Although we loathe admitting it, Christians have often, throughcrusade, conquest, and commerce, used the name and powerof Christ to promote and justify political, economic, and evenmilitary gain.

Rieger's ambitious and faith-filled project chips away at thecolonial legacy of Christology to find the authentic Christ - orrather the many authentic depictions of Christ in history andtheology that survive our self-serving domestications. Against theseeming inevitability of globalized unfairness, Rieger holds up a"stumbling block" that confounds even empire.