Reviewed Book: Sobrino, Jon. The principle of mercy: taking the crucified people from the cross. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1994

Kelly, Nancy Vernon

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 21Issue 2 Aspects of Ecumenity Article 2911-1-1995The Principle of Mercy: taking the Crucified Peoplefrom the CrossNancy Vernon KellyFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationKelly, Nancy Vernon (1995) "The Principle of Mercy: taking the Crucified People from the Cross," Consensus: Vol. 21 : Iss. 2 , Article29.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol21/iss2/29Book Reviews 147The Principle of Mercy: Taking the Crucified Peoplefrom the CrossJon SobrinoMaryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1994199 pp.The Principle of Mercy: Taking the Crucified People from the Crossis a collection of nine essays about the church’s practice of mercy in thecontext of “this divided humankind where some live and others die, wherethe life of some partly depends on the death of others and vice versa”.The book has three parts: I. The Essential Character of Mercy, II. TwoManifestations of Mercy: Priesthood and Solidarity, and III. An Analysisof the Crucified Reality of the Third World. Sobrino’s examples come fromexperience with the crucified people of El Salvador—not only his martyredfriends and Archbishop Oscar Romero but also the nameless campesinoswho suffered crucifixion long before the church brought their suffering tothe world’s attention.Jon Sobrino is a Jesuit priest and liberation theologian from Spain whohas spent most of the last forty years living and working in El Salvador.Because he was out of the country at the time, he survived the 1989 gov-ernment massacre of six of his Jesuit companions and two women at theUniversity of Central America.The idea of “taking the crucified people from the cross” comes fromSobrino’s beloved, martyred colleague Ignacio Ellacuria. “Crucified peo-ple” was Ellacuria’s way of referring to the Third World. The church’smost urgent demand, according to Sobrino, is to take the crucified peo-ple from the cross. This, to him, means practicing a risky kind of mercy.Using the Parable of the Good Samaritan as inspiration, Sobrino exploresThe Samaritan Church and the Principle of Mercy, Theology in a SufferingWorld, Yahweh’s Suffering Servant Today, A Theological Analysis of Chris-tian Solidarity and The Legacy of the Martyrs of the Central AmericanUniversity.Sobrino’s essay “Towards a Determination of the Nature of Priesthood”responds to the question “What is the essential nature of priesthood?”Not surprisingly, Sobrino thinks that the essence of priesthood is mercy:the priest comes near in mercy as Jesus does and sacrifices his own life.Sobrino contrasts this New Testament view of Christ’s priesthood with theOld Testament view of priests who were set apart, “rigorous with humanbeings”, and distinct from victims.Sobrino extends these thoughts about priesthood beyond the narrowsense of ministerial priesthood to an entire priestly church filled with for-given people who are capable of risky mercy in the middle of real history.This priestly church identifies with victims and shares in their crucifixionand resurrection. It uses the example of the Good Samaritan to reclaimwhat it means to be a human being who “absorbs in her innards the suf-fering of another”.148 ConsensusPastors who hope to help congregations reflect on the difference betweensimple works of mercy (feeding, clothing, housing) and a guiding principleof mercy (a risky ongoing process of sharing the crucifixion and resurrectionof the majority of the world’s people) will find encouragement in theseessays. This book is good preparation for accompanying a congregationthrough the process of writing a mission statement. It challenges NorthAmerican readers (for whom it is written) to consider what it means to bethe church in a world of misery and injustice that is marked by movementsof liberation and unexpected hope.Nancy Vernon KellyWaterloo, OntarioThe Practice of PreachingPaul Scott WilsonToronto: The United Church Publishing House; Nashville:Abingdon, 1995329 pp.Pretty well every year someone, somewhere, offers a homiletical primerto preachers and seminary students. Each is important if only to sig-nal contemporary concerns and developments, and to share the accumu-lated wisdom of the author. Occasionally a primer becomes a homileticalbenchmark. Henry Grady Davis’ Design for Preaching (1958) was one;Fred Craddock’s As One Without Authority (1971) and David Buttrick’sHomiletic (1987) are others. My judgment is that Paul Scott Wilson’s ThePractice of Preaching will be the latest homiletical benchmark.H. Grady Davis signalled two major shifts in homiletical theory: theconcept of organic unity (content and form are inseparable), which openedthe door to ways of knowing other than rational logic; and the perceptionof language as the creator of reality, which allowed us to begin to per-ceive the sermon as the creation of an alternative world in which we canlive. Craddock articulated the postmodern shift from preacher-orientedto listener-oriented preaching, which means that it is the listener, finally,who through participation in the sermon makes meaning. Buttrick ex-amined meticulously “what happens” in the preaching-listening situation(“images”, he concluded, are “formed in consciousness”) and thus installedancient rhetoric as once more the companion discipline of homiletics.But homiletics has always been uneasy with this mate because rhetoric,after all, is the “art of persuasion” while preaching’s aim is to “proclaim”.Does not, therefore, the embracing of rhetoric mean the wholesale abdica-tion of the kerygma of the N.T. in favour of catering to the needs and whimsof the listener? In a day of huge media influence, panic regarding member

