Ronald James Sider

Ronald James Sider

Ronald James Sider (born September 17, 1939 in Stevensville ) is a Canadian historian, theologian, social activist, founder of the Think-Thank Evangelicals for Social Action and professor of theology, diakonia and politics at the Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood , Pennsylvania . He is considered one of the leading left- wing evangelicals (American: Red-Letter Christians ) who combine the gospel with social and political engagement.

Life

Sider is the son of a Canadian pastor of the Anabaptist - Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church and grew up in Ontario . He studied at the Lutheran University of Waterloo (today: Wilfrid Laurier University ) and received a bachelor's degree in European history. During this time he came into contact with people from the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship who encouraged him to pursue a career in science. He graduated from Yale University with a Masters and PhD in history . In 1968 he accepted an invitation from Messiah College , which is located in downtown Philadelphia , where he has taught since then. In this part of the city he experienced racism , poverty and indifference from many Christians. So in 1977 he wrote a book about rich Christians in the Age of Hunger to shake up those around him, entitled: Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity . Since then, this work has also been translated into other languages ​​and 350,000 copies have been sold. Sider worked tirelessly on biblical answers to the prevailing social injustice.

In 1973, Sider and 52 like-minded people published the Chicago Declaration for Social Issues , followed by the 2nd Chicago Declaration, A Call for Gospel Renewal , in 1993 . In 2004 he signed the document Confessing Christians in a World of Violence . In 2008, he ran a full-page ad with human rights activists and religious leaders in the New York Times to “ brand violence and intimidation, regardless of whether the victims are believers, homosexuals or anyone else. ” As a consistent pro-life advocate, he urged fellow Christians to stand up against abortion , the death penalty , nuclear weapons , hunger and other life-destroying practices and to be fully committed to life and human dignity . In 2009 he supported both the social encyclical Caritas in veritate of Pope Benedict XVI. and the Manhattan Ecumenical Declaration against Abortion and Same-Sex Marriage of Conscience. In 2011 he was in Switzerland and spoke in Biel about the necessary social and political commitment of Christians beyond party lines.

Private

Sider is married to Arbutus Lichti, they have three grown children and live in the German quarter of Philadelphia and belong to the Grantham and Oxford Circle Mennonite Churches. One son is Theodore Sider , who is a professor of philosophy at Cornell University in Ithaca , New York .

Works

Sider has published over 20 books, written hundreds of articles in religious and secular magazines on a variety of life and belief topics, and is the editor of PRISM magazine. The following books have been translated into German:

• Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt: The Development of his Thought 1517-1525 , Brill, Leiden 1974
• Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity. Intervarsity 1977 *
  • The way through the eye of the needle. Christians and world hunger. Aussaat , Neukirchen 1978. (5th edition 1986. ISBN 978-3-76153-122-8 ).
• Christ and Violence . Herald, Scottdale (Pennsylvania) 1979
  • Jesus and violence. Bundes-Verlag , Witten 1982. ISBN 978-3-88744-001-5
• with Richard K. Taylor: Nuclear Holocaust and Christian Hope. Intervarsity, Downers Grove
  • Turning away from idols. Biblical hope as a guide out of atomic madness. Sowing, Neukirchen 1984. ISBN 3-7615-2331-9
  • ... because they don't do what they know. The difficult art of not being half a Christian. Brendow , Moers 1995. ISBN 978-3-87067-601-8
  • The Jesus strategy: "So far we have only preached the gospel. Now it is time to live it too!". Brendow, Moers 1997. (New edition 2010. ISBN 978-3-86506-321-2 )

Web links

Commons : Ron Sider  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• [9] Sider on the Evangelicals homepage for social action

Individual evidence

1. ^ [1] Sider at Evangelicals for Social Action
2. ^ [2] Sider at the Palmer Seminar
3. ↑ [3] Sider's blog as a pioneer of left evangelicals on Patheos
4. ^ [4] Sider in Christianity Today
5. ^ [5] Report on Sierre's speech in 2011 in Biel at www.jesus.ch
6. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Sider and his influence on www.acton.org 
7. ↑ [6] Sider's biography at www.povertyforum.org
8. ↑ [7] Short biography about Ron Sider on www.directionjournal.org
9. ↑ [8] Sider as the author on www.goodreads.com