Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, M.Div., associate professor of justice and peace studies at St. Thomas, is a nationally recognized teacher, writer, public speaker, and activist committed to nonviolent social change. He has focused his life and work on showing linkages between faith and critical political, economic and social issues. He has written extensively on issues of hunger, poverty, U.S. foreign policy, the historical Jesus, problems of God and violence, and authentic hope. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
Jack served as National Program Coordinator of the Politics of Food Program with Clergy & Laity Concerned from 1977 to 1981. He directed the Minnesota-based Hunger and Justice Project for the American Lutheran Church and Lutheran Church in America from 1982 to 1984. He and his wife Sara co-directed a house of studies in Managua, Nicaragua for the Center for Global Education, a program of Augsburg College from 1984-1986. Currently, he is active in the national movement to close the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA; renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation: WHISC or WHINSEC), a U.S. military training school that trains Latin American soldiers and has been linked to human rights atrocities.
At St. Thomas, Jack teaches JPST 250: Introduction to Justice and Peace Studies; JPST 280: Active Nonviolence; THEO 421: Theologies of Justice and Peace; JPST 355: Public Policy Analysis and Advocacy; and occasional topics courses.
He is the author of numerous articles and books on faith, hunger, the arms race and U.S. foreign policy. His books include:
Hunger for Justice: the Politics of Food and Faith (Orbis Books, 1980), The Politics of Compassion (Orbis Books, 1986), War Against The Poor: Low Intensity Conflict and Christian Faith (Orbis Books, 1989), Brave New World Order: Must We Pledge Allegiance (Orbis Books, 1992), Families Valued: Parenting and Politics for the Good of All Children (Friendship Press, 1996), School of Assassins (Orbis Books, 1997), Harvest of Cain -his first novel (EPICA, 2001), Jesus Against Christianity: Reclaiming the Missing Jesus (Trinity Press International, 2001) School of Assassins: Guns, Greed and Globalization (Orbis Books, 2001). Is Religion Killing Us: Violence in the Bible and the Quran (Trinity Press International, 2003). Worship in the Spirit of Jesus: Theology, Liturgy, and Songs Without Violence (with Bret Hesla -Pilgrim Press, 2005). Saving Christianity from Empire (Continuum, 2005). Authentic Hope: It’s the End of the World as We Know It, but Soft Landings Are Possible (Orbis Books, 2012).
Jack has three daughters. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife Sara and is active in the faith-based Community of St. Martin.