Journal for the Hispanic Theological Initiative
We are pleased to present the 2018 issue of Perspectivas, the Journal of the Hispanic Theological Initiative. This issue contains unique approaches to Latinx theology and food, issues of migration and the crisis of migrant children on the border, and the crisis in Puerto Rico, from a variety of historical, theological and political perspectives.
In “Sancochando Theological Anthropology: One Puerto Rican Heavy Soup as Heuristic,” Hector Varela-Rios, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago Divinity School, expounds on a real world practice in Puerto Rican cuisine, “el sancocho,” as a comparative construct for doing theological anthropology. In this way, Varela- Rios argues for theology as a “cultural production.” Without casting
a value judgment on either side of the equation – Puerto Rican culture or constructive theology – Varela-Rios posits that these two “conversation partners” – culture and theology – are indeed integral to “cooking” a theological anthropology. Thus, in this case, the elements of cooking in the Latinx context – specifically, a uniquely Puerto Rican dish – become a model for the practice of constructive theology, most appropriately so in the field of reflecting on a theology of humanity.
It is precisely in order to construct a humane theology that our second author, Linda Dakin-Grimm, an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles, who just completed a Master’s degree in Theology, approaches the current crises on the USA border in her essay, “God Suffers with Children: What is Our Response?” Based on actual experiences with immigrant children in her work on the border, Dakin-Grimm explores the theological bases for humane immigration policies and practices. Short of such policies, Christians and people of faith of all types are challenged to practice an ethics of resistance and disruption. Dakin-Grimm draws on the Hebrew Scriptures, patristic theology and such contemporary theologians as Leonardo Boff, Jon Sobrino and Jürgen Moltmann, as well as more recent work by Miguel De La Torre. This essay was completed before the most recent border crises with the separation of children from their families; so it is very much a prescient and cogent discussion of a theological basis for action from the perspective of a theologically trained lawyer and activist.
Another current event is foundational for the next set of essays in our issue, a special section of reflections on the recent crisis in Puerto Rico. Shortly after the disastrous pair of hurricanes, and exceedingly slow and inadequate response by both federal and insular governments, a forum on the situation in Puerto Rico was held at the Annual Meetings of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature in November 2017. Several Puerto Rican scholars from various historical and theological perspectives responded to the call for efforts to understand and explain how this could happen to Puerto Rico. Three of those presentations, one from biblical scholar Jean-Pierre Ruiz, one from ethicist Melissa Pagan and one from theologian Loida Martell-Otero are included in our issue. Each, with various levels of emphases, identify the historical issues inherent in the colonial situation of Puerto Rico, describe the aftermath of the deadly hurricanes and the weak infrastructure allowed to perturb the Island for so long, and explore biblical, theological and ethical resources in order to explain and energize responses to the immediate situation of devastation in the region.
Finally, among reviews of books by Latinx scholars about Puerto Rican theology, Christian vocation, “flesh theology,” Latin American church history and Mexican Pentecostalism, we offer an expanded book review “roundtable” of three reflections on Jacqueline Hidalgo’s important new work on the Book of Revelation and Latinx history and theology: Revelation in Aztlán: Scriptures, Utopias and the Chicano Movement. Professor Hidalgo, who teaches Religion and Latinx Studies at Williams College, explores how it is that we learn about the phenomena of “scripturalizing” – creating authoritative texts – from the interpretation history of the Christian book of Revelation but especially from a similarly “apocalyptic” and utopian text, El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán. The three reviews explore the contributions of Hidalgo’s book to the larger enterprise of biblical and religious studies, as well as understanding the role of religion and religious texts in Latinx and Chicanx cultures.
We hope you will enjoy engaging these important contributions to our ongoing work in Latinx religious and theological studies, and we congratulate our contributors for their very fine work.
– Efrain Agosto
Estamos encantados de presentarles la edición del 2018 de Perspectivas, la revista académica de Hispanic Theological Initiative. Este tomo contiene acercamientos propiamente latinx a la teología y comida, asuntos de inmigración y crisis de niños y niñas inmigrantes en la frontera, y la crisis en Puerto Rico, desde una variedad de perspectivas históricas, teológicas y políticas.
En “Sancochando una antropología teológica: Un ‘sopón’ puertorriqueño como método heurístico,” Hector Varela-Rios, un candidato al Ph.D. en la Escuela de Divinidad de la Universidad de Chicago, expone sobre una práctica del mundo real en la cocina puertorriqueña, “el sancocho,” como construcción comparativa para hacer una antropología teológica. De esta manera, Varela- Rios argumenta que la teología es una “producción cultural.” Sin lanzar aspersiones de valor a ninguno de los lados de la ecuación—cultura puertorriqueña o teología constructiva—Varela-Rios propone que estos dos “interlocutores”—cultura y teología—son en efecto esenciales para “cocinar” una antropología teológica. Así, en este caso, los elementos de cocinar en el contexto latinx—específicamente, un platillo propio puertorriqueño—se convierten en un modelo para la práctica de teología constructiva, más apropiadamente en el campo de reflexión sobre una teología de la humanidad.
