“Theology has two eyes. One looks back toward the past, where salvation broke in; the other looks toward the present, where salvation becomes reality here and now. “This Way of the Cross seeks to use both eyes of theology. It is a Way of the Cross, with one eye focusing on the historical Jesus: his life, condemnation, death, and resurrection. It is also a Way of Justice, its other eye focusing on the Christ of faith who continues his passion today in his brothers and sisters who are being condemned, tortured, and killed for the cause of justice. “In the light of the perspectives and convictions acquired over the course of seven years of christological studies, I now present this Way of the Cross, which is meant to be a prayerful theology or a theological prayer.” Leonardo Boff, from the Introduction
Virtues are values underlying human practices. We are at the dawn of a new era, an era of global ethics requiring some core virtues. These core virtues are hospitality, co-living, respect, tolerance, and communality. Book 1 treats the virtue of hospitality that is a right and a duty of all, and which is still to be discovered and practiced unconditionally. Book 2 deals with the virtues of co-living, respect, and tolerance, which are important virtues if the peoples of the earth are to live together in peace in our common home, the planet Earth. Finally, Book 3 deals with the virtue of communality; this is a very important virtue because a large part of humanity experiences hunger and thirst, which is something scandalous in this day and age, and which demonstrates a lack of humanity, because we possess the technical means and political framework to resolve this situation. If these core virtues become a reality, they will transform human practices into something beneficial both to human beings and to the planet Earth, our common home.
Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff, a pioneer of liberation theology, reviews the major themes of his work, including God, Christ, Ecology, Ethics, and Spirituality"--
Why the furor over this book? Why was Church: Charism and Power the subject of a Vatican inquiry? The reason, ironically enough, has little to do with its alleged use of Marxist thought, but rather with its critical understanding of the church in the light of the gospel. Church: Charism and Power is a provocative, devastating critique of the ways in which power, sacred power, is controlled and exercised in the Roman Catholic Church. It is a militant book, a radical book, but it is by no means defective in orthodoxy. In fact, with all its criticism it offers a brilliant defense of the historical claims of Roman Catholicism. Its central thesis argues that since the fourth century the church has fallen victim to a kind of power that has nothing to do with the gospel and everything to do with the dynamics of power with all of its inevitable abuses. This historical reality, enshrined in the monarchical model of the church, was undermined at the Second Vatican Council and replaced by that of the church as people of God. This 'laical' model is closely allied in Boff's exposition with the notion of the church as sacrament of the Holy Spirit: the church as "sign and instrument of the now living and risen Christ, that is the Holy Spirit." A pneumatic ecclesiology such as this would lead the church back to its primitive dynamics of community, cooperation, and charism. It would create a church in which everyone shared equally and where flexible and appropriate ministries conformed to needs as they arose. Is such a church possible? Is it not simply the utopian dream of idealists and sectarians down through the ages? No, says Father Boff, given the incredible growth throughout Latin America of comunidades eclesiales de base, base communities, where the people express and achieve their desire for participation and where the hierarchy divests itself of its titles and ecclesiastical baggage, creating a common desire for community and equality. This model of the church has acquired an unexpected historical possibility: the new church is in the process of being born. This church, the church being born from the faith of the poor, has rediscovered for itself--and for the church universal--the living presence of the dangerous memory of Jesus Christ.
In Saint Joseph Leonardo Boff seeks to provide a vigorous critique and theological analysis of Saint Joseph and in so doing attempts to undo historical misconceptions, misunderstandings, and cliches that surround the figure of Joseph. The book provides a comprehensive view of the topic as it takes into account biblical references, including the apocrypha, church tradition, papal edicts, liturgical expressions, and various viewpoints proposed by theologians. Boff is also concerned with updating the figure of Saint Joseph; his first step in this direction is to provide a clear understanding of the life of Joseph as an artisan, husband, father, and educator. He then deals with the issue of the importance of Saint Joseph for current issues concerning family and fatherhood. Lastly, Boff argues that Saint Joseph helps us to understand new facets of the mystery of God, and the author does this through his argument concerning the order of hypostatic union, where, according to his argument, there is a relation between Jesus and the Son, Mary and the Holy Spirit, and Joseph and the Father. Boff seeks here to fill a gap in the theological literature, given that theologians have concentrated their efforts on Jesus and the Son and Christology, and Mary and the Holy Spirit and Mariology; but these same theologians have, by and large, given very little time to the figure of Saint Joseph and the Father and Josephology.
