Latin American Christology: A God Who Liberates
Abstract
:1. Introduction
“For me, this atmosphere always brings back the memory of Ignacio Ellacuría. He asked himself what was the sign of the times (that is, what is it that characterizes a period and in which God is made present), and he replied that this sign is always the crucified people, stripped of life, though the form of their crucifixion may vary”.5
“Israel’s most original creed relates God to freedom from Egypt, and it is vital to know why. Some think—and this is reflected in the first Vatican Instruction on Liberation Theology, in 1984—that the reason lies in God seeking to create a people with whom he can later make an alliance, so that this people will offer worship to him alone. This interpretation of the Exodus rejects any other that puts historical-political liberation at the forefront”.9
2. Brief Overview of the Development of Latin American Liberation Theology and Christology
3. Some Major Representatives of Latin American Christology
3.1. Jon Sobrino
3.2. St. Óscar Romero
4. Key Christological Insights of Latin American Christology
4.1. Non-Violence
4.2. Freedom
4.3. Hope
5. The Ongoing Significance of Latin American Christology
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
1. | Gutiérrez, 6. |
2. | Gutiérrez, 10. |
3. | Gutiérrez, 134. |
4. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 18. |
5. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 6. Ignacio Ellacuría was one of the six Jesuits brutally murdered at the University of Central America in San Salvador, El Salvador, on 16 November 1989. Ellacuría was the rector of the UCA and a mentor of Jon Sobrino. |
6. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 6. |
7. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 7. |
8. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 252. |
9. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 81. |
10. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 82. Sobrino warns about being “drawn from the human tendency to make ourselves the objective of all that we do, whereas God’s logic is very different: ‘Since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another’ (1 Jn 4:11)”, 82. |
11. | “Notification on the Works of Father Jon Sobrino, SJ”. Vatican. |
12. | Colón-Emeric, 40. |
13. | See note 12 above. |
14. | Colón-Emeric, 87. |
15. | Gutiérrez, xxi. |
16. | Gutiérrez, 97. |
17. | Gutiérrez, 88. |
18. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 273. |
19. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 81. |
20. | Gutiérrez, 32. |
21. | Gutiérrez, 24. |
22. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 94. |
23. | Shadle, 134. Shadle also claims that “He [Gutiérrez] also rightly adds that ideas central to Marxism—such as social structure, praxis, and class conflict—are commonly used in the social sciences from a variety of perspectives, and therefore their use by liberation theologians does not in itself suggest a Marxist orientation. Both in response to criticisms from the Vatican and from his own ongoing discernment, Gutiérrez therefore distances himself from the use of Marxist social analysis” (134–135). Gutiérrez does not claim to be a Marxist, nor does he claim that the end goal of liberation theology is to promote a Marxist economic structure. |
24. | Shadle, 119. Shadle also states that “the poor are not primarily concerned with questioning God or religion, but with questioning the conditions that oppress them”, 119. Shadle claims that Gutiérrez yearns to separate himself from euro-centric aesthetics, theology, and history, which leads to “Latin American liberation theology’s distinct starting point [as] the underside of history”, 120 (italics added). |
25. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 145. |
26. | Gutiérrez, 24. Here, Gutiérrez is referencing Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an anti-Nazi German Lutheran pastor and theologian. |
27. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, iii. Sobrino dedicates his book to martyrs: “This book is dedicated to the memory of Ignacio Ellacuría, Segundo Montes, Ignacio Martín Baró, Juan Ramón Moreno, Amando López, Joaquín López y López, Julia Elba Ramos and Celina Ramos”. |
28. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 1. |
29. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 2; Sobrino continues, “Christology therefore has to put an end to the apparent innocence of supposing that the mere fact of writing about Jesus means that what is said is first useful and then used correctly”, 3. |
30. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 3. |
31. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 5. |
32. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 6. |
33. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 17. |
34. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 7. |
35. | Gutiérrez, 110. |
36. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 28. |
37. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 34. |
38. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 262. |
39. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 12. |
40. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 13. |
41. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 51. |
42. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 53. |
43. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 59. |
44. | Gutiérrez, 139. |
45. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 78. |
46. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 80. |
47. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 92. |
48. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator. He states, “The resurrection says that God is radically other than human beings, that God has the ability to achieve what is completely impossible for them: absolute liberation and salvation”, 87–88. |
49. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 244. |
50. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 82. |
51. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 273. |
52. | Colón-Emeric, 39. |
53. | Colón-Emeric, 73. |
54. | Colón-Emeric, 55. |
55. | Colón-Emeric, 52. |
56. | Colón-Emeric, 61. |
57. | Colón-Emeric, 68. |
58. | Colón-Emeric, 69. He further states, “The transfiguration on Tabor was not a flash out of the blue; it has a history that Romero’s congregation need to know if they are to advance on their journey to that high mountain”, 86. In addition, Colón-Emeric notes, “From the Christology of Tabor, Romero turns to soteriology. The true liberation of humanity is found in the Christ who identifies himself with the history and spirituality of El Salvador”, 75. History and context are essential to liberation—to Transfiguration. |
59. | See note 53 above. |
60. | Colón-Emeric, 89. |
61. | Colón-Emeric, 94. |
62. | Colón-Emeric, 74. |
63. | Colón-Emeric, 69. |
64. | Colón-Emeric, 79. |
65. | Colón-Emeric, 80. |
66. | Colón-Emeric, 108. |
67. | Colón-Emeric, 102. He states, “the five people whom Jesus gathered around him on Mount Tabor were aggressive in their temperament and actions. Moses killed the Egyptian who was oppressing the Hebrew people. Elijah ordered the slaying of the prophets of Baal. Peter drew his sword against the guards coming to arrest Jesus. James and John, the sons of thunder, wanted to call fire to rain down from heaven on the Samaritans who had refused to extend hospitality to Jesus and his disciples”, 102 (emphasis mine). |
68. | Colón-Emeric, 100. |
69. | Colón-Emeric, 91. |
70. | Colón-Emeric, 100–101. |
71. | Colón-Emeric, 101. |
72. | Colón-Emeric, 81. In addition, Colón-Emeric notes, “The rays of Tabor fall on the just and the unjust and reveal that whatever else persons may be, saints or sinners, rich or poor, they are first and foremost images of God and as such worthy of reverence and respect”, 96. |
73. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 8. |
74. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 5. |
75. | See note 7 above. |
76. | See note 65 above. |
77. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 216. |
78. | See note 73 above. |
79. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 22. |
80. | Gutiérrez, 110–111. |
81. | Colón-Emeric, 112. |
82. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 76. |
83. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 77. |
84. | Gutiérrez, 67. |
85. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 88. |
86. | See note 85 above. |
87. | See note 45 above. |
88. | Gutiérrez, 123. |
89. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 33. |
90. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 34. |
91. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 40. |
92. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 47. |
93. | Gutiérrez, 124. |
94. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 46. |
95. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 212. |
96. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 62. |
97. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 21. |
98. | Colón-Emeric, 84. |
99. | Gutiérrez, 135. |
100. | Sobrino, Christ the Liberator, 84. |
101. | Gutiérrez, 161. |
102. | Colón-Emeric, 76. |
103. | Gutiérrez, 113. Gutiérrez also leans into 1 John: “Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God. Everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God, but the unloving know nothing of God. For God is love” (1 John 4:7–8). |
104. | Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator, 158. |
References
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Bolaños, A.R. Latin American Christology: A God Who Liberates. Religions 2024, 15, 1165. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15101165
Bolaños AR. Latin American Christology: A God Who Liberates. Religions. 2024; 15(10):1165. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15101165
Chicago/Turabian StyleBolaños, Amanda Rachel. 2024. "Latin American Christology: A God Who Liberates" Religions 15, no. 10: 1165. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15101165