The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Latinoax Theology E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Blackwell Companions to Religion
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1509

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

The new edition of the standard resource for those teaching or learning Latinoax theology Now in its second edition, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Latinoax Theology remains the most up-to-date, fully ecumenical collection of scholarship in the field. Bringing together contributions by a diverse panel of established scholars and newer voices within various theological disciplines, this comprehensive volume challenges Western readings of Christianity and offers fresh insights into theological truth from varied cultural and ethnic perspectives. The Companion addresses a wide range of Latinoax contexts while highlighting the thought of female, male, and LGBTQ+ Latinoax scholars in theology, introducing readers to this significant movement. Each chapter provides the historical background of a particular topic, explores its treatment by Latinoax theologians, discusses the current state of the topic, and offers the unique perspective of internationally recognized authors. The revised second edition incorporates recent developments within Latinoax studies, featuring new and expanded chapters that reflect numerous traditions of thought, up-to-date sources and methodologies, diverse intra-Latinoax communities, and contemporary Latinoax theologies and theologians. This invaluable and unique companion: * Provides a systematic account of the past, present, and future of Latinoax theology * Features new essays by the most influential voices in the field, incorporating recent research from Catholic, Protestant, and Evangelical scholars * Addresses the Latinoax experience of alienation and marginalization * Represents the wide range of ecclesial and theological traditions * Discusses Latinoax in timely contexts such as politics, immigration, feminism, gender, queer theory, and social and economic justice Edited by one of the world's leading Latino theologians, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Latinoax Theology, Second Edition is an indispensable resource for academic scholars, undergraduate and graduate students, and instructors in universities and seminaries covering courses in theology, political thought, Latinoax studies, religion in the United States, and related topics.

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The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Latinoax Theology

Second Edition

Edited by

Orlando O. Espín

This edition first published 2023

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Espín, Orlando O., editor.

Title: The Wiley Blackwell companion to Latinoax theology / edited by Orlando O. Espin.

Other titles: Wiley Blackwell companion to Latino/a theology.

Description: Second edition. | Hoboken : John Wiley & Sons, 2023. | Series: The Wiley Blackwell companions to religion | Revised edition of: The Wiley Blackwell companion to Latino/a theology. Malden, MA : Wiley Blackwell, 2015. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022054495 (print) | LCCN 2022054496 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119870296 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119870319 (pdf) | ISBN 9781119870326 (epub) | ISBN 9781119870333 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Hispanic American theology.

Classification: LCC BT83.575 .W55 2023 (print) | LCC BT83.575 (ebook) | DDC 230.089/68073--dc23/eng/20230223

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022054495

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022054496

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Para Ricardo, compañero y amigo.

Y para

Justo L. González, Luis Rivera Pagán, Yolanda Tarango,

Loida Martell-Otero, Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, Gloria Inés Loya,

Arturo J. Bañuelas, Allan Figueroa Deck,

y

Orlando Costas, Virgilio Elizondo,

Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Edgard Beltrán,

René Padilla, Alejandro García-Rivera,

Otto Maduro, David A. Sánchez.

+++

We cannot live in a world that is not our own,

in a world that is interpreted for us by others.

Part of the dare is to take back our own listening,

to use our own voice, to see our own light.

Hildegard of Bingen

No va para ningún lado quien no sabe dónde está.

Gilberto Santa Rosa

Contents

Cover

Series page

Title page

Copyright

Dedication

List of Contributors

Introduction

PART I CONTEXTS

1 Lo cotidiano as Locus Theologicus

2 History and Latinx Identity: Mapping a Past That Leads to Our Future

3 Sources and Methodologies in Latinoax Theologies

4 Ecumenism in Latinx Theologizing

5 A Critical Feminist Reflection on the Social Scientific Study of Latinx Religion

PART II THE THEOLOGICAL TRADITION

6 Toward a Latinx Theology of Revelation: Sources and Claims

7 The Bible and Latina/o/x Theology

8 The Latino/a/x Theology of God as the Future of Theodicy: A Proposal from the Dangerous Memory of the Latino/a Jesus

9 Cristología Encarnada

10 Theological Musings toward a Latina/o/x Pneumatology

11 Latinoax Ecclesiology in the Roman Catholic Tradition: A Pilgrimage of Subversive Memory

12 Protestant Ecclesiology

13 Grace and Sin. Salvation

14 Eschatology

15 Latino/a Ethics

16 Latinx Contributions to Liturgical and Sacramental Theology

17 Aspiring to Un Liderazgo en Conjunto: Leadership Development for Latine Congregations

18 Political Theology

PART III THEOLOGIZING LATINOAX REALITIES

19 Latine Perspectives on Care for Creation

20 Theologizing Immigration

21 Queer Theory and Latinoxa Theologizing

22 Theologizing Latina Feminisms: Amplifying the Political Intersections of Theology, Gender, and Critical Theory

23 Latine Perspectives on Theology, Ministry, and Pastoral Care

24 Preaching Latina/Mente: Mujerista and Evangélica Theologies

25 Theologizing Popular Catholicism

26 Understanding Spirituality and Theologizing Popular Protestantism

27 Latinx Religion and Politics

28 Interreligious Dialogue: Why Should It Matter to Our Academic and Grassroots Communities?

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Series page

Title page

Copyright

Dedication

Table of Contents

List of Contributors

Introduction

Begin Reading

End User License Agreement

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List of Contributors

Carmen M. Nanko-Fernández is Professor of Hispanic Theology and Ministry at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Her scholarship includes the book Theologizing en Espanglish as well as numerous chapters, scholarly and pastoral articles, presentations, and digital media on Latin@́ theologies, theological education, im/migration, lo popular, sport, and theology—with particular focus on béisbol/baseball and Pope Francis on sports. Nanko-Fernández is the founding coeditor of the multivolume series Disruptive Cartographers: Doing Theology Latinamente (Fordham University Press), and is part of the 1.5 generation of Latin@́ theologians.

