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SPECIAL EDITION: A Forum on the Crisis in Puerto Rico: Historical and Theological Perspectivas
Loida I. Martell; Jean-Pierre Ruiz; Melissa Pagán
Abstract:
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.

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SPECIAL EDITION: A Forum on the Crisis in Puerto Rico: Historical and Theological Perspectivas
Loida I. Martell; Jean-Pierre Ruiz; Melissa Pagán
Resumen:
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.

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PUERTO RICO FORUM REFLECTION #1: Puerto Rico as a Concubinic Petrie Dish: Diagnosing the Viral Attack of US Coloniality
Loida I. Martell
Abstract:
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PUERTO RICO FORUM REFLECTION #1: Puerto Rico as a Concubinic Petrie Dish: Diagnosing the Viral Attack of US Coloniality
Loida I. Martell
Resumen:
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PUERTO RICO FORUM REFLECTION #2: Puerto Rico and Maria: A View from the Diaspora
Jean-Pierre Ruiz
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PUERTO RICO FORUM REFLECTION #2: Puerto Rico and Maria: A View from the Diaspora
Jean-Pierre Ruiz
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PUERTO RICO FORUM REFLECTION #3: Cultivating a Hermeneutics of “El Grito” in the Eye of the Storm
Melissa Pagán
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PUERTO RICO FORUM REFLECTION #3: Cultivating a Hermeneutics of “El Grito” in the Eye of the Storm
Melissa Pagán
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Perspectivas on a Book: Roundtable Review Essays of Revelation in Aztlán: Scriptures, Utopias, and the Chicano Movement by Jacqueline M. Hidalgo (New York: Palgrave Macmillan Press, 2016)
Jean-Pierre Ruiz; Lynn R. Huber; Roberto Mata
Abstract:
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.

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Perspectivas on a Book: Roundtable Review Essays of Revelation in Aztlán: Scriptures, Utopias, and the Chicano Movement by Jacqueline M. Hidalgo (New York: Palgrave Macmillan Press, 2016)
Jean-Pierre Ruiz; Lynn R. Huber; Roberto Mata
Resumen:
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.

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Roundtable Review Essay #1 – “Talkin’ About Somethin’”: No More Business-as-Usual in Aztlán
Jean-Pierre Ruiz
Abstract:
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Roundtable Review Essay #1 – “Talkin’ About Somethin’”: No More Business-as-Usual in Aztlán
Jean-Pierre Ruiz
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Roundtable Review Essay #2 – Review of Jacqueline M. Hidalgo, Revelation in Aztlán: Scriptures, Utopias, and the Chicano Movement
Lynn R. Huber
Abstract:
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Roundtable Review Essay #2 – Review of Jacqueline M. Hidalgo, Revelation in Aztlán: Scriptures, Utopias, and the Chicano Movement
Lynn R. Huber
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Roundtable Review Essay #3 – A Review of Revelation in Aztlán: Scriptures, Utopias and The Chicano Movement
Roberto Mata
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Roundtable Review Essay #3 – A Review of Revelation in Aztlán: Scriptures, Utopias and The Chicano Movement
Roberto Mata
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Roundtable Response Essay: Place Matters, Or Utopian Orientations and Latina Feminist Biblical Studies
Jacqueline M. Hidalgo
Abstract:
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Roundtable Response Essay: Place Matters, Or Utopian Orientations and Latina Feminist Biblical Studies
Jacqueline M. Hidalgo
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Editorial | Issue 14

Abstract:
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

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Editorial | Issue 14

Resumen:
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.

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Overview of Protestant Theology in Cuba during the Revolutionary Period
Rev. Dr. Ofelia Ortega
Abstract:
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]

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Overview of Protestant Theology in Cuba during the Revolutionary Period
Rev. Dr. Ofelia Ortega
Resumen:
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]

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The Spiritual Praxis of César Chávez
Robert Chao Romero
Abstract:
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.

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The Spiritual Praxis of César Chávez
Robert Chao Romero
Resumen:
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.

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The Faith of Saints and Citizens in Public Spaces
Jonathan Calvillo
Abstract:
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]

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The Faith of Saints and Citizens in Public Spaces
Jonathan Calvillo
Resumen:
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]

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The Young Lords and the People’s Church: Social Movement Theory, Telling of Brown Power Movements Impact on Latino/a Religious History
Elías Ortega-Aponte
Abstract:
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.]

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The Young Lords and the People’s Church: Social Movement Theory, Telling of Brown Power Movements Impact on Latino/a Religious History
Elías Ortega-Aponte
Resumen:
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.

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Is Liberation Theology a Political Theology?: Marcella Althaus-Reid’s Critical Hermeneutics and the Queer Messianic Question of Marxism
Silas Morgan
Abstract:
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.”

