Today I received the quiet but deeply meaningful news that my article “Deror and Jubilee: biblical release as a framework for economic and ecological justice” has been published in Theology (Volume 129, Issue 3, 2026).
This feels like a significant milestone on the journey. Theology is one of the oldest and most respected theological journals in the English-speaking world — a journal with real historical weight, read across continents by scholars, pastors, and thoughtful believers. To have my first full-length peer-reviewed article appear in its pages is something I will always treasure.
The article was generously assessed by Professor George Pattison, one of the finest theological minds of our generation. His careful and positive engagement with the work meant more to me than I can easily express. When a scholar of his stature takes your ideas seriously, it gives you both courage and humility at the same time.
What the Article Tries to Do
At its heart, the piece is an attempt to listen carefully to the biblical tradition of deror — that powerful Hebrew word for “release” or “liberty” — and ask what it might mean for us today. Beginning with the Jubilee legislation in Leviticus 25, moving through Isaiah 61’s prophetic hope, and landing in Jesus’ inaugural sermon in Luke 4, I trace how deror functions as a divine interruption of cycles of debt, accumulation, and exploitation.
I argue that Jubilee is neither an ancient curiosity nor a purely spiritual metaphor. It offers a coherent theological grammar for thinking about economic repair and ecological renewal in our own time. The land itself, the poor, the indebted, and the creation we inhabit — all are caught up in God’s vision of periodic release, restoration, and justice.
Writing this article felt personal. As someone who has watched communities (including my own South African context) struggle with debt, inequality, and environmental degradation, I found myself returning again and again to the biblical conviction that God’s justice is not abstract — it has economic and ecological teeth.
Gratitude and Perspective
This publication would not have happened without the support, conversation, and prayer of many people. I am especially grateful to all my colleagues and friends who have walked with me through the long nights of writing and revising.
Most of all, I am grateful to God — the God of deror, the God who still proclaims release to the captives and good news to the poor. This work is offered in the hope that it might, in some small way, contribute to that ongoing divine project of liberation and restoration.
Looking Forward
This article is not an isolated piece. It stands as one important thread in a larger tapestry I have been weaving for several years now — the monograph Transdiasporic Lament and the Revelationary Spirit. The quartet of papers on height and reversal, the maternal theology papers, and now this exploration of Jubilee all point toward the same conviction: that the biblical story offers us not just comfort in suffering but resources for resistance, repair, and hope in the face of contemporary crises.
There is still much work to do. The monograph is advancing. More papers are in process. The conversation continues.
But today, I pause to give thanks.
To everyone who has read, encouraged, challenged, or prayed for this work — thank you. To those who carry heavy burdens of debt, grief, or ecological anxiety — may these ancient words of deror bring a measure of comfort and courage. And to the God who proclaims liberty to the captives and good news to the poor — thank you for allowing me to participate, however imperfectly, in your work of release and renewal.
The full article is available through Sage Journals (DOI: 10.1177/0040571X24114913).
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Grace and peace to you all,
Mark.