Daisy L. Machado is professor emerita of the history of Christianity at Union Theological Seminary, where she also served as Academic Dean. She continues her work as the Executive Director of the Hispanic Summer Program, which recently received a $1.8 million grant from the Lilly Endowment. A native of Cuba, she was raised in New York City, where she quickly learned about the power of the “historical imagination” she writes about. She is the author of numerous articles and the editor of two anthologies, and her research, writing, and teaching for over twenty-five years has focused on the US borderlands, that heterotopia where life for the Latinx community is one of struggle but also of resilience, hope, and a deep abiding faith.

Rubén Rosario-Rodríguez is the Clarence Louis and Helen Steber Professor of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University. His teaching and research interests range from comparative religious ethics to theological anthropology, to liberation and political theologies; his most recent publications include Christian Martyrdom and Political Violence (Cambridge University Press, 2017) and Dogmatics After Babel (Westminster John Knox Press, 2018) and its forthcoming sequel, Theological Fragments: Confessing What We Know and Cannot Know About an Infinite God (Westminster John Knox Press, 2023); and he is editor of the T&T Clark Handbook of Political Theology (Bloomsbury/T&T Clark, 2019).

José R. Irizarry served as the first Latinx president of the Religious Education Association of the USA and Canada, was appointed to the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches, and also serves on the Committee on Theological Education by the Presbyterian Church (USA). His major academic interests are international and intercultural relations, justice theory, critical pedagogy, aesthetics of space, and religious teratology. Dr. Irizarry now serves as the 10th President of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Melissa Guzmán-García is an Associate professor of Latina/o Studies at San Francisco State University, where she teaches courses on racism, juvenile justice, and the experiences of communities of color who are impacted by carceral violence. Her research broadly examines how racialized carceral control operates through local religious organizations across Central and Northern California, and specifically how state power becomes entrenched in the institutional missions and embodied religious practices of local religious organizations. Her research has appeared across various journals including: International Migration Review, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, and Punishment and Society. Currently, she is working on her first book manuscript under contract with New York University Press, tentatively titled The Spirit of Carcerality: Latinx Evangelicals and Carceral Control in the 21st Century.

Efrain Agosto, Ph.D., is Visiting Professor of Latinx Studies and Religion at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts. Formerly, he was Professor of New Testament Studies at New York Theological Seminary, New York City (2011–2021) and Professor of New Testament and Director of the Programa de Ministerios Hispanos at Hartford Seminary (now Hartford International University for Religion and Peace) in Hartford, Connecticut (1995–2011). He is the author of Servant Leadership: Jesus and Paul (Chalice Press, 2005); Corintios, a Spanish-language commentary on 1–2 Corinthians (Fortress Press, 2008); Preaching in the Interim: Transitional Leadership in the Latino/a Church (Judson Press, 2018); and coeditor with Jacqueline Hidalgo of Latinxs, the Bible and Migration (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

Jean-Pierre Ruiz is on the faculty of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at St. John’s University, New York, where he is also a senior research fellow of the Vincentian Center for Church and Society. He earned his doctorate from the Pontifical Gregorian University, and his 2011 book, Readings from the Edges: The Bible and People on the Move, received a Catholic Press Association award. His 2021 book, Revelation in the Vernacular, received an excellence in publishing (first place) award in theology from the Association of Catholic Publishers. A diasporic Puerto Rican, his research interests include the prophets and the Apocalypse of John, as well as the Bible and colonialism.

Sixto J. García earned his doctorate in systematic and philosophical theology at the University of Notre Dame (1986). A layman, he taught theology for many years at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, in Florida. He recently retired, and is completing a monograph on “faith and grace in Francisco de Vitoria’s theology.”

Neomi De Anda is a tenured Associate Professor at the University of Dayton Department of Religious Studies. She teaches courses in religion, languages and cultures, Latinx and Latin American studies, race and ethnic studies, and women and gender studies. She is a Human Rights Center Research Associate. Dr. De Anda has scholarly presentations, publications and exhibitions on her research interests of LatinoXa Christology; theology and breast milk; chisme; the intersection of race and migrations; and a border theology at the intersections of the environment, migrations, labor, and women. She is the recipient of the 2021 University of Dayton Award for Faculty Teaching; the 2021 University of Dayton College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Service Award for faculty; and the First Book Prize for Minority Scholars from the Louisville Institute. She is a past president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS).