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Is Liberation Theology a Political Theology?: Marcella Althaus-Reid’s Critical Hermeneutics and the Queer Messianic Question of Marxism
Silas Morgan
Resumen:
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.”

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Latinas/os, Canada and Cosmopolitanism: A Look from its Exteriority
Rev. Dr. Néstor Medina
Abstract:
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]

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Latinas/os, Canada and Cosmopolitanism: A Look from its Exteriority
Rev. Dr. Néstor Medina
Resumen:
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]

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Profeta Ana Maldonado: Pushing the Boundaries of Paradoxical Domesticity
Rev. Tito Madrazo
Abstract:
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]

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Profeta Ana Maldonado: Pushing the Boundaries of Paradoxical Domesticity
Rev. Tito Madrazo
Resumen:
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]

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From the Editor | Issue 13

Abstract:
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

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From the Editor | Issue 13

Resumen:
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A Theology of Human Joy: The Liberating-Poetic-Ludic Theology of Rubem Alves
Leopoldo Cervantes-Ortiz
Abstract:
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.

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A Theology of Human Joy: The Liberating-Poetic-Ludic Theology of Rubem Alves
Leopoldo Cervantes-Ortiz
Resumen:
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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Rubem Alves and the Kaki Tree: The Trajectory of an Exile Thinker
Raimundo César Barreto Jr.
Abstract:
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]

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Rubem Alves and the Kaki Tree: The Trajectory of an Exile Thinker
Raimundo César Barreto Jr.
Resumen:
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]

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Embodied Love: Explorations on the imago Dei in the Caribbean Latina Theology of Ada María Isasi-Díaz
Elaine Padilla
Abstract:
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]

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Embodied Love: Explorations on the imago Dei in the Caribbean Latina Theology of Ada María Isasi-Díaz
Elaine Padilla
Resumen:
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.

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Entre (Otros) Conocimientos and the Struggle for Liberation: Remembering the Legacy of Otto Maduro (1945-2013)
Néstor Medina
Abstract:
This article celebrates the life and numerous contributions of Otto Maduro to the study of religion. It highlights some of the important moments in his personal and academic life, as well as his life commitments. Alluding to some of his written works, it becomes evident that Otto was a versatile…

academic, activist at heart and dedicated teacher and mentor committed to the liberation of oppressed peoples. This article also celebrates his approach at crossing disciplinary boundaries as well as his ecumenical engagement of different faith traditions and Christian denominations.

[Article Available Only in English]

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Entre (Otros) Conocimientos and the Struggle for Liberation: Remembering the Legacy of Otto Maduro (1945-2013)
Néstor Medina
Resumen:
Este artículo celebra la vida y las numerosas contribuciones de Otto Maduro al estudio de la religión. Aquí se subrayan algunos de los momentos importantes en su vida personal y académica, así como sus compromisos vitales. Aludiendo a algunos de sus trabajos escritos, llega a ser evidente que Otto…

fue en el fondo un activista académico versátil, un maestro dedicado y un mentor comprometido con la liberación de las gentes oprimidas. Este artículo celebra su acercamiento de cruzar fronteras disciplinarias así como su compromiso ecuménico entre diferentes tradiciones de fe y de denominaciones cristianas.

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Otto Maduro: Maestro de cómo ser amigo
Matilde Moros
Abstract:
In addition to his unforgettable friendship, which became support for his research, Otto Maduro left much for us to think about with regard to religion. Starting with his first book and until his last writings, he was attentive to the historical context. To speak of Marxism and religion in that historical moment meant that Otto was in tune with the times.

Religion continued to be the theme and the place from which Otto studied, for a long time, the relation between social theories especially with regard to social conflict. His intellectual question centered on how religion could be both the cause of oppression as well as the cause of liberation in social conflicts.

[Article Available Only in Spanish]

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Otto Maduro: Maestro de cómo ser amigo
Matilde Moros
Resumen:
Además de la amistad inolvidable, que se convirtió en sostén de su investigación, Otto Maduro nos dejó mucho para pensar sobre la religión. Desde su primer libro hasta sus últimos escritos, siempre estuvo atento al contexto histórico. Hablar de marxismo y religión en ese momento histórico significó que la investigación académica de Otto estaba con la época.

La religión siguió siendo tema y lugar de estudio para Otto por mucho tiempo, en relación a teorías sociales y sobretodo en relación al conflicto social, su inquietud intelectual se centró en cómo podría ser la religión tanto causa de opresión como causa de liberación en los conflictos sociales.