Es precisamente con el fin de construir una teología humana que nuestra segunda autora, Linda Dakin-Grimm, una abogada de inmigración en Los Ángeles, quien acaba de completar un grado de Maestría en Teología, aborda la crisis actual en la frontera de los E.E.U.U. en su ensayo “God Suffers with Children: What is Our Response?” (Dios sufre con los/as niños/as inmigrantes: ¿Cuál es nuestra respuesta?). Basada en las experiencias reales de niños/as inmigrantes en su trabajo en la frontera, Dakin-Grimm explora las bases teológicas para políticas y prácticas humanas de inmigración. No teniendo tales políticas, los cristianos y personas de fe de todo tipo tienen el reto de practicar una ética de resistencia y disrupción. Dakin-Grimm recurre a las escrituras hebreas, la teología patrística, y teólogos contemporáneos tales como Leonardo Boff, Jon Sobrino y Jürgen Moltmann, como también el trabajo del latino especialista en ética, Miguel De La Torre. Este ensayo fue completado antes de la crisis fronteriza más reciente con la separación de niños/as de sus familias; así que el artículo es una discusión profética y convincente de una base teológica para la acción, desde la perspectiva de una abogada y activista teológicamente capacitada.
Otro evento actual es fundamental para el siguiente conjunto de ensayos en esta edición, una sección especial reflexionando en la crisis reciente en Puerto Rico. Poco después del desastroso par de huracanes y la respuesta extremadamente lenta por los gobiernos federal e insular, se realizó un foro acerca de la situación en Puerto Rico en la conferencia anual de la Academia estadounidense de Religión y la Sociedad de Literatura Bíblica en noviembre 2017. Varios académicos puertorriqueños de varias perspectivas históricas y teológicas respondieron el llamado a esfuerzos para comprender y explicar cómo esto pudo ocurrirle a Puerto Rico. Tres de esas presentaciones, una por el erudito bíblico Jean-Pierre Ruiz, una por la especialista en ética Melissa Pagan, y una por la teóloga Loida Martell-Otero están incluidas en este tomo. Cada una, a diferentes niveles de énfasis, identifican asuntos históricos inherentes en la situación colonial de Puerto Rico, describe las secuelas de los letales huracanes y la pobre infraestructura que permitió perturbar a la isla por tanto tiempo, y explora recursos bíblicos, teológicos y éticos para poder explicar y dar energía a respuestas a la situación inmediata de devastación en la región.
Finalmente, entre las reseñas de libros por académicos latinx acerca de teología puertorriqueña, vocación Cristiana, “teología de la carne,” historia de la iglesia latinoamericana y pentecostalismo mexicano, les ofrecemos una mesa redonda de reseñas de libros ampliada de tres reflexiones sobre el importante nuevo libro de Jacqueline Hidalgo acerca del libro del Apocalipsis y la historia y teología latinx: Revelation in Aztlán: Scriptures, Utopias and the Chicano Movement (Apocalipsis en Aztlán: Escrituras, Utopías y el Movimiento Chicano) . La profesora Hidalgo, quien enseña religión y estudios latinx en Williams College, explora cómo es que aprendemos acerca de los fenómenos de “escrituralización”—creando textos autoritativos—desde la historia interpretativa del libro cristiano de Apocalipsis, pero especialmente desde un texto igualmente “apocalíptico” y utópico, El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán. Las tres reseñas exploran las contribuciones a la empresa más grande de estudios bíblicos y religiosos del libro de Hidalgo, así como la comprensión del papel de la religión y los textos religiosos en las culturas latinx y chicanx.
Esperamos que disfrute estas contribuciones importantes a nuestro trabajo continuo en los estudios religiosos y teológicos latinx, y felicitamos a nuestros colaboradores por su excelente trabajo.
-Efrain Agosto
Affirming that theology is cultural has been well-established since its inception as both scholarly and cotidiano practices. Seeing culture as inherently theological, however, has been less studied. By exploring the
ambiguous relationship between theology and culture from the point of view of cultural studies and academic theology, and using the metaphor of ‘heavy’ soup known as sancocho as heuristic, I will claim that theological anthropology (i.e., ‘being human’) is always an act of sancochando, both stewed and stewing its co-mingled contexts (i.e., ingredients) and contesting processes (i.e. cooking steps), making and not-making our savory personal and communal ”being” and “human”.
El afirmar que la teología es cultural ha sido bien establecido desde su incepción como prácticas académicas y cotidianas. Sin embargo, ver cultura como una práctica propiamente teológica ha sido menos estudiado. Al explorar
la relación ambigua entre teología y cultura desde el punto de vista de estudios culturales y teología académica, y usando la noción de sopa “espesa” conocida como sancocho como método heurístico, propondré que antropología teológica (es decir, del ser humano) es siempre un acto de sancochar, de estofado y estofar sus contextos mezclados (es decir sus ingredientes) y procesos de contestación (es decir sus pasos de cocimiento), de hacer y no hacer nuestro sabroso “ser” “humano” personal y comunal.
