In an introductory tribute to Lutheran theologian Dorothee Soelle, Robert McAfee Brown writes: "She is an activist who is also a mystic; she refuses to separate prayer and politics and stresses the redemptive possibilities in every human situation." Born in 1929, this scholar and feminist came of age in Nazi Germany during World War II. To her, Auschwitz revealed the evil of human nature and the absence of God. Soelle, who went on to teach theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York, reflects upon the wisdom she learned from such teachers, friends, and luminaries as Marie Veit, a liberation theologian; Rudolf Bultmann, the great demythologizer; Elie Wiesel, Jewish author; Heinrich Boll, German novelist; and Beverly Harrison, mother of feminist theology.

Always conscious of the link between faith and politics, Soelle has spent a lifetime serving the cause of justice as an activist in the human rights, peace, and sanctuary movements. She also writes poetically about her experiences as a daughter, wife, mother, and grandmother.

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