Overview

Examining prisons from the perspectives of sociology, theology, history, and biblical exegesis, Griffith argues that the church has taken a woefully wrong turn by aligning itself with the traditional justice system. He shows how prisons are clearly ineffective at deterring crime and rehabilitating offenders and maintains that Christians should be even more concerned with how the prison fails in principle than how it fails in practice.

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9780802806703

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Reviews

Will D. Campbell --author of Brother to a Dragonfly and The Convention Jesus said he had come to proclaim release to prisoners. In The Fall of the Prison Lee Griffith makes what Jesus meant altogether clear. Now it is for us who have ears. Howard Zehr --Mennonite Central Committee A fundamental and comprehensive critique of not only prisons but also the ideology and history undergirding them. . . . Griffith does not stop at critique, however, but suggests some directions that faithfulness points in this jaded, tough-minded era in which we live. Library Journal There is more than scholarship here. Moving anecdotes drawn from Griffith's ministerial involvement with Christian communities and his experiences as both a prisoner and a robbery victim enhance his arguments. . . . Challenging and provocative. Walter Wink --Auburn Theological Seminary Armed only with the relentless logic of the gospel, Lee Griffith unmasks the whole system of revenge that masquerades as 'correctional' institutions. His call for an end to imprisonment, so seemingly fantastic at first, builds to stark realism. And catch the surprise ending!

Will D. Campbell --author of Brother to a Dragonfly and The Convention ""Jesus said he had come to proclaim release to prisoners. In The Fall of the Prison Lee Griffith makes what Jesus meant altogether clear. Now it is for us who have ears."" Howard Zehr --Mennonite Central Committee ""A fundamental and comprehensive critique of not only prisons but also the ideology and history undergirding them. . . . Griffith does not stop at critique, however, but suggests some directions that faithfulness points in this jaded, tough-minded era in which we live."" Library Journal ""There is more than scholarship here. Moving anecdotes drawn from Griffith's ministerial involvement with Christian communities and his experiences as both a prisoner and a robbery victim enhance his arguments. . . . Challenging and provocative."" Walter Wink --Auburn Theological Seminary ""Armed only with the relentless logic of the gospel, Lee Griffith unmasks the whole system of revenge that masquerades as 'correctional' institutions. His call for an end to imprisonment, so seemingly fantastic at first, builds to stark realism. And catch the surprise ending!""

Author Information

Lee Griffith is a teacher, author, and social activist currently working with a community mental health program in Elmira, New York. A frequent contributor to magazines like The Other Side, Sojourners, and Brethren Life and Thought, he is also the author of The Fall of the Prison: Biblical Perspectives on Prison Abolition, chosen by Christianity Today as one of the best books of 1993.

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