In this article, I discuss the circumstances that have led tens of thousands of Central American children to come to the U.S.A. border seeking refuge since 2014. I explore the U.S. response to immigrant children during the Obama and Trump eras.
Finally, drawing on the works of Jürgen Moltmann, Leonardo Boff, Jon Sobrino, Miguel de la Torre and others, I contend that these children are the face of Jesus and that the only Christian response is to welcome and support them.
[Article Available in English Only]
En este artículo discuto las circunstancias que han contribuido a que miles de niños centroamericanos hayan venido a la frontera estadounidense buscando refugio desde 2014. En el yo exploro la reacción de E.E.U.U. a estos niños inmigrantes durante la era de Obama y Trump.
Finalmente, en conversación con los trabajos de Jürgen Moltmann, Leonardo Boff, Jon Sobrino, Miguel de la Torre y otros/as, yo contiendo que estos niños/as son el rostro de Jesús, y que la única reacción cristiana hacia ellos es darles la bienvenida y apoyarlos.
[Artículo disponible sólamente en inglés]
Editor’s Note: After the devastating hurricanes on Puerto Rico in September 2017, the Forum, “Puerto Rico and María: Histories and Vulnerabilities in the Eye of the Storm” was held at
the Annual Meetings of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature in November 2017. Various Puerto Rican scholars of religion explored historical, political and theological implications in the aftermath of an excruciatingly slow USA government response to the devastation on the Island. In what follows, Perspectivas offers three of those reflections, especially prepared for this issue, one from a theologian, one from a biblical scholar and one from an ethicist. Issues of Puerto Rico’s colonial status, historical injustices on the Island, and religious and ethical implications moving forward inform these important and helpful essays.
Nota editorial: Después de los devastadores huracanes en Puerto Rico en septiembre 2017, un foro titulado Puerto Rico y María: Historias y vulnerabilidades en el ojo de la tormenta” tomó lugar en
la conferencia anual de la Academia Americana de la Religión y la Sociedad de Literatura Bíblica en noviembre 2017. Varios académicos de la religión puertorriqueños exploraron algunas implicaciones históricas, políticas, y teológicas a raíz de la increíblemente lenta respuesta del gobierno de EE.UU. a la devastación en la isla. En lo que sigue, la revista Perspectivas ofrece tres de esas reflexiones especialmente preparadas para este tomo por un teólogo, por un estudioso de la Biblia, y por un especialista en ética. Asuntos sobre el estado colonial de Puerto Rico, las injusticias históricas en la isla y las implicaciones religiosas y éticas para seguir adelante informan estos importantes y útiles ensayos.
Editor’s Note: The following review essays engage Jacqueline M. Hidalgo’s 2016 volume, Revelation in Aztlan: Scriptures, Utopias, and The Chicano Movement. They were first presented at a book review session
of the Latino/a and Latin American Biblical Interpretation Group at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in Boston in November 2017. Three of the five presentations, as well as a response from the author, Professor Hidalgo, were revised and submitted to Perspectivas for this book review “roundtable.” The three reviewers, Professors Jean-Pierre Ruiz, Lynn R. Huber and Roberto Mata, each took a different perspective on Professor Hidalgo’s study on the complexities of reading scriptures as “homing devices” for communities in stress. Hidalgo’s book focuses on the community that produced the early Christian text, the Apocalypse of John, in dialogue with Chicanx communities of the 1960s and 70s, who “scripturalized” their own apocalyptic text, El Plan de Aztlán. We invite you to engage each of these review essays along with Jacqueline Hidalgo’s response to them.
Nota editorial: Los siguientes ensayos-reseña conversan con el libro de Jacqueline M. Hidalgo (2016), Revelation in Aztlan: Scriptures, Utopias, and The Chicano Movement. Estos fueron presentados primero en una sesión reseña
patrocinado por el grupo Interpretación Bíblica Latina y Latinomericana (Latina/o and Latin American Biblical Interpretation) durante la conferencia anual de la Sociedad de Literatura Bíblica (Society of Biblical Literature) en Boston, en noviembre 2017. Tres de las presentaciones, como también la respuesta de la autora, profesora Hidalgo, fueron revisadas y presentadas a la revista Perspectivas para esta “mesa redonda” de ensayos-reseña. Cada uno de los autores de los tres ensayos-reseñas, Profesores Jean-Pierre Ruiz, Lynn R. Huber and Roberto Mata, tomó una perspectiva diferente del estudio de la profesora Hidalgo sobre las complejidades de leer las Escrituras como “dispositivos de orientación” para las comunidades en situaciones de estrés. El libro de Hidalgo se enfoca en la comunidad que produjo el primer texto cristiano del Apocalipsis de Juan en diálogo con las comunidades chicanx de los 1960s y 1970s, las cuales “escrituralizaron” su propio texto apocalíptico, El Plan de Aztlán. Les invitamos a dialogar con cada uno de estos ensayos-reseñas junto con la respuesta que les da Jacqueline Hidalgo.
