts as a text for colonization, exclusion, and cultural genocide. Unsettling the Word invites us to rediscover the Bible as a text of liberation, not occupation, of life, not death.”- Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, Bethlehem, Palestine

“Unsettling the Word is an extremely useful book, focused on decolonizing the foundational text for all euro-christian colonialism of the past few centuries. Steve Heinrichs has brought together a superb list of authors and put them in conversation with one another. Both euro-christian and Native folk will benefit from reading this text.” - Dr. Tink Tinker (wazhazhe / Osage Nation), Iliff School of Theology

For generations, the Bible has been employed by settler colonial societies as a weapon to dispossess Indigenous and racialized peoples of their lands, cultures, and spiritualties. Given this devastating legacy, many of these people want nothing to do with it. But is it possible for the exploited and their allies to reclaim the Bible from the dominant powers? Can it serve as an instrument for justice in the cause of the oppressed, and even a nonviolent weapon toward decolonization?

In Unsettling the Word, over 60 Indigenous and Settler authors come together to wrestle with the Scriptures, rereading and re-imagining the ancient text for the sake of reparative futures. When read through these new lenses, the biblical texts come alive in new and surprising ways.

Steve Heinrichs is the Director of Indigenous-Settler Relations for the Mennonite Church Canada.