The Principle of Mercy: taking the Crucified People from the Cross

Scholars Commons

Consensus
Volume 21
Issue 2 Aspects of Ecumenity Article 29
11-1-1995
The Principle of Mercy: taking the Crucified People
from the Cross
Nancy Vernon Kelly
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus
This Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by an
authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.
Recommended Citation
Kelly, Nancy Vernon (1995) "The Principle of Mercy: taking the Crucified People from the Cross," Consensus: Vol. 21 : Iss. 2 , Article
29.
Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol21/iss2/29
Book Reviews 147
The Principle of Mercy: Taking the Crucified People
from the Cross
Jon Sobrino
Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1994
199 pp.
The Principle of Mercy: Taking the Crucified People from the Cross
is a collection of nine essays about the church’s practice of mercy in the
context of “this divided humankind where some live and others die, where
the life of some partly depends on the death of others and vice versa”.
The book has three parts: I. The Essential Character of Mercy, II. Two
Manifestations of Mercy: Priesthood and Solidarity, and III. An Analysis
of the Crucified Reality of the Third World. Sobrino’s examples come from
experience with the crucified people of El Salvador—not only his martyred
friends and Archbishop Oscar Romero but also the nameless campesinos
who suffered crucifixion long before the church brought their suffering to
the world’s attention.
Jon Sobrino is a Jesuit priest and liberation theologian from Spain who
has spent most of the last forty years living and working in El Salvador.
Because he was out of the country at the time, he survived the 1989 gov-
ernment massacre of six of his Jesuit companions and two women at the
University of Central America.
The idea of “taking the crucified people from the cross” comes from
Sobrino’s beloved, martyred colleague Ignacio Ellacuria. “Crucified peo-
ple” was Ellacuria’s way of referring to the Third World. The church’s
most urgent demand, according to Sobrino, is to take the crucified peo-
ple from the cross. This, to him, means practicing a risky kind of mercy.
Using the Parable of the Good Samaritan as inspiration, Sobrino explores
The Samaritan Church and the Principle of Mercy, Theology in a Suffering
World, Yahweh’s Suffering Servant Today, A Theological Analysis of Chris-
tian Solidarity and The Legacy of the Martyrs of the Central American
University.
Sobrino’s essay “Towards a Determination of the Nature of Priesthood”
responds to the question “What is the essential nature of priesthood?”
Not surprisingly, Sobrino thinks that the essence of priesthood is mercy:
the priest comes near in mercy as Jesus does and sacrifices his own life.
Sobrino contrasts this New Testament view of Christ’s priesthood with the
Old Testament view of priests who were set apart, “rigorous with human
beings”, and distinct from victims.
Sobrino extends these thoughts about priesthood beyond the narrow
sense of ministerial priesthood to an entire priestly church filled with for-
given people who are capable of risky mercy in the middle of real history.
This priestly church identifies with victims and shares in their crucifixion
and resurrection. It uses the example of the Good Samaritan to reclaim
what it means to be a human being who “absorbs in her innards the suf-
fering of another”.
148 Consensus
Pastors who hope to help congregations reflect on the difference between
simple works of mercy (feeding, clothing, housing) and a guiding principle
of mercy (a risky ongoing process of sharing the crucifixion and resurrection
of the majority of the world’s people) will find encouragement in these
essays. This book is good preparation for accompanying a congregation
through the process of writing a mission statement. It challenges North
American readers (for whom it is written) to consider what it means to be
the church in a world of misery and injustice that is marked by movements
of liberation and unexpected hope.
Nancy Vernon Kelly
Waterloo, Ontario
The Practice of Preaching
Paul Scott Wilson
Toronto: The United Church Publishing House; Nashville:
Abingdon, 1995
329 pp.
Pretty well every year someone, somewhere, offers a homiletical primer
to preachers and seminary students. Each is important if only to sig-
nal contemporary concerns and developments, and to share the accumu-
lated wisdom of the author. Occasionally a primer becomes a homiletical
benchmark. Henry Grady Davis’ Design for Preaching (1958) was one;
Fred Craddock’s As One Without Authority (1971) and David Buttrick’s
Homiletic (1987) are others. My judgment is that Paul Scott Wilson’s The
Practice of Preaching will be the latest homiletical benchmark.
H. Grady Davis signalled two major shifts in homiletical theory: the
concept of organic unity (content and form are inseparable), which opened
the door to ways of knowing other than rational logic; and the perception
of language as the creator of reality, which allowed us to begin to per-
ceive the sermon as the creation of an alternative world in which we can
live. Craddock articulated the postmodern shift from preacher-oriented
to listener-oriented preaching, which means that it is the listener, finally,
who through participation in the sermon makes meaning. Buttrick ex-
amined meticulously “what happens” in the preaching-listening situation
(“images”, he concluded, are “formed in consciousness”) and thus installed
ancient rhetoric as once more the companion discipline of homiletics.
But homiletics has always been uneasy with this mate because rhetoric,
after all, is the “art of persuasion” while preaching’s aim is to “proclaim”.
Does not, therefore, the embracing of rhetoric mean the wholesale abdica-
tion of the kerygma of the N.T. in favour of catering to the needs and whims
of the listener? In a day of huge media influence, panic regarding member


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