Mark D Russ
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markdruss.bsky.social
Mark D Russ
@markdruss.bsky.social
940 followers 480 following 600 posts
Theologian. Queer Quaker ✝️ /|\. PhD student at University of Nottingham constructing a critical White theology of Quaker worship. Author of "Quaker Shaped Christianity" (2022). (He/him) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ jollyquaker.com
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markdruss.bsky.social
@benjiw.bsky.social touched many lives. If you knew him and want to remember him in all his glorious gayness, come join us on 20th July #birmingham #lgbt+ #lgbtq+ #queer #gay
Ben's Big Gay Memorial. A spectacularly queer gathering to remember & celebrate our much-loved Ben - with drag, stories, music & cakes. 4pm Sunday 20th July. Upstairs at Eden Bar. 138 Gooch Street, Birmingham. Featuring Performance by Fatt Butcher & More. Picture of Ben with a huge smile in his baby blue Pirde outfit, with ruffled tulle sleeves and beret.
June 26, 2025 at 2:56 PM
markdruss.bsky.social
A great day at the Centre for Black #Theology, Regent's Park College in Oxford on "Atoning for the Sins of the Past," talking about reparations. Thanks to Thandi Soko-de Jong, Anthony Reddie, Michael Jagessar, Jo Sadgrove, Richard Reddie and all who attended for such a stimulating workshop.
Four people in discussion sat around a table at the front of a conference room.
February 13, 2025 at 4:52 PM
markdruss.bsky.social
Spent the last three days re-reading James Perkinson's "White Theology" (2004) and there's so much I missed the first time around. It's so pleasurable to return to a text like this, discovering more of its depths, and seeing how I've grown as a scholar. #PhD #PhDSky
White Theology: Outing Supremacy in Modernity by James W. Perkinson. Black Religion / Womanist Thought / Social Justice. "Perkinson does what no white theologian has done: offer a full-length treatment of white racism that is politically informed and theologically constructive." Mark Taylor, Princeton Theological Seminary. Cover image is an abstract square design, as if carved on stone, with a red face at the centre.
February 12, 2025 at 11:47 AM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No. 19 A History of God by Karen Armstrong
A History of God by Karen Armstrong. Author of The Case for God. The Sunday Times Bestseller. "Brilliantly lucid, splendidly readable... dazzling" Sunday Times.
February 11, 2025 at 2:09 PM
markdruss.bsky.social
Just finished Pedro Lemebel's "A Last Supper of Queer Apostles." Totally amazing. A searing queer look at life in Chile through the last decades of the 20th century. Each essay is a gem. Gwendolyn Harper's translation is a triumph.
A Last Supper of Queer Apostles: Selected Essays. by Pedro Lemebel. Pushkin Press. Winner English Pen Award. "He speaks brilliantly for a difference that refuses to disappear" Garth Greenwell. Cover image is a figure dressed extravagantly in the still of the Virgin Mary, with a high crown and veil, hands posed to bless.
February 7, 2025 at 9:13 AM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No. 18 The Theology of the Book of Revelation by Richard Bauckham
New Testament Theology. The Theology of the Book of Revelation by Richard Bauckham. Black cover with red and white text.
February 6, 2025 at 4:55 PM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No. 17 Testimony: Quakerism and Theological Ethics by Rachel Muers
Testimony: Quakerism and Theological Ethics by Rachel Muers. Cover image is a statue of Quaker martyr Mary Dyer.
January 27, 2025 at 4:39 PM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No. 16 Listening Spirituality by Patricia Loring
Listening Spirituality. Volume 1. Personal Spiritual Practices Among Friends by Patricia Loring. A white cover with a stylised floral image in black ink.
January 24, 2025 at 2:04 PM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No. 15 The Different Drum by M. Scott Peck.
The Different Drum: The Creation of True Community - the First Step to World Peace by M. Scott Peck. By the author of the 10-million copy bestseller The Road Less Travelled. Cover image is light playing on blue water.
January 22, 2025 at 10:29 AM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No. 14 Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. With a Foreword by Samuel Wells. Cover image is a black and yellow photograph of Bonhoeffer.