Néstor Medina is a Latino-Canadian theologian. He is Assistant Professor of Religious Ethics and Culture at Emmanuel College, University of Toronto. He engages the field of ethics from contextual, liberationist, intercultural, and Post- and Decolonial perspectives. He studies the intersections between people’s cultures, histories, ethnoracial relations, and forms of knowledge in religious and theoethical tradition. In addition to published articles and three coedited volumes, he is also the author of Mestizaje: (Re)Mapping “Race,” Culture, and Faith in Latina/o/x Catholicism (Orbis 2008) and Christianity, Empire and the Spirit (Brill 2018).

Yara González-Justiniano is professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture at Vanderbilt Divinity School. She is the author of Centering Hope as a Sustainable Decolonial Practice: Esperanza en Práctica. Her educational journey of interdisciplinarity informs the ways in which she approaches theological studies’ scholarship and teaching.

Roberto S. Goizueta is the Margaret O’Brien Flatley Professor Emeritus of Catholic Theology at Boston College. Dr. Goizueta is a former President of both the Catholic Theological Society of America and the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States. The National Catholic Reporter named him one of the ten most influential US Latino/a educators, pastors, and theologians. He has published six books and over a hundred scholarly articles. His book Caminemos con Jesús: Toward a Hispanic/Latino Theology of Accompaniment (Orbis, 1995) was named one of the “Fifty Foundational Books in Race, Ethnicity, and Religion” by the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion.

Luis G. Pedraja is the sixth president of Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, Massachusetts. He is a theologian, philosopher, author, scholar, and educator, who is an influential contributor to the development of Latinoax theology. He is also noted for his work in process philosophy and postmodernism, as well as his work in higher education, where he has held multiple leadership and faculty positions. He has published several books and multiple articles exploring how understanding language and culture can provide unique theological insights, as well as promote intercultural dialogue and tolerance. Among his contributions are Teología: An Introduction to Hispanic Theology and Jesus is My Uncle: Christology from a Hispanic Perspective.

María Teresa Dávila, associate professor and chair of Religious and Theological Studies at Merrimack College (Massachusetts), is a Roman Catholic laywoman. Her areas of study include racial and migrant justice, public and political theology, liberation ethics, the option for the poor, and Catholic social teaching.

Antonio (Tony) Eduardo Alonso is Assistant Professor of Theology and Culture at Candler School of Theology at Emory University where he also serves as the inaugural Director of Catholic Studies. He is a recipient of the Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award for new scholars for the best academic essay in the field of theology from the Catholic Theological Society of America as well as the Hispanic Theological Initiative Book Prize. In addition to his scholarly work, he is a Latin Grammy-nominated composer of sacred music.

The Rev. Altagracia Pérez-Bullard, Ph.D., is the Director of Contextual Ministries and Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary. She previously served as Canon for Congregational Vitality for the Episcopal Diocese of New York and served the church for over 30 years as a priest and community leader in urban centers.

Eliezer Valentín is the founder and president of the Institute for Latino Politics and Policy. He has served as lecturer at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and Iona University. Eli is a contributing columnist for Gotham Gazette, largely focusing on Latinoax politics in New York, and is a frequent guest political analyst at Univision NY and New York 1 News. He has served as a political advisor to numerous elected officials across the country and is the editor of Sermons from the Latino/a Pulpit, and author of the forthcoming, Reinhold Niebuhr and Politics (Wipf and Stock).

Dr. Nichole M. Flores is associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia. She researches the constructive contributions of Catholic and Latine theologies to notions of justice and aesthetics as applied in public life. Dr. Flores is the author of The Aesthetics of Solidarity: Our Lady of Guadalupe and American Democracy (Georgetown University Press, 2021). She has also published essays in the Journal of Religious Ethics, the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, and Modern Theology among other academic journals and edited book volumes. She is a contributing author on the masthead at America: The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture. In 2015, Dr. Flores was honored with the Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award for best essay in academic theology by a junior scholar from the Catholic Theological Society of America.

Victor Carmona is an Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. Carmona’s research advances theological-ethical analyses of migration with a global perspective grounded in Latine points of view. His dual aim is to draw from the wisdom the Catholic tradition offers to create more just immigration systems and to nurture its ability to do so in increasingly pluralistic and interdependent societies. His recent projects do so by exploring insights the discipline of spirituality offers to migration ethics.

Roberto Che Espinoza, Ph.D., is a storyteller, professor, and politicized theologian and public ethicist. He is on faculty at Duke Divinity School and founded the Activist Theology Project, a collaborative project dedicated to meaning making the public theology. He lives in Nashville, TN with his spouse.

Xochitl Alvizo teaches Women and Religion and the Philosophy of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality at California State University, Northridge. Her research areas include feminist and queer theologies, congregational studies, ecclesiology, and the emerging church. She is a cofounder of Feminism and Religion (www.feminismandreligion.com)—an online project bringing together feminist voices from around the world to dialogue about feminism in religion. She is a coeditor of Women Religion Revolution (FSR Books, 2017) with Gina Messina and The Emerging Church, Millennials, and Religion: Volume 2 (Cascade Books, 2022) with Terry Shoemaker and Rachel C. Schneider. She lives in Los Angeles, CA, where she was also born and raised.

