Practicing Reconciliation in a Violent World

How do we practice reconciliation in a world full of violence? How do we love someone at work who seems hell-bent on sabotaging a successful career? And how do religious people resolve differences when religious interpretations seem to lead to righteous indignation rather than reconciliation?

We practice reconciliation, according to Michael Battle, by affirming that God is present and acting on that belief, even in the midst of something that looks more like the devil's work. Battle, who worked with Desmond Tutu in South Africa in the past, draws on his knowledge of biblical texts, as well as contemporary scholarship, to examine the ways in which each of us can practice being reconciling people.

Michael Battle is the Extraordinary Professor at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, and formerly taught at General Theological Seminary in New York where he was the Herbert Thompson Professor of Church and Society and Director of the Desmond Tutu Center. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and later given one of the highest Anglican Church distinctions as “Six Preacher,” by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. Battle has published nine books, including Reconciliation: the Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu, and Ubuntu: I in You and You in Me. He lives in Knightdale, North Carolina.