Theology Of The Crossroads In Contemporary Latin America

What Gutierrez has done for overall theological understanding, what Segundo has done for theological method, and what Miranda has done for biblical studies, Jon Sobrino has now done for Christology; He has provided a substantial and enduring theological contribution from a Third World perspective. This book will have long life, since it not only argues for the necessity of a Christology 'from the underside of history, ' but offers an extensive example of how such a Christology should be constructed, showing the basic connection between the radical historicity of Jesus and the suffering and pain of oppressed people. The thoroughness of the author's survey of other positions, the fullness of his documentation, and the pervasive power of his own affirmations make clear that 'Christology at the Crossroads' will not leave us stranded at the crossroads but will start us down exciting and demanding new paths. Robert McAfee Brown Professor of Ecumenics and World Christianity, Union Theological Seminary The publication of 'Christology at the Crossroads' in English is most opportune. It is not only the Christology presented in this book, but the Christology of the church at large (indeed of the churches) that stands at the crossroads at present. Those of us who have been working in this field know that in order to break through some deadlocked situations we need a Christology more soberly rooted in soteriology, more honestly founded upon the historical Jesus, and more realistically turned towards a future yet to be realized. Yet in the affluent and basically contented northern nations of the western world, this kind of Christology has not so far been written. To find it one must turn to the Third World theologians for the present, and among these Jon Sobrino's book is a landmark. Monika K. Hellwig Associate Professor of Theology, Georgetown Universit

Lieven Boeve examines the place of theology in the university, the church and society. He emphasizes that theology certainly belongs to all of these three domains as it belongs to the nature of theology to involve itself in all three spheres, especially at the crossroads where they overlap. Boeve discusses the recent document Theology Today from the International Theological Commission which circumscribes theology's place and task in the Catholic Church. Boeve discusses how the difficult relation between theology and philosophy is typical for a Church which has difficulty with the dialogue in today's world; as well as examines the relation between theology and religious studies. Going further, Boeve offers a reflection on Catholic identity today, focusing more specifically on education. He presents four models for considering the identity of Catholic schools in the light of the changed society and argues that dialogue in a context of plurality and difference can lead to new, fruitful ways to shape even the Catholic identity. Boeve concludes his discussion with a short assessment of Pope Benedict's papacy and emphasizes the need for the Catholic Church to convert itself before it can call the world to do the same.

This book goes to the very heart of the passionate debate over the true character of Christian faith and practice. The advance of liberation theology in the Latin American church has caused international reverberations within both the religious and political worlds. The Vatican was moved to denounce it as heretical, and the Reagan-Bush administration has deemed it a significant threat to the stability of the region. Here Batstone evaluates the writings of liberation theologians as they consider the central figure of Christian faith, Jesus of Nazareth, and asks whether a message of liberation for the poor and oppressed actually springs from the life and teachings of Jesus or is merely a religious projection of activists bent on radical social transformation. The judgment given to that issue will weigh heavily in the debate which currently rages in religious communities and seminaries over the political role and responsibility of the church. Batstone's work links these discussions to the concrete lives of the Latin American people and, in that sense, goes beneath the text and examines the subtext of religious reflection. Chapters present events and stories that originate in the daily realities of contemporary Latin America and then consider what connection these experiences have to the story of Jesus of Nazareth.

U.S. audiences know Latin American liberation theologies largely through translations of Latin American Catholics from the 1970s and beyond. Most of the few known Protestant authors were students of Richard Shaull, whose critical thinking on social change, prophetic Christianity, and dialogue with Marxism and Christian use of Marxist analysis precedes the emergence of the formal schools of liberation theology by two decades. His own education at Princeton, and the education he provided in Brazil, charts the course of Protestant influences into this stream of theological reflection that became a global phenomenon in the latter decades of the twentieth century. Also, Shaull's career roughly parallels the emergence of the World Council of Churches and the engagement of the Catholic Church--in Latin America and around the world--after the Second Vatican Council. He himself was engaged, and became the flash point, in some of the major conferences, movements, and institutions of the 1960s and beyond. Santiago-Vendrell documents the entrance of the ecumenical movement in Brazil, among the most dramatic transformations in Catholic-Protestant relations around the globe, as well as Shaull's role in that development. Along the way he notes Shaull's prophetic and destabilizing role in the worldwide student movement in the 60s and 70s, charting decisions that mark the ecumenical movement. Shaull's contributions are important for an understanding of the ethical debates in the worldwide, ecumenical Protestant and Orthodox communities. Santiago-Vendrell examines primary, secondary, and historical documents that shine a light on Shaull's transformation into a contextual theologian of the poor. He offers a definitive view of this North American Protestant missionary who wrote extensively on Latin American liberation theology, the base Christian communities, and how conversion to solidarity with the poor offers transforming possibilities for the mainline churches' theological identity and practical faith.

With reception history methodology this book presents the development of Latin American Evangelical Theology in the 1970s from the perspective of the participants both from North America and Latin America.

In the context of Latin America, the theology of liberation is both dominant and world renowned. However, this context and the pursuit of theological relevance belong also to other voices. Orlando E. Costas, Samuel Escobar, J. Andrew Kirk, Emilio A. Nunez and C. Rene Padilla are thinkers who have sought to bring an evangelical understanding of liberation to the people of Latin America. Despite their influence on national and international theology and despite their transformative contribution to the praxis of churches ministering in contexts of poverty, their thought has not been systematized to dates. This work deals with this lacuna presenting the vitality of Latin American evangelical theology which seeks to be biblical, relevant and missiologically effective, thus offering a liberation which is holistic and grounded in the kingdom of God.