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Jesus the Forgiving Victim: Listening for the Unheard Voice

Authors

James Alison
Imitatio

Keywords:

Mimetic desire, Scapegoat Mechanism, Intelligence of the Victim, Non-violent Atonement, Risen Lord

Synopsis

In Jesus the Forgiving Victim, priest-theologian James Alison offers a journey into the Christian Faith suitable for individual readers and group sharing. While much catechetical material is either informative or lays down “what must be believed”, the inductive method (insisted on by Pope Francis and used here) invites readers, or course participants, into the inside of a rich and penetrating mystery: God who does not demand sacrifice but offers a love far greater than any of us knows. One which empowers us to shift from a way of being together that creates victims to one received peacefully from the Risen Lord.

Alison uses the anthropological insights of René Girard to allow the most traditional doctrines to come alive as you explore a human story where death no longer has the final say and every "outsider" is welcomed home. Through the eyes of the Risen and Forgiving Victim, learn to see yourself, your neighbour, and the world in a startlingly new—and deeply liberating—light. While obviously Catholic in content and methodology, this work has been widely used ecumenically without causing scandal.

NOTE ON THE NEW EDITION: This is the new, consolidated single-volume, and revised second edition of James Alison’s classic work. The present 2026 English edition has been typeset to fit the complete, unabridged text into 364 pages. This reduction in bulk makes the book significantly lighter, more portable, and more accessible for study groups—whether via the open-access version (available from www.aliosventos.com), the Kindle ebook, or the paperback—without omitting a single word of the original content. Finally, the hardcover version features premium colour printing, making it the definitive collector's piece for any theological library.

James Alison (London 1959) is a Catholic Theologian and Priest. He had the privilege of studying theology under great Dominican and Jesuit teachers in both Europe and Latin America. His life’s work has been exploring the fecundity for theology of the insight concerning desire and violence of René Girard (Avignon, 1923 - Palo Alto, 2015). Here, he shares the paradigm shift that thought offers as an inductive entry into Christian Faith for adults.

  • “James Alison belongs on any short list of the most important living Catholic theologians”. — America, the National Catholic Review
  • “I can't think of another theologian today who has me reaching so often to underline a quotable passage”. — Commonweal Magazine
  • “There are very few books that I would say I have found life-changing, but this is one”. — Matt, Verified Purchase Review
  • “Alison challenges long term presumptions with humor and insight”. — John Alden Tagliarini, Reader Review

Chapters

  • Cover and Front Matter
  • Contents
  • Preface to the New Edition
  • “Don’t Speak Until You’re Spoken To”
  • Emmaus and Eucharist
  • Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book? (Part 1)
  • Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Book? (Part 2)
  • Stand Up and Be Godless! On Receiving the Gift of Faith
  • Undergoing Atonement: The Reverse-Flow Sacrifice
  • Induction into a People
  • Inhabiting Texts and Being Discovered
  • Prayer: Getting Inside the Shift of Desire
  • The Portal and the Halfway House: Spacious Imagination and Aristocratic Belonging
    El portal y el centro de rehabilitación: Imaginación espaciosa y pertenencia aristocrática
  • A Little Family Upheaval
  • Neighbours and Insiders: What’s It Like to Dwell in a Non-moralistic Commandment?
  • Epilogue: The “Mmmmmm!” Factor
  • Appendix to Chapter 2: Luke 24:13-35
  • Colophon

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Published

January 31, 2026 — Updated on February 5, 2026

Versions

Series

Spirituality Library
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