January 17, 2025 at 9:11 AM
markdruss.bsky.social
Currently reading "The Gift of the Other" by Andrew Shepherd. This book has helped me access the impenetrable philosophies of Levinas and Derrida. For months I've known these thinkers were relevant to my project but was scared of them. Until now. This is a #PhD win! 🥳 #PhdLife #theology
The Gift of the Other: Levinas, Derrida, and a Theology of Hospitality by Andre Shepherd. Foreword by Steven Bouma-Prediger. Princeton Theological Monograph Series. Cover image is a black and white photo of people dining outside under a tree strung with lanterns.
January 16, 2025 at 11:30 AM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No. 13 Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt. Penguin Modern Classics. Cover image is a colour picture of Eichmann pacing in a prison yard, an empty chair in the foreground.
January 16, 2025 at 8:00 AM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No.12 The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Penguin Modern Classics. A black and white photo of Baldwin in a sheepskin coat carrying a child in a coat and cap, each with a sorrowful look.
January 15, 2025 at 8:57 AM
markdruss.bsky.social
Just finished bell hooks' "All About Love: New Visions" (2000). The strength of the book is hooks' clear and practical definition of love. Love is as love does. The final chapter being all about angels took me by surprise! #spirituality
all about love: new visions by bell hooks. New York Times Bestseller. Scarlett cover with black and white type.
January 15, 2025 at 8:54 AM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No.11 The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age by George Lindbeck
The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age by George A. Lindbeck. 25th Anniversary Edition. With a new introduction by Bruce D. Marshall and a new afterword by the Author. Cover design is blue, white and gold.
January 13, 2025 at 6:24 PM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No.10 Bound to Sin: Abuse, Holocaust and the Christian Doctrine of Sin by Alistair McFadyen
Bound to Sin: Abuse, Holocaust and the Christian Doctrine of Sin by Alistair McFadyen. Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine. Cover design is pink with line figures in an abstract design.
January 10, 2025 at 9:39 AM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No.9 The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics by Stanley Hauerwas
The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics by Stanley Hauerwas. SCM Press. Cover image is the painting "The Peaceable Kingdom" showing various animals, predators and prey, coexisting peacefully.
January 9, 2025 at 4:18 PM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No.8 The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race by Willie James Jennings
The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race by Willie James Jennings. "A theological masterpiece." Chris Smith, Englewood Review of Books. Cover image a stylised sunrise.
January 8, 2025 at 10:15 AM
markdruss.bsky.social
Just started reading Miroslav Volf's "Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation." I'm only a few pages into the introduction and I can already tell this is going to be an amazing book. #theology
Miroslav Volf. Revised and Updated. Exclusion and Embrace, A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. Image of stone statue of two figures embracing.
January 7, 2025 at 2:29 PM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No.7 A Black Theology of Liberation by James Cone
A black theology of liberation by James H Cone. 50th anniversary edition. Foreword by Kelly Brown Douglas, introduction by Peter J Paris.
January 6, 2025 at 3:10 PM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No.6 Theories of Culture by Kathryn Tanner
Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology by Kathryn Tanner. Guides to Theological Inquiry. Cover image is black and dark blue, with a circuit board and globe
January 5, 2025 at 2:25 PM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No.5 Telling the Truth About God by Rhiannon Grant. This book also represents my friendship with Rhiannon, and all I've learned from our many conversations over the years.
Quaker Quicks, Telling the Truth About God by Rhiannon Grant. "wide-ranging, warm, wise, and witty." J. Brent Bill, author of Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality and Life Lessons of a Bad Quaker. Cover image is the silhouette of an outspread hand.
January 4, 2025 at 7:51 PM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No.4 A Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly
A Testament of Devotion by Thomas R. Kelly. Introduction by Richard J. Foster. "Each time I leaf through the pages of this book, I know I am in the presence of a giant soul." - from the Introduction. Image of a wooden picket fence.
January 3, 2025 at 11:18 AM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No.3 Apocalypse of the Word: The life and message of George Fox by Doug Gwyn
Apocalypse of the Word: the life and message of George Fox by Douglas Gwyn. Burgundy book cover with cream text.
December 29, 2024 at 7:28 AM
markdruss.bsky.social
20 books that have shaped my theology. No.2 The Great Divorce by C S Lewis
The Great Divorce by C S Lewis. The timeless novel about a bus ride from hell to heaven. A red white and blue cover design with a firey red bus.
December 28, 2024 at 7:35 AM