Journal for the Hispanic Theological Initiative
Perspectivas is the online peer-reviewed bilingual
subscription journal of the Hispanic Theological Initiative
| Spring 2017
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Abstract:Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the great majority of the academic establishment has insisted on presenting Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz as an intellectual victim of the hierarchy of the Catholic church and as a figure who, in challenging the prevailing social views of her time, elicited distrust. This study makes the falsity of such an approach evident. Through the analysis of two documents
Read More / Download Issuerecently discovered in the National Library of Peru, her victimhood is revealed as a simple myth. On the contrary, the historical evidence demonstrates that, as the earliest biographers of the Hieronymite nun attested, she was loved and admired by the generality of her fellow citizens and ecclesiastical superiors.
Resumen:A lo largo de los siglos XX y XXI la gran mayoría del establishment académico ha insistido en mostrar a Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz como una víctima intelectual de la jerarquía de la Iglesia católica y una figura que, por no compartir el
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplarpensamiento de su sociedad, despertaba desconfianza en ella. Este estudio hace ostensible la falsedad de tal enfoque. Mediante el análisis de dos documentos descubirtos en la Biblioteca Nacional del Perú durante la presente centuria, muestra que se trata de un simple mito. Contrariamente, las evidencias históricas patentizan que, como testimoniaron los biógrafos primigenios de la monja jerónima, ella fue querida y admirada por la generalidad de sus conciudadanos y superiores eclesiásticos.
Abstract:This essay presents and analyzes the attitudes toward cloistered nuns on the part of two figures closely associated with Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Archbishop Aguiar y Seijas and Bishop Fernández de Santa Cruz. Through an unpublished letter written by the Bishop of Puebla to the prelate of Mexico, the reasons each had for relating to nuns are made clear; this contributes to understanding their
Read More / Download Issuerespective relationship with Sor Juana, in which there was neither misogyny nor envy, but rather closeness and respect expressed through different ways of exercising the episcopal office.
Resumen:Este ensayo muestra y analiza las actitudes hacia las monjas de clausura por parte de dos personajes totalmente ligados con Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: el arzobispo Aguiar y Seijas, y el obispo Fernández de Santa Cruz. Mediante una carta inédita, escrita por el obispo de Puebla al prelado de México, se observan las razones que tenía cada uno para
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplarrelacionarse con las monjas; esto contribuye a comprender su respectiva relación con Sor Juana, donde no había misoginia ni envidia, si no una cercanía y respeto desde distintas maneras de ejercer el oficio episcopal.
Abstract:Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s decision to enter the cloister was not easy, as no decision of such magnitude ever is. First with the Carmelites and then with the Hieronymites, there is in Juana Inés a desire for holiness—without forsaking the appreciation of the world’s beauties—a desire to find what she herself declares in one of her greatest truths: to consume the vanities of life rather than to consume life
Read More / Download Issuein vanities.
Resumen:La decisión de Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz para entrar en la clausura no fue fácil, como ninguna decisión de esta grandeza lo es. Primero con las carmelitas y después con las jerónimas, hay un deseo de santidad, sin renunciar a comprender las bellezas del mundo,
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplaren Juana Inés; un deseo por encontrar lo que ella misma declara en una de sus mayores verdades: consumir vanidades de la vida en lugar de consumir la vida en vanidades.
Abstract:In this paper we argue that, thanks to the apostolic letter in the form of a “Motu Proprio” Maiorem hac dilectionem on the offering of life by Pope Francis, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz fulfills the principal requirement established by the apostolic letter for being elevated to the altars of the saints in the Roman Catholic Church.
Read More / Download Issue[See article for full abstract]
Resumen:En este trabajo argumentamos que gracias a la carta apostólica en forma de «Motu Proprio» Maiorem hac dilectionem sobre el ofrecimiento de la vida del Sumo Pontífice Francisco, sor Juana Inés de la Cruz cumple con el principal requisito que establece la carta apostólica para ser elevada a los altares de los santos en la Iglesia católica.
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplar[Acceda al artículo para leer el resumen completo]
Abstract:Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a seventeenth-century Mexican nun, lived a life marked by humility, holiness, heroic virtue, and unwavering faith. Although, Sor Juana has not yet been canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church, I argue that once she is canonized—as elaborated upon in Juan A. Tavárez’s essay in this volume—she should be declared a Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis in the Roman Catholic Church for her substantial intellectual contributions to Catholic theology, philosophy, and doctrine.