Brazilian Leonardo Boff explores the relevance of St. Francis to contemporary spirituality and to the construction of a new church. Boff shows how "Il Poverello," the "Little Poor Man" of the 12th century embodies the Church's preferential option for the poor" As a "model of gentleness and care," Francis exemplifies how the spiritual and the social are never separate, but intimately bound together.
An action plan, based on Chrisitanity, to study and understand the challenges and ramifications of the global ecological crisis Known as one of the major liberation theologians, Leonardo Boff has long seen the terrible cost of the ecological crisis to the poor. In this engaging brief, he outlines a new vision for human stewardship of the earth. This is an ideal first step to take for individuals and groups to study ecology in a Christian context, and to understand that ecology is no longer a luxury for a few, but an imperative for everyone working for a more just world.
In a series of clear, short chapters, Leonardo Boff unpacks the mysteries of Trinitarian faith, showing why it makes a difference to believe that God is communion rather than solitude. Instead of God as solitary ruler standing above a static universe, Christian belief in the Trinity means that at the root of everything there is movement, an eternal process of life, outward movement, and love. Boff shows how the Holy Trinity is, among other things, the image of the perfect community and the image of the church in its ideal form: not a hierarchy of power, but a community of diverse gifts and functions. Ideal for study or personal reflection.
In Saint Joseph Leonardo Boff seeks to provide a vigorous critique and theological analysis of Saint Joseph and in so doing attempts to undo historical misconceptions, misunderstandings, and cliches that surround the figure of Joseph. The book provides a comprehensive view of the topic as it takes into account biblical references, including the apocrypha, church tradition, papal edicts, liturgical expressions, and various viewpoints proposed by theologians. Boff is also concerned with updating the figure of Saint Joseph; his first step in this direction is to provide a clear understanding of the life of Joseph as an artisan, husband, father, and educator. He then deals with the issue of the importance of Saint Joseph for current issues concerning family and fatherhood. Lastly, Boff argues that Saint Joseph helps us to understand new facets of the mystery of God, and the author does this through his argument concerning the order of hypostatic union, where, according to his argument, there is a relation between Jesus and the Son, Mary and the Holy Spirit, and Joseph and the Father. Boff seeks here to fill a gap in the theological literature, given that theologians have concentrated their efforts on Jesus and the Son and Christology, and Mary and the Holy Spirit and Mariology; but these same theologians have, by and large, given very little time to the figure of Saint Joseph and the Father and Josephology. Leonardo Boff was born in Brazil in 1938 and received a doctorate from the University of Munich in Germany in 1970. For the following 20 years he worked as Professor of Theology at the Franciscan School for Philosophy and Theology in Petropolis, Brazil. During the 1970s, he and Gustavo Gutierrez helped to define Liberation Theology. Since 1993 he has been a professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, where he is now Emeritus Professor of Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, and Ecology. He is also a member of the International Earth Charter Commission. Boff is the author of more than 70 books, including Jesus Christ Liberator: A Critical Christology for Our Time. In 2001 he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (which is considered to be the ""alternative"" Nobel Prize) by the Swedish Parliament. Alexandre Guilherme, the translator, does research and teaches at the University of Durham, UK.
Transportation, telecommunications and the internet are all part of a process of globalisation that affects every sphere of life. This new phase in human evolution is central to the thinking of Leonardo Boff - one of the founders of Liberation Theology. In 'Global Civilisation' Boff presents a philosophical and theological enquiry into all aspects of globalization - from market forces to politics, military force, technology and science, communication and spirituality. The book describes the revolution taking place - in consciousness, the meaning of life, holiness, the economy, politics, culture, work standards, and ethics. Boff explores the contribution of Christianity to the "new global civilisation" and presents a utopian future for humankind.
