Beyond a �Political Priest�: Exploring Desmond Tutu as a �Freedom-Fighter Mystic�
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Date
2021
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Black Theology An International Journal
Abstract
The purpose of this essay is to critically review the remarkably unique account of Desmond Tutu�s life presented by Michael
Battle in his book �Desmond Tutu: A Spiritual Biography of South Africa�s Confessor.� The central contention of this essay is that Michael Battle shifts the paradigm of biographical research about Desmond Tutu beyond the popular trope of �political priest� to that of �freedom fighter-mystic.� Through a careful filtering of Tutu�s life via the three stages of mysticism � purgation, illumination and union, Battle makes a convincing case that Tutu�s political actions for justice were not in spite of his deep spirituality, but because of it. This ethnographic spiritual
biography troubles the binaries between the sacred and the secular, between spiritual contemplation and social action, and between God�s justice and social justice, thereby inviting readers to the warm embrace of a more authentic spirituality.
Description
Keywords
Spirituality, Biography, Social justice, Mysticism
Citation
Sarojini Nadar (2021) Beyond a �Political Priest�: Exploring Desmond Tutu as a �Freedom-Fighter Mystic�, Black Theology, 19:3, 268-275, DOI: 10.1080/14769948.2021.1997167