In Engaging Latino/a/x Theologies: A Conversation, Sharon E. Heaney honors Latino/a/x theologians in the United States by presenting their main theological proposals in a way that helps students, practitioners, and colleagues to engage in constructive dialogue. Towards that end, Heaney names six theological principles that are foundational for US Latino/a/x theology: teología en conjunto, mestizaje, lo cotidiano, interpreting Scripture latinamente, la lucha, and la justicia. Although Heaney is an outsider to the US Latino/a/x theological discourses (xx), Engaging Latino/a/x Theologies demonstrates that she is an active participant in this teología en conjunto. US Latino/a/x theologians should welcome her to the mesa de trabajo, as Altagracia Pérez-Bullard welcomes Heaney’s work in the conclusion (146-153).

Heaney develops the six foundational principles of US Latino/a/x theology in each of the six chapters of her work, which also include a conversation with a Latino/a/x leader in response to themes explored in each of the chapters. In the first chapter, Heaney offers the notion of teología en conjunto as the core principle of US Latino/a/x theology and introduces foundational US Latino/a/x theologians, such as Orlando Espín, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Roberto S. Goizueta, Justo González, Arturo J. Bañuelas, and Miguel de la Torre, among others. She highlights that teología en conjunto is a form of constructive, collaborative, and connected theology, and, in this sense, it is a theology that resists the dominant Eurocentric theological categories (3-4,10-14). As Heaney mentions, US Latino/a/x theology is the “verbal expression of the faith as practiced, believed, articulated, and celebrated by Latinx people” (9). Hence, it is a diverse, contextual, and interdisciplinary form of theology outside the tidy systematic theological categories of the dominant theology.

From chapter 2 to chapter 6, Heaney not only presents the rest of the US Latino/a/x theological principles by explaining each in detail, but also adds important information about their state of research within the discipline of Latino/a/x theology. For example, in chapter 2, Heaney not only explains the appropriation of the term mestizaje by Latino/a/x scholars but also reviews the status of mestizaje as a contested category among US Latino/a/x theologians. In chapter 6, Heaney not only discusses the category of justicia in connection to theological familiar topics in US Latino/a/x theology—such as diaspora, exile, borders, and immigration—but also highlights the changes among US Latino/a/x theologians regarding their inclusion of issues related to justice for LGBTQI+ Latino/a/x people. In this sense, Heaney’s work not only offers a useful overview of the past development in US Latino/a/x theology but also an important review of the status of this theology, highlighting that it is an ongoing theological discussion that invites participation and collaboration.

Heaney’s presentation of US Latino/a/x theology’s main principles is repetitive at times, mentioning similar elements in different ways in several chapters. However, this is not necessarily a weakness in Heaney’s work. Engaging Latino/a/x Theologies aims to introduce US Latino/a/x theology on its own terms. A more traditional systematic approach, distinguishing each principle clearly and treating them separately, could have been better for people unfamiliar with US Latino/a/x theology, but it would have missed the very nature of it as a diverse, contextual, and interdisciplinary theological endeavor.

The inclusion of feedback from Latino/a/x leaders at the end of each chapter is a good addition to Heaney’s presentation, showing that she indeed wants to engage in theological dialogue with US Latino/a/x leaders and scholars. However, there is no explanation about the rationale behind the specific leaders and scholars included, and adding at least one of the many US Latino/a/x theologians that Heaney refers to and cites in her work would have been good. Nonetheless, every chapter of Engaging Latino/a/x Theologies offers an excellent overview of each of the six key categories that differentiate Latino/a/x theology from other forms of theology in the US. The lists of foundational readings and further readings at the end of each chapter make Heaney’s work ideal for people eager to engage with the US Latino/a/x theological proposals.