God's Work has Earthly Consequences for the Church - on Gustavo Gutierrez

"The Gospel is primarily a message of Salvation. The construction of the world is a task for human beings on this earth. To state the question of a theology of liberation means, therefore, to ask about the meaning of this work on earth, the work that human beings perform in this world vis-a-vis the faith. In other words, what relationship is there between the construction of this world and salvation.

A theology of liberation, then, will have to reply first of all to this question: Is there any connection between constructing this world and saving it?

Thus our own question is posed. The theology of liberation means establishing the relationship that exists between human emancipation - in the social, political, and economic orders - and the kingdom of God.

... If we understand salvation as something with merely 'religious' or 'spiritual' value for my soul, then it would not have much to contribute to concrete human life. But if salvation is understood as passing from less human conditions to more human conditions, it means that messianism brings about the freedom of captives and the oppressed, and liberates human beings from the slavery that Paul VI referred to [PP 47]...

When we struggle for a just world in which there is not servitude, oppression, or slavery, we are signifying the coming of the messiah."

Gustavo Gutierrez, "Toward a Theology of Liberation" in Gustavo Gutierrez: Essential Writings ed. James Nickoloff (Fortress Press: Minneapolis, MN: 1996) 26-27 . (The reference to Paul VI refers to Pope Paul VI's encyclical Populorum progressio, a 1967 document dealing with economic injustice.)

Participation in the Church has earthly consequences - for indeed, God dwells with and chooses to be revealed through the Church (whether we like it or not). This is not necessarily through human "doing," but divine action manifested through human life. What else would it mean for the Spirit to dwell in and among humankind - and for that to mean anything in particular?

Following God's actions, we respond. Following the creation, we contribute and care. Following the incarnation, we are present with one another. Following death and resurrection, we live without lasting fear.

Gutierrez draws our attention to an important dynamic - orthodoxy (right thinking) cannot be separated from orthopraxy (right conduct). Neglect of one and neglect of the other go hand in hand. Closely linked with this is a concept that is central to Gutierrez, though not particularly brought up in the excerpt I provided: God's preferential option for the poor. The God of Scripture acts through the poor, the weak, and whoever is denied their humanity by others. God affirms in the poor a still greater humanity that would otherwise be denied them. The poor are not to be romanticized or idealized, but fed, strengthened, and given equal standing to the powerful (who, as Mary the Mother of Jesus reflects, are bound to be cast down).

Another thing I think we need to lift up is that Gutierrez doesn't call for us to be "successful." He's not writing some self-help guide to being your best self (whatever that would even mean). It is the struggle that he lifts up. Our very struggle reveals the presence of the Holy One. That doesn't mean our victory (though that would sure be swell). Sometimes what appears to be a victory can insidiously turn into a new tyranny. The church's greatest heroes are often enough its martyrs - who did not "win" in earthly terms. Christ's death did not put an end to earthly tyranny - but undermined its power over the actions and reflections of believers and calls us to struggle for the sake of the vulnerable.

There is much more I could add - about the role of culture, of politics, economics, history, the role of scripture, Gutierrez' relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, how he informs Protestantism  - but this is only a brief example of Gutierrez's writing - and a brief appreciation of one of the 20th century's foremost theologians. A time for these themes may come, but as for now let me simply provide one other wonderful quote:

"Accepting the kingdom of God means refusing the accept a world that promotes or tolerates the premature and unjust deaths of the poor. It means rejecting the hypocrisy of a society that claims to be democratic but violates the elementary rights of the poor. It means rejecting the cynicism of the powerful of this world. to be a disciple means proclaiming the liberation fo the captives and the evangelization of the poor (Luke 4:18-19) and lifting the hopes of a people that suffers age-old injustice. To accept the kingdom is to turn Mark's proclamation that "this is the time of fulfillment; the kingdom of God is at hand" into an initial historical reality. It is to find God in the dynamism that this kairos infuses into human history." (Gutierrez, The Kingdom is at Hand, 173)

And that is why you should read the theology of Gustavo Gutierrez.

On Calling God "Father" or "Abba" - on Gerhard Ebeling

"'Abba' is not the precise form of the word for "Father," but is presumably the baby talk of a child, containing all the nearness, affection, and love in which we do not designate a person as 'Father,' but in which the child addresses its father. 'Abba' - that was the expression heard from the lips of children in the secular language of every day. Jesus had the audacity to speak of God and to God in such a way that to pious ears it sounded offensive, disrespectful, worldly.

... With the one word 'Father' we are allowed not merely to say this, but also to let it happen as we say it. It is a tremendous event when we take seriously the invocation: "Our Father." Whom is it we are addressing here? No man, although in doing so we have all men in view. No earthly thing, although in doing so we also have in view everything in the world that concerns and troubles us. "Our Father" we say in the midst of the world, under the buffetings of the whole world, and to that extent in the teeth of all the world. To whom? To a non-entity? In actual fact, it is to that which bursts upon unbelief as the mystery of nothingness, striking it dumb in speechless horror. That is what we are permitted to address as Father, because what comes to us from that quarter is not nothingness, but is through Jesus the voice of the Father, and in that voice the Father himself with outstretched arms.

When we say "Our Father," what happens is no less than that the world receives a different face as we hold fast tot he fact that in Jesus the face of the Father looks upon us."

 - Gerhard Ebeling, "Pray then like this: Our Father who art in Heaven," On Prayer: Nine Sermons by Gerhard Ebeling (Fortress Press: 1966, Philadelphia) pages 47-51

Many people wonder about the nature of prayer - why we do it, how it works, etc. Ebeling's work here lays out a beautiful image: in prayer we address God not simply as "Father," but as "Abba." A baby's word for the figure that becomes known as Father.

Imagine a babbling infant - either being the babbling infant or being a parent to said infant. Baby is making noise "ab, ab, ab," and it suddenly becomes "abba abba abba," when all of a sudden - parental figures recognizes its name and lifts the infant up in joy - and all the little wires in baby's mind go "Oh, this word means this person to whom I am attached."

Now imagine baby learning to walk. Parent is right in front of baby, mere steps away. Baby is challenged and frustrated, but is doing something new - maybe even falling down. Parent has arms outstretched, summoning the baby forward.

Apply this to Jesus, and the cross. And that is why you should read Gerhard Ebeling's theology.

Why Read Theology?

Theology can be a complicated and contentious field - there's a lot of specialized technical language, and in-house debate. But it's also an incredibly enriching field of study, and theology is an important aspect of anyone's faith and thought. This blog exists to introduce you, the reader, to some of the more insightful, influential, and provocative theologians of the wider church and invite you to read them for yourselves as you explore your faith. It also exists to keep me, the writer, attentive to the disciplines of reading, thinking, elaborating, and (hopefully) elucidating.

I'll be provide a meaningful quote from a theologian of the church, and then elaborate on said quote and theologian - answering the question of why you should read said theologian's work. It's a blog of appreciation and invitation, more than it is a nit-picky exploration of doctrine (which certainly may have its place, but not necessarily here). Nothing fancy, but hopefully worthwhile.