From Conquest to Struggle: Jesus of Nazareth in Latin AmericaThis 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. |
Contents
Mapping Out a Horizon of Interest | 1 |
The Latin American Christ From Conquest to Struggle | 13 |
The Mission of the Historical Jesus | 37 |
The Death and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth | 91 |
Christ in Latin America Today | 137 |
Eccksial Base Communities The Indigmization of Christology | 161 |
Bibliography | 205 |
Index | 213 |
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Common terms and phrases
América Latina apocalyptic base communities believes Bible Biblical Boff Boff's Bultmann campesinos century challenge chapter character Christian community Christology church commitment concrete Cristologías Croatto Crossroads crucified cultural death disciples divine domination Ecclesial Base Communities eschatological event existence experience fact faith community fiesta Galilea God's reign gospel Gustavo Gutiérrez Gutiérrez hermeneutical historical Jesus human Ibid ical ideology image of Jesus incarnation Inkarri interpretation Jesús Jesus Christ Jesus of Nazareth Jewish John Drury Jon Sobrino kingdom Latin America Leonardo Boff liberation theology liberationists live Maryknoll meaning mediation messianic Míguez Bonino ministry mission ology oppression Orbis Books paradigm political poor popular praxis present priest proclamation Quest reality redemption reflection religious resurrection of Jesus revealed Salvador salvation salvific seek Segundo significance situation Sobrino social structures struggle suffering Tamez Teología Testament themes theologians Theology of Liberation thereby tion trans transcendent transformation Translated truth understanding universal utopia vision word