James Alison (born 1959) is a Catholic theologian and author. He is noted for his work on gay issues and the application of René Girard's anthropological theory in theology.
In Faith Beyond Resentment he describes his own family background as "conservative middle-class English evangelical Protestant". His father was the late Rt. Hon. Michael Alison, Tory MP (1964–1997); a Second Church Estates Commissioner (a Church of England appointment), who "campaigned vigorously against abortion, gambling, pornography and any relaxation of the age of consent for homosexual relationships".[1] Alison is reported to have left the Church of England at age eighteen[2] to join the Catholic Church.
Alison studied at Blackfriars College at the University of Oxford and earned his bachelor's degree and doctorate in theology from the Jesuit Theology Faculty in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He was a member of the Dominican Order - his Master's degree is a Dominican Lectorate - from 1981 to 1995. He has lived and worked in Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and the United States. Currently he is based in São Paulo, Brazil.
Alison claims his expressed disagreement with regards to the official (Roman Catholic) Church teaching on homosexuality is itself based on the official Church teaching concerning Nature, Grace and Original Sin (see homosexuality and Roman Catholicism).