In an effort to continue its rich tradition of offering the Latina/o theological community a space for Latina/o thinkers in theology and religion to contribute to—and even begin— important scholarly conversations, our editorial team is proud to present the Spring 2017 issue of Perspectivas. We hope our readers will find this a valuable resource to foster critical and creative conversations in various religious and theological communities.
In the current issue of Perspectivas, our contributors draw on various fields of Latina/o, Latin American studies, and critical theoretical currents to address issues that readers will find especially relevant for our current political and social climate. The essays included cover a range of themes, from introducing readers to fascinating theological insights such as a Cuban theology of the “absurd,” to the import of “Abuelita Theology” for César Chávez’s social activism. As the reader will soon discover, the questions raised in these articles are timelier than ever: How do Latina/o communities reimagine and reclaim the concept of citizenship when the dominant society denies them this very title, along with the rights, privileges, and opportunities that come with it? What can the Young Lords Party teach us about radical activism and Latina/o religious history? How do the insights and practices of fringe and marginalized communities undermine the theoretical premises and promises of multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism? In the process of navigating and thinking about these complex social justice issues, our readers are also invited by one contributor to ask: Just how queer is the messianic spirit of Marx and Marxism? And finally: How can a Pentecostal prophetess help liberate patriarchal conceptions of church leadership and domesticity?
The present collection of essays demonstrates a commitment to nuanced and imaginative thinking about the Latina/o experience that is engaging, thought-provoking, and grounded in real life issues pertaining to Latina/o (USA and Canada), Latin American, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean communities. The essays combine a scholarly commitment to broadening, complicating, and illuminating the lived faith experiences of these communities, with an approach that is accessible to wide and diverse audiences.
The first set of essays below focus on activism, community organizing, and social movements. Ofelia Ortega, in a paper originally presented at the 9th Annual Herencia Lectures, “A Past and Present Look at Protestant Cuban Theology,” at Princeton Theological Seminary, in September 2016, focuses on the development of protestant theology during Cuba’s revolutionary period. As part of her lecture, which was delivered in honor of Sergio Arce Martínez, Ortega outlines the primary cultural, political, and religious influences of the period as well some key theological themes that resulted from this period. Among these include practices of love, presence, and participation; re-imagining ecclesiology, evangelism, and mission; theological engagement with culture, economy, and peace & reconciliation movements; and innovative theologies of the “desert” and the “absurd.” A key final theme, Ortega shows, is the crucial role that women’s perspectives played in the formation and development of Protestant Cuban theology.
Robert Chao Romero explores the Christian spirituality and commitment of the famed Chicano civil rights leader César Chávez in his contribution, “The Spiritual Praxis of César Chávez.” Chávez’s influences, Romero demonstrates, ranged from “Abuelita theology” and Roman Catholic social teaching to various community based principles about social organizing. Romero argues that although our historical memory indicates otherwise, much of Chávez’s activist effort were deeply rooted in his Christian spirituality. The great march from the Central Valley to Sacramento, for example, drew explicitly from theological traditions of penitence and pilgrimage. Moreover, according to Romero, Chávez saw fasting and prayer as essential practices to the grape strike and the broader farm worker struggle. Romero makes sure to complicate Chavez’s legacy, illuminating how the later Chavez faced a “spiritual decentering” that pulled him away from his activism’s humble theological roots. At the end, Romero challenges those who attempt to secularize Chávez’s life and vision. “They take the ‘Rev.’ away from King,” Romero writes, “and the ‘abuelita theology’ away from Chávez.”
In his “The Faith of Saints and Citizens in Public Spaces,” Jonathan Calvillo draws on his five years of ethnographic research in Santa Ana, California, to examine the intersections of religious affiliation and ethnic identity among various Latina/o communities. Calvillo shows how communal religious practices performed in public spaces pushed against the boundaries of citizenship, especially among undocumented residents and those who have experienced various forms of educational segregation and limited economic opportunity. In the midst of societal exclusion and marginalization, these Latina/o faith communities, Calvillo argues, used some acts of public faith as acts of resistance, providing creative alternatives to ground their local citizenship.
Elías Ortega-Aponte invites readers to consider the critical import of studying Brown Power Movements for the field of Latina/o religious history. By focusing particularly on the Young Lords Party, Ortega-Aponte addresses the dangers of leaving non-religious social movement histories relatively unexplored in Latina/o Religious Studies. His argument is best read as an invitation for scholars in this field to take up “the task of analyzing religious Latino/a social movements and their contributions to Latino/ religiosity” while also highlighting the rich contributions of those seeking “to theorize la lucha as lived by secular Latino/a Activism.” Ultimately, Ortega-Aponte illuminates the many insights that can be gained from engaging with organizations that are highly critical of Latina/o religious institutions.