In his latest work, the noted Latin American theologian Leonardo Boff extends the intuitions of liberation theology, showing how they contribute to answering urgent questions of poverty and ecological degradation. If faith fails to appreciate the ecological paradigm, Boff argues, it only adds to the crisis and begs for reform." "Focusing on the threatened Amazon of his native Brazil, Boff traces the economic and metaphysical ties that bind the fate of the rain forests with the fate of the Indians and poor of the land. He shows how liberation theology must join with ecology in reclaiming the dignity of the earth and our sense of a common community. To illustrate to possibilities, Boff turns to resources in Christian spirituality, ancient and modern, including cosmic Christology and the vision of St. Francis of Assisi."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
In this book, Brazilian Leonardo Boff, Franciscan priest and professor of theology, joins other contemporary theologians in defending both the truth and the practical value of the doctrine of the Trinity. For Boff, the community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is not only the truth about God; it is also the prototype of human community dreamed of by those who wish to improve society, the model for any just, egalitarian (while respecting differences) social organization. Frequently expressing agreement with Moltmann's 'The Trinity and the Kingdom', Boff argues that true and relevant Trinitarian faith must begin not with the oneness, but with the threeness of God; not with theistic speculation about God as the solitary One, but with openness to the self-revelation of God as a community or society of divine persons, who are what they are in their co-existence, co-relatedness, and self-surrender to each other. Boff also suggests how a social doctrine of the Trinity enables us to overcome the conflict between individualistic capitalism and collectivistic socialism, oppressor and oppressed, male and female, church authorities and church members.
A major voice in liberation theology and once silenced for a year by the pope for his outspoken views, Leonardo Boff here presents a collection of his controversial essays attacking poverty and political persecution. As a Brazilian, Boff is witness to, and active in, the liberation movement within the Catholic Church in Latin America. He claims that the Church there is redefining itself as a modern, populist movement. It is [in Latin America], writes Boff, that the Church of the future is being molded. There are more Catholics in Latin America than on any other continent. Soon more than half of the members of the Church will live here. European countries, with their demographic decline and meager religious creativity - their theology, liturgy, and pastoral ministry consisting almost entirely of syntheses of material drawn from the past - are gradually losing their universal relevance . . . It is in Latin America that the Church's principal new challenges are appearing. What is the relationship between the gospel and the liberation of the oppressed? How can Christian love be reconciled with participation in the wild class struggle taking place around us? How can Christianity help overcome the relations of international injustice prevailing in the unequal relationships between rich countries and poor ones? Advocating a sympathetic but critical relationship between liberation theology and Marxism, Boff claims that historical materialism is the social - scientific method conducive to liberation theology. He also discusses the political dimension of faith, the Church's role in the struggle for human rights, the nature of the popular Church, the rights of the poor and the oppressed, and the kind of future they may anticipate. Boff's bold reflections on these and other issues make vital reading for anyone concerned with faith and justice in today's world.
In this book Clodovis Boff rigorously and passionately erects the methodological scaffolding that is necessary to construct a true theology of the political, a true theology of liberation. Much of the book is devoted to clarifying and articulating the boundaries of the relationships among theology, the political, the social sciences, hermeneutics, and praxis. As an element of that constructive work, Boff carefully points out the past and present theoretical shortcomings of political theology and the theology of liberation. Thus the book fills a methodological void that has hampered the full development of a theology of the political, and it blazes a path beyond what the author calls the "first phase" of liberation theology.
At the 500th anniversary of the conquest of the Americas, Leonardo Boff offers a telling assessment of the impact and future prospects of Christianity. The anniversary has prompted intense soul-searching, especially in Latin America. While church conservatives have called triumphalistically for a "new evangelization" of the continent, others-remembering the ongoing toll among native peoples, blacks, and the poor-have called on the church to free itself from vestiges of its colonial past. In New Evangelization Boff cuts to the heart of tensions in the church today. In his first extensive treatment of Christian mission from a liberation theology perspective he deals with such topics as inculturation and the trinitarian basis of mission. He offers an extensive reflection on the figure of the Virgin of Guadalupe as model of a new, liberating evangelization. The gospel arrived in the Americas under the sign of domination. Boff argues that a new evangelization, rooted in the culture of the oppressed, must occur under the sign of liberation. Book jacket.
