Those who live in palaces
Bernardo Pérez Andreo. Jesus of Nazareth was killed by the Roman procurator, with an inscription which determined the reason for his condemnation: «Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews». With this inscription, it was evident that the crime of “laesa maiestas” (injured majesty) was committed against the Roman Empire, since it was the Empire alone that could enthrone or dethrone Kings, and Jesus was a pretender to the throne, accused of usurping the Roman power in Judea. The inscription did not say «Jesus of Nazareth, herald of universal love», or «Master of the Law», or «Son of God». These titles would not have merited the supreme punishment of death by the Romans, since the internal grievances of their subjects mattered little to them, as long as their sovereignty was not affected. For this reason, this fact is probably the most certain of the whole of Jesus’ life: that he was crucified, through the application of «mors agravata», which the Romans reserved for seditious citizens. We can use this fact to reconstruct the historically plausible elements of the Gospels. The interpretative criteria is this: everything that would be in keeping with a death by crucifixion is probably historical fact. (more…)
Integral Ecology and Liberation Theology
Lluís S. Salinas Roca. The concept of “integral ecology” (which includes the concept of environmental justice) is tremendously useful in linking faith and the Christian praxis of taking care of the common homeland. By the same token, this concept is a very valuable tool in harmonizing the care for one’s neighbor and for creation. So says Daniel P. Castillo in “Integral Ecology as a Liberationist Concept”, published in 2016 in Theological Studies.
In his article, Castillo shows how the concept of integral ecology is intimately linked to the concept of integral liberation which had been expounded by Gustavo Gutierrez and which contains a call to radical conversion (metanoia) of the sociopolitical and cultural dimensions of the global system in which we live. (more…)
A Little Theology In the Midst of / About Times of Uncertainty
Juan Pablo Espinosa Arce.These are times in which the meaning of I don’t know has taken on a new depth. We are in a time of uncertainty. In the midst of this uncertainty, we have lived, thought and wondered about the future. What’s going to happen next? When will the pandemic end? Will there be a vaccine? When? Will we ever return to what we know as (and this needs to be between large bold quotation marks) “normality”? To offer one single example: annual calendars. We all had one hundred things planned for this year. In a matter of a couple of days, all of these commitments were cancelled or had to become virtual encounters. Darío Sztajnszrajber, an Argentine philosopher, speaks of learning to tear down our infinite number of assumptions. The period we are living through has reminded us that history and life have an end point. This world is not infinite. We are finite, and our lives share finitude and finality. The essence of our humanity is characterised by the unknown (I don’t know) and governed by uncertainty. The fateful myths about progress so common in the modern era with their excess of reason (J. Gevaert), and which hoped to find an answer to everything, seem to be falling like a house of cards. (more…)