Our issue then takes a strong theoretical turn, broadening the discussions and yet calling for more specific, local, on-the-ground analyses, which are engaged in the following section. In his essay, “Is Liberation Theology a Political Theology?: Marcella Althaus-Reid’s Critical Hermeneutics and the Queer Messianic Question of Marxism,” Silas Morgan reveals a tension existing within the rising field of political theology, namely that its “Eurocentricity presents a problem for Latin American liberation theologies that are eager to escape the colonial clutches of the continent, that are looking for ways to recapture their indigenous vitality.” To address a way forward for Latin American theologians, Morgan encourages us to draw on the work of Marcella Althaus-Reid, who draws on Paul Ricoeur to imagine a queer messianic politics “that is as Christological as it is Marxist.” By situating Althaus-Reid in this way, Morgan invites the reader to position Latin American liberation theology as a political theology, one that both welcomes the rebirth of Marx yet also departs from methodologies of the contemporary European left.
Néstor Medina, in his article, “Latinas/os, Canada and Cosmopolitanism: A Look from its Exteriority,” interrogates traditional discourses around ideas of multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism and puts forth a broader evaluation of both ideas that “is only possible from its fringes, its exteriority.” Focusing on the Canadian practice of multiculturalism as his case study, Medina centers his analysis on the Latina/o experiences of systemic discrimination and marginalization. “Latinas/os should be understood not as haphazardly adopting-mixing cultural elements,” he writes, “but as immersed in an intentional process of simultaneous negotiation, disturbance, and interruption of conventional cultural grammars while remaining anchored in their cultural traditions, values, and customs: a cultural syncopation.” Medina concludes by highlighting ways in which communities of faith can play a pivotal role in imagining new and safer ways for people to live together, embrace each other’s cultures, and to encounter God.
The last written piece of this issue responds to the need for a more local on-the-ground analysis. In his “Profeta Ana Maldonado: Pushing the Boundaries of Paradoxical Domesticity,” Tito Madrazo introduces readers to the Pentecostal prophetess’ liberative vision imagined and practiced within a traditionally patriarchal space. While Madrazo describes Maldonado as adhering to a complementarian approach of church leadership, he rejects it as a passive acceptance or submission to patriarchy. Rather, Madrazo argues, Maldonado’s “paradoxical domesticity” serves an empowering role for female ministers. In addition, he demonstrates how domesticity plays a fundamental role in how her community interprets and conceives of the cobertura, or covering. Madrazo ultimately highlights Maldonado as one of many spiritual intellectuals and visionaries within Latina Pentecostalism who have both wrestled with and resisted various religious hierarchies designed to privilege some voices over others.
– Roberto Sirvent
En un esfuerzo de continuar su rica tradición de ofrecer a la comunidad teológica Latina/o un espacio para pensadoras/es Latinas/os en teología y religión para contribuir a—y aun comenzar—conversaciones escolásticas importantes, nuestro equipo editorial se siente orgulloso de presentar el ejemplar de primavera 2017 de Perspectivas.
Esperamos que nuestras/os lectoras/es lo encuentren ser una valiosa fuente para fomentar conversaciones críticas y creativas en varias comunidades religiosas y teológicas.
There are several very important aspects in the development of a Cuban Protestant theology in Cuba. We might be surprised by the different names from the multicolored cultures that, since 1514, have contributed to our real Cuban theology emerging from many contextual situations of inconformity and protest. They are the precursors of Cuban Christian thought today.
In the present situation, the growth of the churches in Cuba has been a surprise, not only for the remnant churches in Cuba but for the Cuban government as well. The Holy Spirit could be very subversive, surprising us in our life of faith and testimony. The transformation of our theological reflection guides us to develop main theological emphases that enrich our ecclesiology and our pastoral praxis.
[Article Available in English Only]
Existen varios aspectos importantes en el desarrollo de una teología protestante en Cuba. Pudiéramos quedarnos sorprendidos con los distintos nombres que provienen de las culturas multicolores que desde el año 1514, han contribuido a nuestra verdadera teología cubana que surgen de muchas situaciones contextuales de inconformidad y protesta.
Ellas son las precursoras del pensamiento cristiano cubano de hoy. En la situación actual, el avance de las iglesias en Cuba ha sido sorprendente, no solamente para las iglesias remanentes en Cuba sino también para el gobierno cubano. El Espíritu Santo puede ser muy subversivo, sorprendiéndonos en nuestra vida de fe y testimonio. La transformación de nuestra reflexión teológica nos guía a desarrollar énfasis teológicos principales que enriquecen nuestra eclesiología y nuestra praxis pastoral.