Read More / Download IssueSor Juana’s extensive oeuvre encompasses poetry, Eucharistic dramas (also known as autos sacramentales), villancicos (Hispanic liturgical songs), and spiritual devotionals to María Santísima, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Among these works, Sor Juana’s theological treatise La Respuesta (The Answer) and her philosophical poem El Primero Sueño (First Dream) demonstrate her contributions to the Catholic intellectual tradition as both a theologian and a philosopher.
Resumen:Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, una monja mexicana del siglo XVII, vivió una vida marcada por la humildad, la santidad, la virtud heroica y una fe inquebrantable. Aunque sor Juana aún no ha sido canonizada como santa en la Iglesia Católica, sostengo que una vez que sea canonizada —tal como se desarrolla en el ensayo de Juan A. Tavárez en este volumen— debería ser declarada Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis en la Iglesia Católica por sus sustanciales contribuciones intelectuales a la teología,
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplarla filosofía y la doctrina católica. La extensa obra de sor Juana abarca poesía, dramas eucarísticos (también conocidos como autos sacramentales), villancicos (cantos litúrgicos hispanos) y devocionales espirituales a María Santísima, la Santísima Virgen María. Entre estas obras, el tratado teológico La Respuesta y su poema filosófico El Primero Sueño demuestran sus contribuciones a la tradición intelectual católica tanto como teóloga y como filósofa.
- Abstract:
This special edition of Perspectivas memorializes and celebrates the recent growth of Hispanic-Latine presidential officers in Protestant, Catholic, and Evangelical schools affiliated with the Association of Theological Schools (ATS).[1] We invited these leaders to share their inaugural speeches or
Read More / Download Issueearly statements to their academic communities. The purpose of this exercise is to document three things: first, their professional and personal achievements; second, a later phase in the development of the Hispanic-Latine movement in theological education; and, finally, the transformative work that the Hispanic-Latine movement and members of others minoritized groups, have conducted within the establishment of graduate theological education in ATS schools.
[1] All the presidents and deans included in this publication were “presidential leaders” in their schools. The deans we included, contrary to other academic or faculty deans, had the responsibilities and roles of “president.” This function was the criterion for including their speeches in this collection.
Resumen:Esta edición especial de Perspectivas conmemora y celebra el crecimiento en tiempos recientes de líderes presidenciales hispano-latiné en las escuelas protestantes, católicas y evangélicas afiliadas a la Asociación de Escuelas Teológicas (ATS).[1] Invitamos a estos líderes a compartir sus discursos
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplarinaugurales o sus primeras declaraciones a sus comunidades académicas. El propósito de este ejercicio es documentar tres cosas: primero, sus logros profesionales y personales; en segundo lugar, una fase posterior en el desarrollo del movimiento hispano-latiné en la educación teológica; y, finalmente, el trabajo transformador que el movimiento hispano-latiné, y miembros de otros grupos minoritarios, han llevado a cabo dentro del establecimiento de la educación teológica de posgrado en las escuelas de la ATS.
[1] Todos los presidentes y decanos incluidos en esta publicación eran “líderes presidenciales” en sus escuelas. Los decanos que incluimos, a diferencia de otros decanos académicos o de facultad, tenían las responsabilidades y funciones de “presidente.” Esta función fue el criterio para incluir sus discursos en esta colección.
Abstract:The author is concerned with the ability of the Christian life and theological education to face the challenges that religious traditions confront in the contemporary world. Inspired by the work of historian David Hempton on reform Christian movements, such as the Jesuits, Pietists, and
Read More / Download IssueMethodists, Viera adopts and promotes a few aims to guide the renewal of theological education today. These are: develop a dynamic spiritual life; engage in mission work that fosters diversity and adapts the Christian message to honor diverse peoples and cultures; work with a transformative agenda for social justice in solidarity with poor and marginalized people; and form well educated religious leaders capable of thinking critically and creatively to address the issues and signs of the times. The fate of Christianity and theological education depends on presenting “a compelling vision of abundant life, of compassionate life to a violent and fragmented world.”