Jennifer Owens-Jofré is currently a Manresa Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for Ignatian Service at Saint Louis University. She studied practical theology and systematic theology at the Graduate Theological Union and has served in academic and pastoral roles throughout the United States. She coedited her first book, From the Pews in the Back: Young Women and Catholicism (Liturgical Press, 2009) with Kate Dugan and continues to present and write for academic and ecclesial audiences. Her current research focuses on lay Latina women in ministry, popular religion, qualitive research methods and practical theology, service learning and Ignatian pedagogy, and theologies of accompaniment.

Lis Valle-Ruiz is Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Worship and Director of Community Worship Life of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. She is a coeditor of and a contributor to Unmasking White Preaching: Racial Hegemony, Resistance, and Possibilities in Homiletics (Lexington Books, 2022). She has published several articles in US academic journals and professional magazines. Her theological research has been on worship and preaching using methodologies from practical theology, women and gender studies, and the anthropological school of thought within performance studies. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico until she became part of the Boricua diaspora as an adult in 2008.

Dr. Rebecca Berrú Davis is Assistant Professor of Theology at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN. She graduated from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, and is interested in the intersection of art, faith, and justice to better understand the spiritual and religious expressions of those located on the margins of society. In addition to writing, she continues to advance her activist research and curatorial project launched in 2006, related to Picturing Paradise, an exhibit featuring the fabric art of Peruvian women artists living in the shantytowns of Pamplona Alta outside of Lima, Peru.

Edwin DavidAponte is Dean of the Theological School and Professor of Religion and Culture at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. As a cultural historian, Aponte investigates faith, spirituality, and culture, especially the intersections of race, ethnicity, and religion, congregational studies, religion, and politics. Aponte also explores issues of diversity, inclusion, and multicultural and intercultural realities. His writings include ¡Santo! Varieties of Latino/a Spirituality (Orbis Books, 2012), and he is coauthor of Introducing Latinx Theologies (Orbis Books, 2020) with Miguel A. De La Torre.

Carlos F. Cardoza-Orlandi is the Frederick E. Roach Professor of World Christianity in the Religion Department at Baylor University. His teaching and research interest focus on the interpretations of the movement of the Christian religion, sociocultural interplay between Christians and people of other faiths, and grassroots theological contributions in art and music illustrating the exchanges between Christianity, cultures, and religions.

Introduction

Orlando O. Espín

Over the last four to five decades there has developed among Latinoax scholars of religion a manner of theologizing that first became known as Hispanic, then as Latino, later as Latino/a or Latin@, and more recently as Latinx or Latinoax theology. The chapters in this volume will offer the reader a panoramic view of this diverse and intensely ecumenical theological approach.

This volume is the second edition of the Companion to Latinoax Theology, first published in 2015. As the reader will notice, the title has been changed to recognize the changing demonym. Chapters from the first edition have been revised and updated, and new ones have been added to represent new directions and interests.

The present Introduction will attempt to generally describe Latinoax theology, as well as clarify some terms and methodological approaches.

I Latinoax are the US communities and persons whose cultural and historical roots are to be found in Latin America.

I prefer to refer to the persons and communities by the term “Latinoax” because it reflects an acceptable pronunciation and usage, but by no means do I claim that this is the more “correct” or only possible spelling or pronunciation. Each author in this volume has been free to use the identity term they choose, as long as it reflects actual usage. Furthermore, each author has been free to use different spellings of certain terms, as well as to choose italicization or not of Spanish words or expressions or of “Espanglish” terms. This editor has not attempted a standardization of spellings and usage, in some cases because none exists and in some cases because some of the authors have chosen to make theoretical points by their defiance of rules.

As we begin this volume, a few very important clarifications on the term or expression “Latinoax” are in order as we start this Companion, in order to help the reader understand its usage, and to begin to delving into the contexts that begat Latinoax theologies.

The reader must remember that what today we call “Latin America” is a smaller geographic version of what for several centuries were the Spanish and Portuguese empires. At least half of today’s US territory was part of the Spanish colonial world. With military actions that led to the seizure of large territories not originally its own, the US geographically grew to most of its current size.

1

The territories forcibly incorporated, however, were not empty or without history—their populations were also forced to join the US, but as conquered peoples.

2

There are now (2022) approximately 62 million Latinoax in the US, most of whom were born in the US, and of those who were born elsewhere, the majority are naturalized US citizens or permanent residents. Latinoax, consequently, are not identical to “Latin Americans”: not any more than Irish-Americans or German-Americans can be thought of as identical to today’s Irish or Germans. Most Latinoax today are not immigrants. They constitute the largest “minority,” and the fastest growing group of ethnic/cultural communities in the country.

3

Today in the US there is no

one

Latinoax culture or community. There are

at least

twenty Latinoax cultural communities, all internally diverse, and all historically and ethnically very distinct. Some of the diversity results from the differences in ancestral origins of each of the communities, but the diversity must also be explained as due to the US locations where these communities developed (e.g., a Latinoax person of Dominican roots is not a Latinoax person of Guatemalan roots, nor is a Mexican American from East Los Angeles the same as a Mexican American from Homestead, Florida). Depending on the US geographic location, one or another of these Latinoax communities will be the local or regional majority, but never to the exclusion of others. For example, in the states of Florida, Rhode Island, and New York, Latinoax of Antillean origins (i.e., Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Cubans) are the demographic majorities, but not to the exclusion of Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Colombians, etc. In the District of Columbia to be Latinoax is likely to be of Salvadoran origin, while in New Orleans it’s to be of Honduran roots.