[Artículo disponible sólamente en inglés]
Although César Chávez is revered as the most highly-regarded Latina/o civil rights icon of the 1960’s, most scholars and activists overlook the profound role played by Christian spirituality in his personal life and the broader farm workers movement. This essay explores
the spiritual formation and praxis of famed Chicano civil rights leader César Chávez during the famous grape strike of 1965-1970. Chávez fused popular Mexican religious symbols and practices such as La Virgen de Guadalupe, “peregrinación” (pilgrimage), and fasting, with Catholic social teaching, leading to the first successful unionization of farm workers in United States history.
Aunque César Chávez es venerado como el más altamente reconocido icono de derechos civiles latinos de los 1960’s, la mayoría de estudiosos e activistas pasan por alto el papel profundo que jugó la espiritualidad cristiana en su vida personal y, en general, en el movimiento obrero agrícola. Este artículo explora
la formación y praxis espiritual del famoso líder chicano de derechos civiles César Chávez durante la famosa huelga de las uvas del 1965-1970. Chávez fusionó símbolos religiosos populares mexicanos y prácticas, como La Virgen de Guadalupe, peregrinación, y ayuno, con la doctrina social católica, llevando a la primera exitosa sindicalización de obreros agrícolas en la historia de los Estados Unidos.
This article argues that public expressions of faith can function as enactments of citizenship among those for whom the status and privileges of formal citizenship are elusive. The concept of substantive citizenship provides a lens for examining how public faith bolsters local belonging. Based on ethnographic research
conducted in Latinx communities in Santa Ana, California, this article highlights the public faith expressions of immigrants and the resulting local benefits. Public faith acts, in a sense, function as forms of resistance, enabling Latinx immigrants to care for their neighborhoods amidst discourses that classify them as unworthy of societal membership.
[Article Available in English Only]
Este artículo argumenta que las expresiones públicas de fe pueden funcionar como promulgaciones de ciudadanía entre aquellas/os cuyo estatus y privilegios de ciudadanía formal les son elusivos. El concepto de ciudadanía sustantiva provee una óptica para examinar como fe pública refuerza el sentido de pertenencia local. Basado en investigación etnográfica
conducida en comunidades Latinx en Santa Ana, California, este articulo resalta las expresiones públicas de fe de inmigrantes y los beneficios locales resultantes. Actos de fe pública, en un sentido, funcionan como formas de resistencia, habilitando a inmigrantes Latinx a cuidar de sus vecindarios en medio de discursos que los clasifican como indignos de membresía en la sociedad.
[Artículo disponible sólamente en inglés]
In this essay, I argue for the importance of incorporating the study of Latino/a radicalism into the terrain of Latino/a religious history. Latino/a radical groups like the Young Lords/Young Lords Party that critiqued Latino/a religiosity aimed at exposing the gap between the praxis of faith communities and
their faith affirmation through the lenses of radical activism. A consideration of Young Lords/Young Lords Party’s engagement with religious institutions can offer insights into to the theorizing of Latino/a religious history from outside the boundaries drawn by religious practices but still, influenced by the ethos of religious community.
[This article was translated into Spanish by Néstor Medina.]
En este artículo, yo argumento sobre la importancia de incorporar el estudio del radicalismo latino/a en el terreno de la historia religiosa latino/a. Grupos radicales latinos/as como los Young Lords/Partido Young Lords que criticaban la religiosidad latino/a pretendían exponer la brecha entre la praxis de las comunidades de fe y
y sus afirmaciones de fe a través de la perspectiva del activismo radical. Una consideración del compromiso de los Young Lords/Partido Young Lords con las instituciones religiosas puede brindar ideas para la teorización de la historia religiosa latino/a desde afuera de los limites creados por prácticas religiosas, pero aún influenciado por el espíritu de comunidad religiosa.
This article takes up the theory and theology of Argentinian theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid in order to explore the relationship between Latin American liberation theology and political theology. In particular,
it traces a messianic Christological trajectory in Althaus-Reid’s work that evinces a distinctive link between her queer Marxist critique of ideology and her “Indecent Theology.”
Este ensayo analiza la teoría y teología de la teóloga argentina Marcella Althaus-Reid con el propósito de explorar la relación entre la teología de la liberación latinoamericana y teología política. En particular,
traza una trayectoria cristológica mesiánica en el pensamiento de Althaus-Reid que demuestra un vínculo distintivo entre su crítica Maxista queer de la ideología y su “Teología Indecente.”
The adequacy of multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism as labels to describe ethonoculturally plural metropolises is the focus of this paper. It draws from the Canadian social experiment and argues that multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism refer to complex mechanisms of population control and exclusion.
Taking the Latina/o experience as vantage point, the author proposes that the pervasive notion of cosmopolitanism is better understood from the perspective of those that are left outside of its sociopolitical and economic apparatus.