In this classic work, Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff examines the relevance of St. Francis to contemporary spirituality and to the construction of a new church. Eschewing sentimental images of the Poverello, Boff's Francis embodies "the preferential option for the poor." As a "model of gentleness and care," Francis exemplifies an "integral liberation" in which the spiritual and the social are never separate, but intimately bound together. In his new preface Boff observes: "Through his deep humanity Francis of Assisi has become an archetype of the human ideal. He belongs not only to Christianity but to all humankind.
Liberating Grace' is an important book on God's presence to human life that relates the new liberationist perspective to the best of the great theological tradition. The author unfolds the meaning of Christian grace in the light of the Latin American experience of dependency and exploitation. He shows that the turn to political involvement does not produce a detachment from the religious roots.--Gregory BaumMcGill UniversityLeonardo Boff's 'Liberating Grace' is a remarkable work. Against the background of traditional interpretations which may have fit the medieval or ancient world, Boff insists that grace must be understood within history and in terms of the kinds of experience we have today. Grace is no longer thought of as a substance but is discovered in the experience of relationships. God's liberating presence in the world permeates both personal and social relations, and this points to the political and economic arenas as keys to understanding God's free gift of love for humanity. Theology from Brazil has the aroma, flavor, and stimulation of something genuine, a grace which permeates all aspects of personal and social experience within the natural world. Boff works this view into various aspects of doctrine, including views of the Incarnation, Holy Spirit, and the Trinity. Chiefly, however, he makes 'grace' into a relevant doctrine for twentieth century living in the Third and other worlds.--Randolph Crump MillerHorace Bushnell Professor of Christian NurtureYale University Divinity School
Pope Francis, by his initial choice of a name, seemed to offer a preview of his agenda, vision, and sense of mission. In Francis of Assisi, a saint who recalled the church to the image of Jesus, the pope found a potent symbol of reform. A church inspired by St. Francis embraces the poor and those on the margins, eschews pomp and power, promotes peace and care for creation. Certainly, by embracing and modeling these values, Pope Francis has unleashed enormous hopes. In this enthusiastic work, Leonardo Boff explores the connections between the two Francises--and the promise they hold for "a new springtime" for the church. (back cover).
One of the world's best known liberation theologians provides an inspiring summary of the Christian message. For over fifty years and in over sixty books, Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff has explored the mysteries of the Christian message. In this brief work he sets out to describe the essence of Christianity in language that is accessible and meaningful in terms of our awareness of the evolution of the universe and an expanding cosmos.
Drawing on insights from quantum physics, deep ecology, and the new cosmology, they articulate a new vision of liberating action. Hathaway and Boff lay out a path of spiritual renewal, ecological transformation, and authentic liberation.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love, Where there is injury, pardon . . . For it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we are pardoned And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life". This famous prayer, traditionally attributed to Saint Francis, has traveled the world, winning hearts and inspiring minds with its simple and persuasive witness to the power of unconditional love. As Leonardo Boff shows in his moving reflections, this love not only brings each person the promise of eternal salvation, but also provides the basis for social peace, redeems the world, and constitutes the hidden meaning of the universe.
In choosing his name, Pope Francis was indicating an agenda, a vision, and a sense of mission. Saint Francis, the most universally beloved saint, reformed the church by imitating Christ—in simplicity, poverty, and love for those on the margins. The spirit of St. Francis calls the church to embrace the poor, to promote peace and adopt an ecological consciousness. In embracing these values, Pope Francis has unleashed enormous hopes. Here, Leonardo Boff, one of the leading figures of liberation theology as well as the global movement for justice and ecology, explores the connections between these two Francises—and the promise they hold for the church and the world today
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