Abstract:The author retrieves and claims the Christian identity as “followers or disciples of Jesus”, or as “wearing Jesus Christ,” as a countercultural and liberating socio-spiritual identity to be affirmed for the sake of becoming a life-giving and liberating church and theological school amidst identities,
Read More / Download Issuesystems, and relationships that “dress up people with identities” that produce death and oppressions in today’s world. With Evangelical and metaphorical language, she calls to “take off” the “clothes or identities of social systems that dress us with clothes-identities that are contrary to God’s ways, and to let God “to dress us up with Jesus Christ,” as Godself did in the incarnation. Theological education, at its best, challenges the dehumanizing clothes-identities of social systems and helps us to wear Christ or priestly clothes congruent with God’s reign and its “integral freedom – emotional, physical, social, economic, political, and religious.”
- Abstract:
Acknowledging the twin crises facing the church and higher education, the author calls for courageous action in theological education. Using Jeremiah’s risky real-estate investment in a plot of land in Anatoth amid crisis, Vasquez-Levy sees the opportunity to leverage the legacy and
Read More / Download Issuecontext of the Pacific School of Religion to invest in those whose very marginality has sharpened their ability to innovate. Making the case that there is an extensive need for spiritually rooted leadership in the world, he reframes the financial and enrollment challenges of schools as being less about resources and more about access. He weaves voices from Scripture, history, academy, and culture to ask “Amid all the uncertainty God will continue to raise leaders that can bring about God’s dream and vision for the world. What role will we play? Where will we invest?”
Abstract:The author reflects on a long-standing experience of leadership service to the school for over 24 years and presents himself as a “dreamer” with a dream of Sacred Heart as a place “full of prestige that enjoys national and international fame for its superb theological, spiritual,
Read More / Download Issuepastoral, and human formation, and as a holy place, where the world meets to encounter and extend the reign of God.” The embodiment of this dream will require several efforts: first, the reaffirmation of its “SCJ charism and Dehonian spirituality” in its life and purpose”; second, the clarity to name the expected core ways of being and working of those graduates connected to the spiritual, intellectual, pastoral, and human formation aims; third, administrative practices that are collaborative and based on the principle of subsidiarity; fourth, the creation of new administrative structures and educational programs.
Abstract:Grounding his reflections on Meadville Lombard’s faith tradition and legacy, the author speaks to the distinctive contribution of the school in a time of uncertainty. He states that over the 175-year history of the school, “in times of challenge, [Meadville Lombard Theological School] has
Read More / Download Issueanchored its hope in future possibilities.” He calls on the community to rise to the challenges and seize the opportunities of this moment. He highlights the intentional connection between theory and practice that marks the school’s curriculum, which gives rise to the core leadership skills which “theological education contributes to our civic lives equipping religious communities, lay members, and religious leaders with a moral vision necessary to justice-making work in the world and lives of service in the public sphere.”
Abstract:Reflecting personally on his own vocation story, the author highlights the centrality of God’s invitation and our response to be part of the healing of the world. He connects individual vocation to the vocation of the seminary and the church by
Read More / Download Issueexploring the rich use of the phrase “let it be” or “let it be done”—Fiat in Latin—in the New Testament. The gathered community, and through them the broader church, are challenged to be willing, like Mary, to bear Christ to the world, to mirror Jesus’ willingness to embrace the grief of the world, and to pray each day as Jesus taught us, “thy will be done.” Acknowledging the particularly challenging moment marked by pandemic and crisis, a faithful vision emerges “not because we’re so impressive in our faithfulness but because we know God will always be faithful to us.”
Abstract:This pastoral reflection is about an interim president who, after serving for two years, is now inaugurated as acting president. He declares his identity and trajectory as a pastoral leader serving the church and the Seminary. He narrates the ways things have changed to address the
Read More / Download Issueinstitutional and financial crisis during the COVID era. The author reaffirms the history, role, and mission of the seminary as a school for and of the church for the formation of ministers and ministry committed to the liberating power of the Gospel, and as a forum for open dialogue and research. He calls for unity between the Seminary and the Church, and as well as between Christians of different orientations. He discusses the renewal of academic programs, educational technology, and the aspiration for a research center. Finally, the author expresses humbly his collaborative leadership style and requests support in fulfilling a call to become a president-pastor for the Seminary.
