Reviewed Book: Barbé, Dominique. Grace and Power: Base Communities and Nonviolence in Brazil. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1987

Snyder, C. Arnold

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 15Issue 1 Mission of the Church Article 195-1-1989Grace and Power: Base Communities andNonviolence in BrazilC. Arnold SnyderFollow 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 CitationSnyder, C. Arnold (1989) "Grace and Power: Base Communities and Nonviolence in Brazil," Consensus: Vol. 15 : Iss. 1 , Article 19.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol15/iss1/19Book Reviews 127God. “Accordingly, God has provided for the human race another, safe wayof knowing, imparting his knowledge to the minds of men through faith.”Thomas goes on to expand upon the principles outlined in this intro-ductory paragraph in his literal commentary on the Boethian text and inthe questions which the text raises and which he addresses in the remainderof his work. “Does the human mind need a new illumination by the divinelight in order to know truth? Can the human mind arrive at a knowledgeof God? Is God what the mind first knows?” Initial questions such as theseare strikingly contemporary, as are those later ones which dare to raise thequestion of the possibility of a science of divine realities (by no means isthis a foregone conclusion) which seek to investigate the necessity of faithfor humanity, the relationship between faith and “religion”, and the issuesof plurality and individuation.Nor will the question form of the commentary or the language undulydistract an intelligent and committed lay reader. Throughout the book, thetranslator has taken care to follow the admonishment of Thomas himself inthe fourth article of Question 2 when he insists that there are truths whicheveryone should know and that in the case of these “a teacher should someasure his words that they help rather than hinder his hearer”.Peter C. ErbWilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, OntarioGrace and Power: Base Communities and Nonviolencein BrazilDominique BarbeTranslated by John P. BrownMaryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1987150 pp. U.S. $12.95Since the emergence of an indigenous Latin American tradition of the-ological reflections in the late 1960s there hcis been a growing interest in,and occasional criticism of. Liberation Theology in North America. Someof this criticism has been openly ideological. To take just one example,the vigorous critiques of Michael Novak clearly owe more to his commit-ment to capitalism as the appropriate expression of Christianity than theydo to serious theological reflection on the meaning of the gospel. At thesame time, however, legitimately theological questions have been raisedin other quarters concerning bcisic presuppositions and commitments un-derlying Liberation Theology. In particular, the emphasis on orthopraxishas resulted in pastoral practice that at times has seemed to extol socialactivism at the expense of spirituality and prayer life. Likewise, the iden-tification of sin as being primarily social, embodied in unjust structures,128 Consensusled inevitably to Christian activism in the political arena. On occasion,liberationist Christians in revolutionary political situations have advocatedviolent solutions to social and economic problems.Serious theological response in North America has run the gamut fromrather uncritical acceptance on the left, to parody and rejection on theright; but between these extremes are found North American Christianswho have opened a serious conversation with this new Latin Americantheology, while continuing to ask fundamental questions. Grace and Power:Base Communities and Nonviolence in Brazil is a book to be pondered,meditated on and appreciated by this latter group—indeed, by all who areopen to recognizing the working of the Spirit of God in the churches.Dominique Barbe, a French priest who has worked with the poor ofBrazil for over twenty years, provides the reader with a journal that docu-ments the struggles and growing pains of a genuinely spiritual movement.On reading this book, the connection between the life of the poor and thenew Latin American theology becomes almost palpable. This is no analyt-ical description of Liberation Theology, although the analytical reader willfind much to ponder. From time to time Barbe cannot resist reflecting onthe events that surround him in categories more familiar to scholars than toshoeshine boys. One of this reader’s favourite points to ponder is Barbe’sobservation that “If Christians of Latin America are more responsive tothe questions of Marx,. . . the Christians of :he “rich” countries are tryingto respond to the challenge of Nietzsche about the meaning of life” (38).Such observations aside, the great strength of the book lies not so muchin philosophical nuggets as in the chronicling of a spiritual journey still inprogress.Barbe is an engaged, but critical participant in the Latin Americantheological process; he is not afraid to question trends he has witnessed,or to propose new' paths and directions. Thus in defense of the spiritualgifts of the laity, Barbe criticizes and disagrees with the pronouncement ofPope Pius X, who considered the laity properly to be “a docile flock” tobe led (37; also 93 ff). Some pages later Barbe rejects not only the justw’ar tradition, but also the historical Constantinian solution as such (43-44). At the other end of the spectrum, while Barbe agrees with liberationtheologians that the church must take an active option for the poor, andagrees that the gospel is the good news of the victory of life over deathwhich calls for praxis, he nevertheless emphasizes the necessity of spiritualrenewal with a clarity rarely seen in the earlier literature: “Salvation, beforeit is manifested cls morally good behavior, is an offering of oneself; it consistsin yielding oneself... to the great liberating force of the living God” (60).If in fact spiritual renewal lies at the heart of the liberation spoken ofin the gospel, the question follows immediately: what will Christian pra.xislook like, and how will it relate to social and political power? Barbe answers,“Grace is the only cause of this immense upsurge that. . . convinces peoplein the depth of their heart to give” (66). Power can be used to coerce,but even if the cause is “good”, power remains external; it lacks the abilityBook Reviews 129to convert the individual in the depth of one’s being. Liberation theology,notes Barbe, still lacks an adequate approach to “human interiority”.But Barbe pushes even further, posing a gentle question to those whohave felt forced to use violence in their struggles for justice: “When weovercome power by force. . . could there not have been in this attitude afatal germ of mistrust with regard to grace?” (73). In fact, argues Barbe,the Latin American people already know how to struggle for justice in anonviolent way, and in a moving chapter concluding the book, he documentsthe growth of this spiritually-based nonviolent movement in Brazil.Grace and Power is a book that reflects the dynamic quality of thetheology being developed in Latin America in our time. In the opinionof this reader, it engages the existing discussion in creative and excitingways; it is a book that deserves to be read and pondered by any whohave doubted the spiritual vitality of Liberation Theology. Still, a wordof caution: the book is more like a fugue than a ditty; it is possibly tooeclectic and nuanced in its approach to serve as a first-time introduction tothe subject. The reader must be ready to move at a moment’s notice fromthe gritty slums of Sao Paulo to a discussion of Trinitarian theology, thenon to an argument with Marx. While the trip is worth taking by all whohave an interest in theology, it would be appreciated best by those with atleast a rudimentary introduction to Liberation Theology and the issues ithas posed.Arnold SnyderConrad Grebel College, Waterloo, OntarioFeet on the Ground Theology: A Brazilian JourneyClodovis BoffTranslated by Phillip BerrymanMaryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1987 (1984)XV + 185 pp.The title of Clodovis Boflf’s diary musings, reflections and appeals hasan appropriately double meaning. Quite literally it portrays his mission andpastoral journeys among the base Christian communities in the Brazilianhinterland where the exploited rubber workers toil. Much of his voyage ison foot, and we are treated to this reality even to the point of descriptionsof the fatigue and physical hardships endured by Boff himself in these trav-els. However, the title has another more profound meaning. It is a diary oftheological description and reflection in and about the concrete stuff of life.Boff does not serve up an organized, systematic Weltanschauung disembod-ied from people’s lives. Instead, he speaks of the daily experiences andreligious struggles of the marginalized and oppressed people among whom

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