In my preparation for my upcoming class on “Culture and Systems Change” at George Fox Seminary, I came across this quote from Leonardo Boff in his book on Base Ecclesial Communities. In it he aptly describes the obstacles those within the early liberation movement faced in building a sustainable movement for justice based on the teachings of Jesus. These obstacles are still in play today for many people in this country and around the world.
The second obstacle [to liberation theology] concerns the liberative import of the Christian. We are the heirs of a codification of faith that has concentrated particularly on the call of faith to a person in his or her individuality, or to the family as privileged medium of transmission of the Christian faith and ethos. This form of Christianity has not thoroughly explored the liberative dimensions of faith-the so called “perilous, subversive memory of Jesus Christ” who was crucified by the powers of this world and raised up by God to demonstrate the divine and human triumph of a life sacrificed for the cause of the total liberation of human beings, especially of the impoverished. The Puebla conference harshly criticized this reduction of Christianity to the intimate spheres of private life.
Jesus preached and died in public, out in the world, and he is Lord not only of the little corners of our hearts, but of society and the cosmos as well. Continue Reading…







