Ellacuría, Ignacio

Sobrino, Jon

English

University of San Francisco

Journal of Hispanic / Latino TheologyVolume 4 | Number 4 Article 95-1-1997Systematic Theology: Perspectives from LiberationTheologyJon SobrinoIgnacio EllacuríaFollow this and additional works at: http://repository.usfca.edu/jhltThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Journal of Hispanic / Latino Theology by an authorized editor of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library |Geschke Center. For more information, please contact repository@usfca.edu.Recommended CitationJon Sobrino and Ignacio Ellacuría, eds., Systematic Theology: Perspectives from Liberation Theology (Maryknoll, N .Y.: Orbis Books,1993). Reviewed by Luis G. Pedraja in Journal of Hispanic / Latino Theology 4:4 (May 1997) 74-77.74 Book ReviewsSystematic Theology:Perspectives from Liberation Theology.Jon Sobrinoand Ignacio Ellacurr’a, eds. Maryknoll, N .Y.: Orbis Books, 1993, 1996.Bibliography, index. 302 pages.In the last decade, Latin American liberation theologies have grownin popularity within academic circles in North America, providing aBook Reviews 75radical theological critique of oppressive structures from the under-side of history. Some scholars who are still unfamiliar with the meth-odology, locus of reection, and practical concerns of these theologiesmight still dismiss them as political theologies with little to say to NorthAmerican and European theological circles. However, their impactupon theology cannot be denied, and their growing acceptance withinacademic circles is opening new venues for these theologies to impactreligion in North America. Nevertheless, with the demise of socialismand with the changing context of the nineties, new questions are emerg-ing regarding the present status and relevance of liberation theologies.Since these theologies reect critically upon concrete historical sit-uations and processes of liberation, they can only retain their relevanceby addressing their changing context. As a result of their concrete con-cern with human experience, it is difficult to create simple categoriesfor expressing how they are relevant within the broader spectrum ofChristian traditions. If Latin American liberation theologies are to con-tinue making an impact upon scholarly circles in North America, theymust provide a means for addressing their relevance to different aspectsof the Christian traditions. On the other hand, if it is to make an im-pact beyond the academy, it must be taught in theological classroomsand be accessible to a wider audience. Currently, scholars and studentsneed accessible texts that can present students with a solid overviewof liberation theology while continuing to address the questions raisedby the ever-changing historical realities. This volume, originally editedby Jon Sobrino and Ignacio Ellacurl’a, provides this needed tool for theteaching and dissemination of liberation theology to a larger audience.Originally published in Spanish as Mysterium Liberationis: ConceptosFundamentales de la Teologi’ade liberacién in 1990, it was later translatedand published by Orbis Books as Mysterium Liberationis: FundamentalConceptsofLiberation Theologyin 1993. The current volume is an abridgededition that aims at making liberation theology more accessible to awider audience. In many respects, the editors have achieved their goal.The book overcomes several of the major challenges faced inpresenting a systematic overview of liberation theology. It retains asense of the diversity of experiences and perspectives found in libera-tion theologies by weaving together essays from several sources. Someessays, such as Sobrino’s essay on the centrality of the kingdom ofGod in liberation theology, are exhaustive and detailed in the develop-ment of their arguments. Others are more accessible to general au—diences. These different levels of theological depth make it a versatilebook that can be used at different levels of theological education. Inaddition, the contributors to this volume are able to engage in a profit-able dialogue with the main doctrines of the Christian tradition with-76 Book Reviewsout losing their active connections to the social location of the poorin Latin America. The concrete reality of liberation theology undergirdsthis book in both its content and history. In the preface of the book,Jon Sobrino recounts how the 1989 murder of his co-editor, IgnacioEllacurl’a, and the subsequent burning of their offices by the military,almost prevented the publication of the original book from becominga reality. This concrete reality of oppression, injustice, torture, andmurder faced by many of the people of Latin America demands a theo-logical response that the contributors to this volume provide.Unlike many multi-author anthologies, there is a clear continuitybetween the particular themes of each contributor and the Whole ofthe book. Two factors contribute to this continuity. First, the systematicapproach taken by the book provides it with a coherent structure thatfollows the traditional doctrinal division of most systematic theologies.However, unlike other systematic approaches, there are unique in-terpretations of certain doctrines. For instance, Ignacio Ellacurl’a’sarticle “The Crucified People” reinterprets the death of Jesus from theperspective of those who suffer oppression, persecution, and death.The salvific nature of the crucifixion takes on a more active reinterpre—tation that connects the historical acts and proclamations of Jesus witha demand for his followers to repeat his liberative activity in history—ademand that Ellacuri’a exemplified in his own life and death. As a re-sult of the contributors’ concern for active liberation in history, thestructure of the doctrines covered varies from other systematics. Atthe same time, the relevance of liberation theology to the reinterpreta-tion of the Christian doctrine becomes evident through each segment.The second factor contributing to the book’s continuity are its cen-tral themes. These themes are set out in the first three chapters, whichserve as the prolegomena of the book. The first theme is its pastoralmethodology of seeing, judging, and acting through socioanalytic, her-meneutical, and practical mediation (11). Clodovis Boff makes a cru-cial distinction between the political critiques of theologies of hope andliberation theology in this first chapter. Liberation theologies begin theirtheological reection by “seeing” the condition of the oppressed, notthrough abstract notions of hope (6). Liberation theologies “see” thesituation of the people through social analysis, “judge” the situationthrough a hermeneutics of suspicion from the perspective of the poor,and provide active responses to the situations encountered as a resultof their interpretations of Scripture, tradition, and theology. As a re-sult of this distinctive methodology, all the authors join theoreticalreection to concrete praxis.A second theme that pervades the book is the locus of theologicalreection of liberation theologies: the poor. Following the methodol-Book Reviews 77ogy of liberation theologies, Gustavo Gutiérrez provides an argumentfor God’s preferential option for the poor that characterizes LatinAmerican liberation theologies. As a result, the social condition of thepoor is a central theme in the text, serving as both the basis for theo-logical reection and for the demand to act in solidarity with them.The third theme that joins the different contributors throughout thetext is the centrality of the reign of God as both a hope and a demandfor the historical transformation and liberation of people from oppres-sive structures.The continuity and accessibility of Systematic Theology:Perspectivesfrom Liberation Theologymake it a suitable text for use in the classroom.Its approach can be incorporated into a theological curriculum in classeson liberation theology or as a text in systematic theology classes. Inaddition, it provides a valuable tool for exposing scholars, ministers,and students to some of the basic themes of Latin American liberationtheologies while also providing a promising connection to the differ-ent doctrinal themes of Christian theology.Luis G. Pedraju

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