Denominational demographics have also been significantly impacted by the growing Latinoax presence. For example, the majority of the members of the largest US denomination (the Roman Catholic Church) are now Latinoax; and in some Roman Catholic dioceses the Latinoax presence is overwhelming (e.g., Miami, Los Angeles, and New York, but also Anchorage, St. Cloud, and Atlanta). The growth of the Episcopal Church in the US since the year 2000 has been mostly due to Latinoax, and the same can be said—

mutatis mutandi

—in many other denominations (e.g., United Methodist Church, American Baptist Convention, Assemblies of God).

Although it is evident that the majority of Latinoax identify themselves as Christian (regardless of denominational affiliation), one cannot ignore that there are Latinoax Jews, Muslims, Lukumí, Buddhists, etc., as proud of their ethnicity as any other Latinoax, making

latinidad

a more diverse reality than is popularly assumed. Of growing importance, furthermore, is the increasing number of Latinoax who do not identify with

any

religious tradition or denomination—not “secularized” in the North Atlantic sense of the term, but unaffiliated or uninterested in the ways of silent protests against denominational orthodoxies, or as among the “Nones.”

Despite the evident diversity, Latinoax communities still share much in common. The extended family and a popular religious cosmovision

4

are the two most grounding pillars of Latinoax cultures across all differences, serving as the interpretive, organizing “grids” for most of the people’s daily reality and understanding. Also shared by Latinoax communities, is the defining role(s) of older women in the families—especially (but not exclusively) in matters ethical and/or religious. Bilingualism remains the norm, helping shape much of the inclusive understanding of Latinoax cultures, as well as the preservation of cultural elements molded during the Spanish colonial centuries. Depending on the communities, or groups thereof, contributions of Africans remain strong,

5

or the still-living legacy of the First Peoples of the Americas.

6

II This is a volume on Latinoax theology. But what is it?

As mentioned above, religion has been and remains a hugely important component of all Latinoax cultures, and so any attempt at understanding the latter requires an equally serious understanding of the former. The same is true about Christian theological traditions in the US.7

The reader should beware, however, of identifying “religion” with its institutional expressions only or mainly, or with its orthodoxies. Among Latinoax, “religion” is familial before it is institutional, and inclusive more than orthodox.8 The language and categories of North Atlantic social scientific, philosophical, and theological thought tends to be blind to, or marginalize, what does not “fit” its self-proclaimed normativity and universal validity (i.e., its culturally constructed “orthodoxies”).

Consequently, the study of Latinoax religion, if methodologically done latinamente, must not fall prey to approaches that would force foreign or colonializing analytical categories onto Latinoax realities. This does not obstruct dialogue, but it prevents it from becoming a subtle way of continued colonization. It is one thing to dialogue with and engage someone else’s categories, and another to not see that the categories are someone else’s, reflecting the interests and perspectives of their creators.

Latinoax theology was born as a methodological approach to the study of Latinoax religious reality, as much as a contributor to the overall study of Latinoax communities and realities that also interpret themselves through inescapably religious lenses. Latinoax theology was born in a Christian context and till this day remains a (Catholic/Protestant/Evangelical) ecumenical enterprise, although sooner than later it will have to engage other Latinoax religious dialogue partners who—because they are Latinoax—will need to enter the conversation on the most grounding of Latinoax cultural elements.

I am not aware of any one definition of Latinoax theology (Catholic, Protestant, or Evangelical) that might have become broadly standard among those of us who work in the field. A few authors or commentators have proposed one or another descriptive definition—and other commentators (also Latinoax ones) have invariably offered improvements to the attempted definitions or descriptions.9

Latinoax theology now has a long enough history, a “critical mass” of qualified practitioners, and a large body of published literature. The chapters in this volume will acquaint the reader with much that Latinoax theologians have already offered the academy.

Latinoax theology was born at the intersection of European and European American theologies, on the one hand, and of Latin American liberation theologies, on the other—an intersection that did not occur in either Europe or Latin America, but in the US, and here within the extraordinarily diverse contexts and realities of the Latinoax communities. Lo cotidiano was and remains the birthing place of our theology.

From its inception, Latinoax theology has always understood itself as being neither a copy, a translation, nor an adaptation of other intellectual traditions. Latinoax theologians began their work critiquing the universalizing and colonizing pretensions of European and European American theologies, as well as recognizing that we were not in Latin America (thereby questioning as well the temptation to simply translate or adapt Latin American theologies to our US context, although at first we borrowed much from Latin American liberation theology).

Four or five decades ago we hadn’t read post-colonial theory, but post-modern thought was beginning to cause some of us to question. In any case, when the Latinoax theological critique of dominant theologies began, with the tools we had then (mostly borrowed from the Latin American critique of ideologies), it began by insisting that, theologically, “we are we” and therefore “we are not they.” This led to a number of publications on the significance of culture, particularity, and ethnicity for theology—and this is the first characteristic of Latinoax theology: our emphatic rejection of universalizing and marginalizing European and European American thought, coupled with the equally adamant affirmation of Latinoax cultural and religious identity.