[Article Available in English Only]
Lo adecuado del multiculturalismo y cosmopolitismo como rótulos para describir metrópolis etno-culturalmente plurales es el enfoque de este papel. El papel se basa en el experimento social canadiense y argumenta que el multiculturalismo y el cosmopolitismo se refieren a mecanismos complejos
de control y exclusión de la población. Tomando la experiencia Latina/o como punto de vista, el autor propone que la noción predominante del cosmopolitismo se entiende mejor desde la perspectiva de aquellas/os que quedan afuera de su aparato sociopolítico y económico.
[Artículo disponible sólamente en inglés]
This article analyzes the concept of “paradoxical domesticity” at work in the life and ministry of la profeta Ana Maldonado. Paradoxical domesticity has been defined by Gastón Espinosa as a phenomenon in which Latina ministers are required to be bold evangelists and submissive housewives in equal measure.
A close examination of Maldonado’s rhetoric, however, reveals that she is not merely the byproduct of a particular ethnic and religious movement. Within a world of “paradoxical domesticity,” Ana Maldonado preserves and creates space for herself and other women through her example, rhetoric, and supernatural imagination.
[Article Available in English Only]
Este artículo analiza el concepto de “domesticidad paradójica” que opera en la vida y ministerio de la profeta Ana Maldonado. La domesticidad paradójica ha sido definida por Gastón Espinosa como un fenómeno en el cual a las ministras Latinas se les requiere que sean evangelistas audaces y, de la misma manera, amas de casa sumisas.
Sin embargo, un análisis profundo de la retórica de Maldonado revela que ella no es sencillamente un derivado de un movimiento étnico y religioso. En medio de un mundo de “domesticidad paradójica,” Ana Maldonado preserva y crea un espacio para ella misma y para otras mujeres a través de su ejemplo, retorica, e imaginación sobrenatural.
[Artículo disponible sólamente en inglés]
Since 1998, Perspectivas has offered the Latino/a theological community a space for the innovative contributions of Latino/a scholars in theology and religion. It serves as a critical resource to stimulate further dialogue and research in theological and religious education. A printed peer-reviewed journal through 2009, with this Spring 2016 issue HTI is pleased to move Perspectivas to an online (and bilingual!) home. We expect that this online venue is what our readership has been asking and waiting for, and it will continue to offer a channel to showcase scholarship that is much needed in today’s American Academy and beyond.
Since our last issue our community has said goodbye to exceptional scholars and dear friends – Alejandro García-Rivera (1951 – 2010), Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz (1943 – 2012), Rubem Alves (1933 – 2014), and Otto Maduro (1945 – 2013). As we move forward it is our hope that their lives and scholarship will not be forgotten which is why we are pleased that this issue includes several articles that engage some of their work and others that serve as tributes that remind us of their impact not only as scholars, but also as beloved friends. It is our hope that our community continue to remember them in forthcoming issues.
In October of 2014, Princeton Theological Seminary held its annual Herencia Lectures in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. On that occasion, Leopoldo Cervantes-Ortiz delivered his paper, “A Theology of Human Joy: The Liberating-Poetic-Ludic Theology of Rubem Alves,” tracing the history and impact of the late Brazilian poet, author, theologian, and one of the founders of liberation theology in its Protestant Latin American embodiment. Cervantes-Ortiz traces Alves’s trajectory from doctoral student in theology under M. Richard Shaull to his transition to theopoetics which catapulted him to become one of the greatest literary writers of Latin America. We are pleased to publish this important work (available in both Spanish and English) as part of this inaugural online issue.
As a response to Cervantes-Ortiz, Raimundo Barreto picks up Alves’s intellectual trajectory highlighting the theme of exile as a constant presence in much of Alves’s work. Barreto’s reading of Alves in, “Rubem Alves and the Kaki Tree: the trajectory of an exile thinker,” contributes a fresh perspective to the notable scholar’s prolific career as having deep roots in his navigation of space and being between the American academy and the Latin American people he deeply loved.
Engaging the work of Ada María Isasi-Díaz in, “Embodied Love: Explorations on the imago Dei in the Caribbean Latina Theology of Ada María Isasi-Díaz,” Elaine Padilla articulates a thoughtful witness to how Isasi-Diaz’s concept of ‘fully human’ raises constructive challenges to classical Christian theological explorations of the imago Dei. In memory of her former graduate professor, Padilla points readers to an underexplored aspect of Isasi-Diaz’s work (alongside other Caribbean Latina theologians) and maps a way forward for feminist work on bodies and embodied love as our ability to “image God as God images us.”[1]
In tribute to late philosopher and sociologist of religion, Otto Maduro, Nestor Medina and Matilde Moros both offer powerful testimonies of the prodigious and beloved scholar, who was professor of world Christianity and Latin American Christianity at Drew University’s Theological School and also served as the 2012 president of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). In, “Entre (Otros) Conocimientos and the Struggle for Liberation: Remembering the Legacy of Otto Maduro (1945-2013),” Medina focuses on Maduro’s vocational versatility and his unique ability to cross not only disciplinary boundaries in the academy but also denominational boundaries within the church. Moros highlights the themes of religion as the potential locus of both liberation and oppression to be found in Maduro’s work in, “Otto Maduro: Maestro de cómo ser amigo.” Calling Maduro’s work on religion and Marxism from a Latin American perspective, ‘timely,’ Moros demonstrates that among his many strengths as a philosopher and scholar, Maduro’s shining attribute was his ability to stay with the pulse of the people, lands, and movements he studied.
