David Justice, Ph.D.

Education

Ph.D. in Christian Theology, Saint Louis University (St. Louis, MO)

Graduate Minor in Women’s and Gender Studies

M.A. in Theological Ethics, Saint Louis University (St. Louis, MO)           

M.A. in Philosophy, University of Missouri—St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)

B.A. in Philosophy, Cum Laude, Greenville University (Greenville, IL)

Academic Interests and Research Narratives

The research focus for my dissertation was the political theology of Martin Luther King Jr. There, I explored the fundamental transformation and, at times, destruction necessary to make the Beloved Community a reality. My current research focuses on the theology and activism of Martin Luther King Jr. and how we can theorize a decolonized, holistic understanding of the Beloved Community and begin to construct that community in the here and now.

Research interests: Theology and Activism of Martin Luther King, Jr., Decolonial and Liberatory Study of Religion, African-American Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies

Publications

Journal

“The Sword that Heals: King, the Black Radical Tradition, and the Destructive Power of the Beloved Community,” Black Theology Papers Project (Accepted for Publication)

Online

“On Prophetic Rage,” Sightings, The University of Chicago Divinity School, October 21, 2021, https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/articles/prophetic-rage-0.

“Negating Racial Capitalism Through the Beloved Community,” The Bias Magazine, Institute for Christian Socialism, January 18, 2021, http://christiansocialism.com/martin-luther-king-jr-racial-capitalism-negative-theology/.

Columnist, Conciliar Post, https://conciliarpost.com/author/david-justice/ (2019-2022)

Book Reviews

Nonviolence Before King: The Politics of Being and the Black Freedom Struggle by Anthony C. Siracusa in Reading Religion, published May 20, 2022, http://readingreligion.org/9781469663005/nonviolence-before-king/.

The #BlackLivesMatter Movement: Toward an Intersectional Theology by Edward Donalson III in Reading Religion, published July 9, 2021, https://readingreligion.org/books/blacklivesmatter-movement.

America's Unholy Ghosts: The Racist Roots of Our Faith and Politics by Joel Edward Goza in Reading Religion, August 11, 2020, https://readingreligion.org/books/americas-unholy-ghosts.

Said I Wasn’t Gonna Tell Nobody: The Making of Black Theologian by James Cone in Reading Religion, July 31, 2019 http://readingreligion.org/books/said-i-wasnt-gonna-tell-nobody.

Selected Awards and Fellowships

Saint Louis University Dissertation Fellowship

Religion and Public Life Graduate Fellowship for the Lived Religion in the

Digital Age Project

Culturally Responsive Graduate Fellow in the Reinert Center for

Transformative Teaching and Learning

SLU College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Thesis Award

Henry Luce Foundation: Religion and Public Life Fellow

Thulin Prize for Excellence in the Study of Religion

The Students’ Choice “Best Classes at GU”