We needed to open “our” space, speak with “our” voice, discuss “our” issues, and very insistently announce that we were not someone else’s “pastoral problem” or “bibliographic footnote.” We insisted on being included as equals in the theological conversation—consequently, particularity and culture, the critique of dominance and white privilege, and their implications for theology and for the defense of our people in a social and ecclesial reality adverse to them, became and remain the grounding characteristics of our theologizing.

In a quest for the sources of a distinctly Latinoax theology, we turned to Latinoax themselves—to their faith, their Christian experience, their cultural expressions, and to the broader Latinoax intellectual tradition. And it is in this quest that many of us began to work through such issues as popular religion, epistemology, praxis, spirituality, lo cotidiano, and so on. Many Latinoax theologians can readily confess that work in these and other areas has been far from sufficient—new answers raise many more questions, which in turn lead to newer areas and further questions and answers.

There is no question in my mind that Latinoax theology has always tried to be sensitive and responsive to the social, economic, and political realities of Latinoax communities. Our theology has also been just as sensitive to popular expressions of the Christian faith. We have frequently included data and analyses on Latinoax made available to us by the social sciences, and attempted to theologize from the human reality described by the data and analyzed by colleagues in the social disciplines. We have tried to step behind the external expressions of faith (some of which might not coincide with dominant understandings or expressions of Christianity) and there listen to the faith of everyday Latinoax, not by pretending that Christianity could somehow exist without expression, but by not equating the former with the latter, or the dominant with the orthodox norm.

“Why and how do Latinoax believe?” are not idle questions in and for theology. Indeed, to understand how Latinoax “construct” what they hold to be real and good and important is crucial to the Latinoax theological movement. The last five decades began the process of theological study of popular (Catholic and Protestant) Christianities, and the incorporation of social scientific interlocutors into our theological dialogue—both in a clear and conscious attempt at listening to our people, and recognizing in our communities’ life and faith a source for our theology. How could one conceivably do theology (any theology) today while disregarding the social reality or the faith expressions of the very Christian communities one claims to be serving and understanding through theology—indeed, of the very People of God whom we doctrinally claim to be “the Church”? How can anyone do theology today (any theology) and not consider the believing people’s real, daily faith and life as a preeminent theological source—thereby critiquing the contemporary theological fixation of (in practice) regarding biblical, ecclesiastical, or theological written texts as more important sources for theology than the living faith of the real People of God?

Latinoax theology was born within various Christian denominations. Although Latinoax Catholic theologians as a group, perhaps, had an earlier impact, it is transparently clear that Latinoax theology and theologians have been insistently ecumenical. Four names very frequently appear at the origins of the movement: Virgilio Elizondo and Edgard Beltrán (Catholics) and Justo González and Orlando Costas (Protestants)—they are jointly regarded as “founders” of a way of theologizing (beginning in the 1970s and early 1980s) that soon thereafter became identified as Latinoax (or US “Hispanic”) theology. Others followed, taking up the challenge of developing the methodologies, identifying the sources, etc., and all else that we now assume as part of this theological movement.

From the start, and I don’t think I exaggerate, Latinoax theologians have been sensitive to the ecumenical needs of our communities, as well as respectful of intra-Latinoax denominational differences. The truly sororal and fraternal spirit evident among most Latinoax theologians (which, unfortunately, is not always paralleled at the congregational level) opened within our movement not only the opportunity for excellent trans-denominational friendships, but also for such trans-denominational programs as the Hispanic Summer Program, the Hispanic Theological Initiative, and our two theological journals (Perspectivas and the Journal of Hispanic/Latinx Theology). This in turn has contributed to the birth and development of a theology ecumenically respectful and sensitive. This shared respect and this shared interest in each other’s traditions have impacted Latinoax theology over the last several decades, and increasingly more so.

Latinoax Catholic and Protestant theologies, consequently, have been ecumenically sensitive and ecumenically cooperative—Catholics did not discover Protestants, or vice versa, after we began to theologize: we have always theologized together, even when writing from within our respective ecclesial traditions, and we can’t understand our respective theologies without each other. This is a gain that our denominations and local congregations will do well to emulate.

But just as I have emphasized the ecumenical spirit among most Latinoax Catholic and Protestant theologians, I want to also underline that most of our published works bear the mark of our denominational affiliations: we write from within our traditions, and this (at least in my mind) is both a “plus” and a “minus.” We are familiar with the work of the European, European American, and Latin American theologians of our denominations. Catholics know their Catholic theologies. Protestants know their Protestant theologies. And no one is embarrassed to engage their own theological traditions in dialogue and mutual critique. We do not hide who we are. Yet we clearly assume all of our denominational traditions to be limited, always contextual human efforts at understanding what is often beyond all understanding, just as we also assume our distinct theological traditions to be bearers of much wisdom and insight.

The same honesty that led us to demand our voice and our space as Latinoax in society and academy, has also made us appreciate the denominational traditions that nourished us as Latinoax and announced the Gospel to us. Most Latinoax Catholic and Protestant theology, over the last several decades, has been denominational as well as ecumenically respectful. We have already begun to take the next steps that will see the construction of a truly ecumenical, Latinoax theology that can be received as reflective of shared faith and of common heritage. There is a growing need to show that the ecumenical spirit can be translated into actual theological works. The present Companion is a clear sign of this.