[Artículo disponible sólamente en español]

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The Listening Guide: A Practical Tool for Listening Deeply to the Body of Christ
Xochitl Alvizo
Abstract:
The Listening Guide is a voice-centered method of narrative analysis developed collaboratively by Carol Gilligan et al. designed to keep the researcher open to discovery. This essay argues for the use of the Listening Guide as a “deep listening” method for critical theological reflection on the church. It is a…

practical tool that affirms the continuing incarnation of Christ in all participants of the church and is a corrective to the pervasive pattern within theology of allowing a handful of voices (too often, white male voices) to speak for the many.

[Article Available Only in English]

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The Listening Guide: A Practical Tool for Listening Deeply to the Body of Christ
Xochitl Alvizo
Resumen:
La Guía para escuchar es un método de análisis narrativo centrado en la voz, desarrollado de manera colaborativa por Carol Gilligan y otros, diseñado para mantener al investigador o investigadora abierto/a al descubrimiento. En este ensayo se argumenta a favor del uso de la Guía para escuchar como un…

método de “escucha profunda” para la reflexión teológica crítica sobre la iglesia. Se trata de una herramienta práctica que afirma la encarnación continua de Cristo en todos y todas los y las participantes de la iglesia y es un correctivo para el patrón dominante dentro de la teología de permitir que un puñado de voces (demasiado a menudo, voces de hombres blancos) hablen a nombre de muchos.

[Artículo disponible sólamente en inglés]

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May 01 2018

SPECIAL EDITION: A Forum on the Crisis in Puerto Rico: Historical and Theological Perspectivas

Written by hti

May 01 2018

PUERTO RICO FORUM REFLECTION #1: Puerto Rico as a Concubinic Petrie Dish: Diagnosing the Viral Attack of US Coloniality

Written by hti

May 01 2018

PUERTO RICO FORUM REFLECTION #2: Puerto Rico and Maria: A View from the Diaspora

Written by hti

May 01 2018

PUERTO RICO FORUM REFLECTION #3: Cultivating a Hermeneutics of “El Grito” in the Eye of the Storm

Written by hti

May 30 2018

Perspectivas on a Book: Roundtable Review Essays of Revelation in Aztlán: Scriptures, Utopias, and the Chicano Movement by Jacqueline M. Hidalgo (New York: Palgrave Macmillan Press, 2016)

Written by hti

May 30 2018

Roundtable Review Essay #1 – “Talkin’ About Somethin’”: No More Business-as-Usual in Aztlán

Written by hti

May 30 2018

Roundtable Review Essay #2 – Review of Jacqueline M. Hidalgo, Revelation in Aztlán: Scriptures, Utopias, and the Chicano Movement

Written by hti

May 30 2018

Roundtable Review Essay #3 – A Review of Revelation in Aztlán: Scriptures, Utopias and The Chicano Movement

Written by hti

May 30 2018

Roundtable Response Essay: Place Matters, Or Utopian Orientations and Latina Feminist Biblical Studies

Written by hti

Apr 08 2017

Editorial | Issue 14

Written by hti

Apr 10 2017

Overview of Protestant Theology in Cuba during the Revolutionary Period

Written by hti

Apr 11 2017

The Spiritual Praxis of César Chávez

Written by hti

Apr 08 2017

The Faith of Saints and Citizens in Public Spaces

Written by hti

Apr 08 2017

The Young Lords and the People’s Church: Social Movement Theory, Telling of Brown Power Movements Impact on Latino/a Religious History

Written by hti

Apr 11 2017

Is Liberation Theology a Political Theology?: Marcella Althaus-Reid’s Critical Hermeneutics and the Queer Messianic Question of Marxism

Written by hti

Apr 10 2017

Latinas/os, Canada and Cosmopolitanism: A Look from its Exteriority

Written by hti

Apr 10 2017

Profeta Ana Maldonado: Pushing the Boundaries of Paradoxical Domesticity

Written by hti

Feb 23 2016

From the Editor | Issue 13

Written by hti

Feb 25 2016

A Theology of Human Joy: The Liberating-Poetic-Ludic Theology of Rubem Alves

Written by hti

Feb 25 2016

Rubem Alves and the Kaki Tree: The Trajectory of an Exile Thinker

Written by hti

Feb 25 2016

Embodied Love: Explorations on the imago Dei in the Caribbean Latina Theology of Ada María Isasi-Díaz

Written by hti

Feb 25 2016

Entre (Otros) Conocimientos and the Struggle for Liberation: Remembering the Legacy of Otto Maduro (1945-2013)

Written by reginald

Feb 25 2016

Otto Maduro: Maestro de cómo ser amigo

Written by hti

Feb 25 2016

The Listening Guide: A Practical Tool for Listening Deeply to the Body of Christ

Written by hti