From the time when lions fed on Christians to existing Vatican concordats the Church has been involved in politics. Only recently, however, has there been a serious attempt to construct an authentic political theology. This book makes a solid contribution to this evolving theology. Petulla not only shows that the Marxian analysis of alienation in modern society is accurate, but that the consequent demand for liberation is one which Christianity is almost uniquely equipped to meet. Not content with showing the abstract relevance of Marxist thought to Christian theology, the author also demonstrates how the views of Marx, Lenin and Mao can enrich the daily life of ecclesial communities. A steadily exciting book especially for the young, who think they are both post-Marxist and post-Christian. Joseph Petulla is a native of Pennsylvania, and one of the few published authors to claim Oil City as his birthplace. He received his A.B. from St. Bonaventure, an M.A. from Notre Dame and his Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, after interdisciplinary study at the University of California. In addition to teaching courses in religion on both the high school and college levels, he has contributed three volumes to the Sadlier High School Religion Series: The Friendship of Christ, Faith on Monday, All Over the World. He has also published widely discussed articles in Cross Currents, America and other ecumenical journals. Dr. Petulla is currently engaged in developing Urban Action Groups in the San Francisco Bay area. These groups attempt to integrate theory and practice in an educational experiment closely related to the 'ecclesial community' which the author delineates in the last section of this book. Christian Political Theology has, in fact, grown from the author's experience in organizing groups of young Christians interested in community action on a basis of realistic analysis and Gospel imperatives.