In the same spirit of lifting up voices still seldom heard in the academy, church, and society at-large, Xochitl Alvizo’s, “The Listening Guide: A Practical Tool for Listening Deeply to the Body of Christ,” offers an important practical tool for critical theological reflection on the church. Of interest to both academics and ministerial leaders alike, Alvizo outlines what her doctoral research on Emerging Church discovered and how ‘deep listening’ can serve as a pathway forward in the corrective journey toward a theology that includes all members of the body of Christ.
As you encounter the work of these scholars, and the scholars that they engage, we hope that you will become more aware of, and employ, the rich resources available in Latino and Latin American scholarship in your own work in the academy or the church. As, locally, our nation continues to change demographically and, globally, the church continues to grow in the Southern Continents it is these voices that are vital, and can no longer remain merely ancillary, to a complete theological witness for the church and the world.
Grace Vargas
Associate Editor
Rubem Alves was one of the Protestant Latin American founders of Liberation Theology. He exerted an intense teaching thanks to his creativity and ability to transform dense theoretical aspects into impeccable expressive pieces. Later, when he opted for what now is known as Theopoetics, …
he deployed a theological and literary production that transformed completely his writing and projected him to ambits that he never imagined. This article intends to describe those changes that made Alves one of the best writers that have emerged in the Presbyterian circles in Latin America.
Rubem Alves fue uno de los fundadores de la teología de la liberación desde el campo protestante latinoamericano. Ejerció un intenso magisterio debido a su creatividad y a su capacidad para transformar aspectos teóricos densos en impecables piezas expresivas. Más tarde, al optar por lo que ahora se conoce …
como teopoética, desplegó una producción literaria y teológica que transformó por completo su escritura y la proyectó hacia ámbitos que él mismo nunca imaginó. Aquí se intenta dar fe de esos cambios que lo convirtieron en uno de los mejores escritores que han surgido del ámbito presbiteriano en el continente.
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This article presents a perspective on the changes that marked the development of Rubem Alves’s thought throughout his life. In the process of identifying the factors that contributed to those changes in Alves’s intellectual work, it argues that the situation of exile was a key motif in his work and one…
of the reasons he was never fully understood and appreciated in the U.S. Contrary to perspectives that stress radical ruptures in his thought, it sustains that Rubem Alves underwent an ongoing distancing from the restrictions imposed by the academy, an irreversible return home in his intellectual life.
[Article Available Only in English]
Este artículo presenta una perspectiva acerca de los cambios que marcaron el desarrollo del pensamiento de Rubem Alves a lo largo de su vida. En el proceso de identificación de los factores que contribuyeron a esos cambios en el trabajo intelectual de Alves, este artículo argumenta que…
la situación de exilio fue un tema clave en su trabajo y una de las razones por las cuales él nunca fue completamente entendido y apreciado en los Estados Unidos. Contrario a las perspectivas que enfatizan rupturas radicales en su pensamiento, aquí se sostiene que Rubem Alves sufrió un distanciamiento constante de las restricciones impuestas por la academia y un retorno irreversible a casa en su vida intelectual.
[Artículo disponible sólamente en inglés]
This article primarily engages the concept of being fully human found in the work of Ada María Isasi-Díaz in order to offer a response to classical constructs of the imago Dei. Even as the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures robustly affirm manifestations of divine corporeality, much of classical Christian theology…
rejects or neglects enfleshed views of the imago Dei. By accentuating the interplays between the invisible reality and the modes of relationality that resemble the Jesus event underscored in the anthropological theology of Isasi-Díaz, this article constructs a view of humans as icons of a God whose excessive love is embodied.
[Article Available in English Only]
Este artículo se dedica al concepto de ser plenamente humano, que se encuentra en la obra de Ada María Isasi-Díaz, con el fin de ofrecer una respuesta a las construcciones clásicas de la imago Dei. Aún cuando las escrituras hebreas y cristianas afirman enérgicamente manifestaciones de la corporalidad divina,…
mucho de la teología cristiana clásica rechaza o descuida las visiones encarnadas de la imago Dei. Al acentuar las interacciones entre la realidad invisible y los modos de relacionalidad que evocan al evento de Jesús puesto de relieve en la teología antropológica de Isasi-Díaz, este artículo construye una visión del ser humano como íconos de un Dios cuyo excesivo amor se encarna.
[Artículo disponible sólamente en inglés]
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