There is no question in my mind that one significant dynamic within Latinoax theology, over the last several decades, has been the ever-increasing reception and incorporation of methodological concerns and issues raised by feminist and LGBTQ+ critical theories—from the growing interest in lo cotidiano to the critique of gender roles, to a whole other set of critical issues originally raised by Latinoax outside theology. Latinoax feminist and LGBTQ+ scholars have begun to impact Latinoax theology (and not just the theology done by women and or LGBTQ+ persons), with particular emphases on lo cotidiano and on epistemological critique, on the protagonism of women and of gender/sexual minorities, on the critique of Latinoax cultural sexism, etc.

As Latinoax theology continues to develop after four decades, it remains crucially important to ask, Who validates our theology? Who says and confirms that we are theologically doing what we should be doing? These are questions intimately connected with an inescapable one: Who benefits from our theology? These are not just theoretical questions—they are eminently ethical issues. Theology (all theology) is ethical, or it is not “theology.”

Latinoax theologians work under the same pressures and demands as all other theologians: we have to publish and teach, go through tenure and promotion review processes, seek the highest professorial ranks, deal with university administrators and deans and publishers and students, etc., etc. We all know what academic life is like and what its exigencies are, because we are part of it. The point I am making is that Latinoax theologians are also responsible to the theological academy, and we are judged by the standards of that academy. Our work must be scholarly, rigorous, self-legitimizing, publishable (and published), etc., etc.—like everyone else’s. We, Latinoax in the academy, have exactly the same requirements as our colleagues, and so does our scholarship … although we know that this is not really true. Why? Because we often face, in our various institutions, the biases of colleagues and administrators who consistently demand more of us than they would demand of themselves, as if requiring us to “prove” that we are their equals.

However, and this is an extremely important “however,” even when granting that we do need to have our theology validated by the academy, that is not the real and most important validation we require and seek. Indeed, there is another validation that is the key to our not being co-opted by the dominant academy’s acceptance or applause (or by the dominant academy’s politically correct need to convince itself of its own openness while remaining factually deaf to all who are not of the dominant). I am speaking of the validation that comes from our own Latinoax communities. The question for Latinoax theologians is whether our work in fact furthers the goals of our people—their struggles for equality and dignity, for decent housing, education, and health care. An equally necessary question is whether our theology prophetically challenges our people to grow beyond our biases, our idols, and our sins. If the social, political, economic, and religious reality and understanding of Latinoax are not positively affected by our theological work, then the applause or acceptance of the (dominant) academy means nothing—or perhaps it means that we have betrayed our communities’ trust. The requirement of validation by the people remains.

Teología de conjunto has been identified as a manner of doing theology frequently identified with Latinoax theologizing. A group of theologians (i.e., a conjunto) gather—sometimes with pastoral agents, or with scholars from other fields—and, together, “create” theology—each bringing their own expertise to the group, but all working together for the same purpose and on the same topic. There are a few models of teología de conjunto (sometimes called teología en conjunto), but they all emphasize the communal, conversational, shared style of doing theology as a conjunto. Needless to say that during the past several decades much has been written by theologians individually; therefore it would be inaccurate to assume that all Latinoax theology has been created as teología de conjunto. Nevertheless, even the individual works have involved and been built upon a great deal of consultation and conversation.

So, what is Latinoax theology? I’d suggest that it is a movement, a contextual perspective, and a methodological approach to theologizing within (academic) Christian theology.

It is distinguished by a cultural, critical, contextual, justice-seeking, and non-innocent interpretation of Scripture and doctrine, society and church, and history. It is intent on understanding these in order to impact and empower the daily reality, daily faith, and daily struggles for justice of Latinoax communities, while acknowledging and honoring Latinoax cultures, histories and stories, daily reality, and popular faith as also legitimate and necessary

sources

of/for Christian theology.

Consequently, Latinoax theologizing can and does focus on either traditional or contemporary topics within Christian doctrine and biblical interpretation. Hence, there is no “topic” typical of, or unimportant to, Latinoax theology—what is unique are the sources, the methodological approaches, the starting point and perspective, the contexts, the dialogue partners, and the intent.

In explicit dialogue with other theologies and other scholarly disciplines and fields of learning, and ecumenically sensitive (with growing interreligious awareness too), Latinoax theology is distinct in its

en conjunto

methodological approach and in its reverent passion for the real life, faith, and cultures of Latinoax communities, extended families, and persons.

If theology is “faith in search of understanding,” then Latinoax theology assumes, honors, and incorporates the faith of Latinoax Christian communities, their manner(s) of searching, and theological understanding(s) that explain(s) real life and further empowers the Latinoax people—who seek

to understand in order to transform this world according to the solidarious will of God

.

Latinoax theology is a contributor to the broader theological academy because it methodologically demonstrates that theology is not and ethically cannot be “books speaking with books.” Latinoax theology models a scholarly pursuit that is a committed, reasoned understanding of the lives, struggles, and faith of real people in real sociocultural situations that cry for justice.

If any definition is supposed to state and describe the meaning and reality of that which it defines, then the above paragraphs might be regarded as a valid definition of Latinoax theology.