Abstract:In this sermon, the author calls Duke Divinity School to be open and ready for a new Pentecost that is “pressing, possible, and promised.” Using the biblical texts of Babel and Pentecost, the author explores imaginatively a contrast between the world according to Babel and according
Read More / Download Issueto Pentecost. Ultimately, the author longs “for our academic and vocational formation to be known for cultivating a Pentecost vision of God, the church, and the world.” Can there be a new Pentecost at Duke Divinity School? It is possible if all in the school commit to affirming the Spirit’s winds for a) affirming the goodness of human diversities, b) connecting learning and scholarship to the lives and struggles of people in the many peripheries and margins in the world, and c) raising our students high as the “sails” where the Spirit blows during this age of COVID pandemic.
Abstract:The author engages with a rich set of parables and images to beautifully articulate the critical importance and responsibility of theological education. Recognizing the power of words to shape community and imagination, he calls on his colleagues and community to take seriously
Read More / Download Issuetheir “scribal” task of balancing the new and the old. He states that “the great temptation of theological education is to focus on one or the other: the old at the cost of the new, or the new at the cost of the old.” Challenging the community to move beyond the binary of nostalgia and novelty, he articulates the work of theological educators at a time of great disruption as being scribes of the kingdom who take the conjunction “and” seriously drawing on the wisdom of tradition and embracing the possibilities of change.
- Abstract:
This theological reflection centers around a confession and a call for “unrelenting hope” to claim and re-live in our times the “spiritual and institutional DNA” or identity that has
Read More / Download Issuecharacterized the seminary since its foundations, that is, its vocation to be and to serve at the margins. It is a vision and practice of ministry and theological education grounded in Jesus’ liberating and affirming ministry to marginal and poor people. “My unrelenting hope and vision for Garrett-Evangelical is that… we are a community unapologetically claimed and identified by the Spirit of Jesus… we will equip leaders to grow and thrive in spreading hope at the margins and wherever distorted versions of humanity and themselves grip people. Garrett is called to be both a mirror so that distortion can be exposed, and also the bearer of the gift of wholeness and flourishing that Jesus promised.”
Abstract:The author seeks to unite and help the Cornerstone community to focus on the historic opportunity for Cornerstone University and Cornerstone Theological Seminary to arise and become the destination of choice for Christian Higher Education. “And my vision, our vision for
Read More / Download Issuethis wonderful, great university called Cornerstone University, is to have a Cornerstone graduate in every household of America.” He delineates a vision and the qualities needed to achieve this goal and its impact. He calls the university and seminary to show “great moral courage proclaiming and defending… The faith of Jesus and the gospel;” “to be a beautiful community that mirrors the kingdom of God” in accepting diversity in hospitable ways; to be committed to “truth and not ideologies” and to practice holistic spiritual formation.
Abstract:The author calls the Austin Seminary to celebrate, re-examine its history, and lament what has perished without feeling defeated or abandoned. He beacons the question: “What is this place of learning and faith we call Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary? He quotes
Read More / Download IssueMartin Heidegger, “We ought to be keenly aware of our (Dasein) “being there” of our place as prophetic voice amid unjust systems of exclusion and oppression. He uses the term immigrant imagination to exhort the community to ponder what it means to find a place of belonging in our world, especially when at times it is indifferent, self-preoccupied, and unhospitable. To be aware of this place, Austin Seminary, and to listen to the wisdom of the apostle in Ephesians, who invites us to be rooted and established in love so that we may be empowered to grasp another model of dimensionality, not measured solely in numbers, but on how wide and long and high and deep is the love of the one we seek to emulate in all forms of service. Calling the seminary to teach new generations of Christians and listening to the faith of Millennials, Gen Z’s, Gen Alphas, and those who will follow, in whatever form that faith is emerging should start to inform Austin’s curriculum now. He exhorts the seminary to plant seeds that will sustain people in the continuum of theological learning which begins before seminary education and continues after they leave the classroom. Making Austin a place of cultivation, a widening place seeking out special gifts for service within the church and helping them discern such passions that may signal a vocation for ministry.
