The crucified and the Crucified

Is there a relationship between the suffering people of today and the crucified Jesus of Nazareth? Jon Sobrino claims that there is an intimate relation. The crucified Jesus Christ is present in the hardships of poor and excluded people. Solidarity with 'the crucified people' in their struggle for justice and dignity is therefore necessary for grasping the salvific significance of Jesus' life and death. It is only possible to participate in this salvific reality in our time through the crucified people. The 'crucified in history' paradoxically bring salvation, like the crucified Jesus. These are remarkable theological claims. They represent the most daring and novel aspects of christological and soteriological reflection in Latin American liberation theology. This book critically explores what relevance these claims may have to a wider social and theological context. The possible limitations of this 'theology of the crucified people' are thoroughly scrutinised, and its suggestive potential further elaborated. Far from seeing theologies in a liberationist mode as outdated in a globalised age, the author shows through his study of Sobrino's Christology in what ways such an approach represents a profound renewal of Christian theology in the third millennium both with regard to its contents and to its fundamental method.

Autorentext

The Author: Sturla J. Stålsett, Dr.theol., University of Oslo, 1998. Born in Norway, 1964, he is currently Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo and Head of the Research Program «Religion in a Globalised Age» (RIGA), sponsored by the Norwegian Research Council. He has lived and worked in Central America during several periods of his life, being particularly involved in Church-related development work in the region. He has done theological research in El Salvador and Costa Rica, and published a number of articles on theological and North-South - related issues in Norway.

Inhalt

Contents: Historical and theological context of Sobrino's theological views - Jesuit tradition - Early Latin American liberation theology - Christological reflection in Latin America - Sobrino's Jesus interpretation - Conflict between the God of life and idols of death.