However, there is an issue still raised among Latinoax theologians: Does the theologian have to be personally Latinoax in order for their theological production to be Latinoax? How much latinidad is needed in order to identify a theologian or a theological work as “Latinoax”? It seems consensually settled that the theologian (Latinoax or not) has to be personally involved with and within Latinoax communities to such degree that their theology be truly and unquestionably born from “the heart of our people” (i.e., from within, and consciously reflective of, Latinoax people’s lives, reality, faith, cultures, etc.)—a perspective and knowledge not had through books or journals or occasional encounters but only through daily (personal, committed, and prolonged) engagement.

Latinoax theology is important for the non-Latinoax because it is necessary for the construction of a more just and inclusive world. Latinoax theology is a reasoned and prophetic discourse calling us all to build a just and inclusive world together. If a non-Latinoax were to think that such a world is not urgently important, or that it could be built regardless of the continued marginalization of much of the human race, then—for that non-Latinoax all non-dominant/non-racist theologies would be unimportant. And just as there are women who reject any association with feminism and feminist theology, so there are Latinoax who would rather ignore or reject any identification or association with Latinoax theologies.

The late Hans U. von Balthasar did not write anything on US Latinoax theology, but he did say that many of today’s theologians could be accused of cowardly passing by our world’s anguish and pain, deaf to the cries of their fellow humans, while continuing to develop their theories and theologies, detached from the real present.10 All US theologians, Latinoax and European American, Native, Black and Asian American, Catholic and Protestant, LGBTQ+ or heterosexual, should pay heed.

III This enlarged and updated second edition of the

Companion to Latinoax Theology

reflects and expresses the diversity of Latinoax theology and theologians: women and men, young and old, heterosexual and LGBTQ+, from Protestant, Evangelical and Catholic ecclesial backgrounds, from different social classes and several racial configurations, from a variety of Latinoax cultural communities and from different US regions, yet all sharing the passion and learning that characterize Latinoax theology.

The Companion is divided into three unequal collections of chapters:

The First Part gathers five chapters that will serve as contextualization for the rest, and especially as contextualizing texts for the study of all Latinoax theology. The chapters in the Second Part reflect, latinamente, on some of the topics most frequent in any Christian theological tradition. And the Third Part theologically discusses issues of very significant interest and importance for US Latinoax communities and churches today.

Obviously not every single issue has been, or could have been, included in this volume, although this second edition includes some new ones. Not all Latinoax theologians found a space herein, and some could not participate, for reasons beyond their or our control. This is a volume intended to initiate the reader in the study of Latinoax theology and theologians, but not to limit the reader to its contents or mislead the user into assuming that “this is it.” Think of this Companion as a launching pad where a journey begins, but not as the landing strip where it ends.

The authors and this editor hope that you, the reader, will come to greater understanding and appreciation of Latinoax theology, its methodological approaches and its contributions to Christian theologizing. And its potential.

Orlando O. Espín is retired professor emeritus of Systematic Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. He has authored or edited fourteen volumes, and several hundred articles published in US, European, and Latin American academic journals. Espín’s theological research has been on popular religion, on traditioning, and on culture. He is part of the first generation of Latinoax theologians.

Notes

1

In 1819 (the US invasion of Florida), 1846–1848 (the US invasion and seizure of Mexico’s northern half), and 1898 (the US conquest and occupation of Puerto Rico and Guam). In 1898, the US also seized Cuba and the Philippines, but in 1902 Cuba became independent, as did the Philippines in 1947. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867, and Hawaii was illegally “deeded” to the US in 1893.

2

The later granting of citizenship to these populations did not, and still has not, changed their treatment and perception as “second-class” US citizens. And as in many other situations of coloniality, there will always be those of the conquered who will support the colonizer.

3

Cf.

www.census.gov

.

4

By “popular” I do not merely mean that this

cosmovisión

(broader and deeper than a worldview) is widespread, although it certainly is. By “popular” I more precisely want to underline that it is the people’s—“popular,” we recall, is the adjective to the noun “people.” On inescapable Latinoax popular religious cosmovision, cf. the chapters herein by R. Berrú-Davis and E.D. Aponte on “Popular Catholicism” and “Popular Protestantism,” respectively; and also, cf. O. Espín,

The Faith of the People: Theological Reflections on Popular Catholicism

(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1997), and E. D. Aponte,

Santo! Varieties of Latina/o Spiritualities

(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2012).

5

Throughout most of the colonial period, the enslavement of Africans was commonplace in what were the Spanish and Portuguese empires. Few Latin American countries kept the slavery system after independence (Brazil being the most conspicuous, finally abolishing slavery in 1888). Although millions of Africans of many ethnic backgrounds were captured and enslaved between 1497 and 1888 (the centuries of Black slavery in Latin America), the Yoruba, Igbo, and Fon seem to have suffered enslavement more frequently—like no other African ethnic community—in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies. The Yoruba and Igbo today are mostly in present-day Nigeria, and the Fon in present-day Benin. The Yoruba’s and Igbo’s descendants are, in greater or lesser numbers, in most Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, as well as in Brazil. The Fon’s descendants are mostly in Haiti and Brazil, also in the Dominican Republic and in lesser numbers in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Darién region between Panama and Colombia.

Mulataje