Sammy Alfaro. Assistant Professor of Theology, Canyon University, and Pastor of the Iglesia Nuevo Día, Phoenix, Arizona.
Carlos F. Cardoza Orlandi. Professor of World Christianity and Mission Studies, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas.
Orlando O. Espín. Professor of Systematic Theology, University of San Diego, San Diego, California.
Octavio Javier Esqueda. Professor of Higher Christian Education, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, La Mirada, California.
Alberto L. García. Professor Emeritus of Theology, Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, Wisconsin, and Adjunct Professor of Theology, Hispanic Studies Program, Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, Missouri, and resides in Decatur, Georgia.
Justo L. González. Historian, theologian and ordained in the United Methodist Church, served as the first president of AETH, and resides in Decatur, Georgia.
Nora Lozano-Díaz. Professor of Theology and Executive Director of the Leadership Institute for Latinas, Baptist University of the Americas, San Antonio, Texas.
Hugo Magallanes. Associate Professor of Christianity and Cultures and Director of Center for the Study of Latino Christianity and Religions, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas.
Zaida Maldonado Pérez. Professor of History of the Church and Theology, Asbury Theological Seminary, Florida-Dunnam campus, Orlando, Florida.
Juan Francisco Martínez Guerra. Professor of Hispanic Studies and Leadership and Vice-President of Diversity and International Ministries, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.
Salatiel Palomino López. Retired minister of the Presbyterian Church, and serves as officiant pastor of the Ravenswood Presbyterian Church and teaches theology and Bible in several seminaries and Bible institutes in the Chicago, Illinois area.
Harold J. Recinos. Professor of Church and Society, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas.
Hilda E. Robles Florán. Pastor of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Isaías A. Rodríguez. Professor of Liturgy and Spirituality, Center for Latino Theological Education, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, Georgia.
Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of the Center of Hispanic Studies, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.
Ramón A. Sierra. Pastor, professor, and Superintendent of the Western District of the Church of the Nazarene, Puerto Rico.
Our Ninety-Five Theses: 500 Years after the Reformation © AETH, 2016
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Our Ninety-Five Theses: 500 Years after the Reformation it has been edited by: Alberto L. García and Justo L. González
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PRESENTATION
INTRODUCTION
Alberto L. García
1. 500 Years After Luther’s 95 Theses: A Catholic Perspective
Orlando O. Espín
2. The Reformation as Seen From a Lutheran Perspective
Leopoldo A. Sánchez M.
3. The Reformation from a Reformed and Latino Perspective
Salatiel Palomino López
4. A Reflection Concerning Anglicanism and the Hispanic World
Isaías A. Rodríguez
5. An Incomplete Reformation: Luther’s 95 Theses from an Anabaptist Perspective
Juan Francisco Martínez Guerra
6. Baptists and the Reformation: Latina Reflections
Nora O. Lozano
7. The Protestant Reformation from a Latino Methodist Perspective
Hugo Magallanes
8. The Protestant Reformation from a Perspective of Restoration
Hilda E. Robles
9. The Reformation from a Holiness Perspective
Ramón A. Sierra
10. The Reformation from a Pentecostal Perspective
Sammy Alfaro
11. The Reformation from a Feminine Perspective
Zaida Maldonado Pérez
12. The Reformation from a Social Perspective: A Lesson from the Crucified People
Harold J. Recinos
13. The Reformation in Light of a Christian Formation: Perspective Within the Life of Our Latino People
Octavio Javier Esqueda
14. The Reformations of the Sixteenth Century and the Christian Mission: Lessons for Today’s Church
Carlos F. Cardoza Orlandi
15. Explanation of Our Ninety-Five Theses
Justo L. González
16. Our Ninety-Five Theses
Contributors
JUST AS IN THE DAYS OF LUTHER, we are living in a world undergoing enormous changes in the social, political, economic, religious, cultural and technological arenas. As in the times of the monk from Wittenberg, these changes also challenge and force the Church to rethink and transform itself. This is so because today in North America, as in Europe five hundred years ago, the Church has lost credibility as the body of Christ and as a sign of the Kingdom of God in the world. A painful indication of this is that, in general, the major Christian traditions (Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical) for several years have experienced a gradual but steady decrease in the number of their members.
For this reason, the Association for Hispanic Theological Education (AETH for its name in Spanish) considers the publication of this book very relevant. This fifth centennial is about commemorating what happened five centuries ago as much as about reliving it in light of our own realities. And this we must do as “universal Church”, namely, according to perspectives and ecclesial experiences representative of the church in general and of the Hispanic church in particular. Thus, according to their own Christian traditions and from their different understandings of the historical and theological value of the Reformation, the authors invite all of us to propose our own 95 thesis.
The book reminds me of the orchestral piece Bolero of Maurice Ravel, in which melody and rhythm are heard from beginning to end, as two themes are constantly repeated throughout each of the chapters of this book. The first theme refers to the historical and theological events around the publication of the 95 theses proposed by Martin Luther. The second theme refers to the current reality of a vast majority of the Hispanic people and the Hispanic Church in this country; a reality characterized by marginalization, poverty, and discrimination. As in Ravel’s Bolero in which each instrument adds its particular sound, each chapter of the book adds a perspective, jointly evoking a crescendo that allows us to feel (and not only to think) those two themes in an inclusive and comprehensive manner.
With their own styles and in light of their own life experiences, the authors of the book invite us to appropriate the reforming and transforming spirit behind that simple yet radical act of nailing at the door of a church a paper with an agenda for discussion about the nature and purpose of the body of Christ in the world. They do it separately but also together, en conjunto, as it is customary to do theology among Hispanic people. Consequently, as in the orchestral climax of a musical piece, the book closes with a chapter that summarizes what the authors call our 95 theses, namely, the topics for discussion they want to propose to the Hispanic Church in the twenty-first century.
In a very particular way, this book is an invitation to the Hispanic Church not to forget what the authors state in our thesis 55: “we are not helpless victims, but God’s people called to be instrument of his grace, justice, and reconciliation.” Therefore, it is our prayer and hope that this invitation will make us work so that the Church today, in all its expressions, will become a more faithful witness of the Gospel and of the prophetic message of Jesus Christ in the world in which we live.
Fernando A. Cascante
Director Executive, AETH
To all believing Latino people, who sing, suffer, struggle and hope in the language of Cervantes, with the fervor of Teresa, the faith and trust of Luther, the valor of Cuauhtémoc, the boldness and resolution of Maceo, the vision of Martí and Hostos, and the wisdom of Sor Juana.
We want to express our heartfelt thanks to the institutions and individuals whose economic support has helped to publish this book:
The Center for the Study of Latino Christianity and Religions, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, and the Center’s Director, Dr. Hugo Magallanes.
The Center of Hispanic Studies of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri and its Director, Dr. Leopoldo A. Sánchez M.
The Iglesia Cristiana (Discípulos de Cristo) of Puerto Rico, and its general pastors, the Reverends Esteban González Doble and Miguel Ángel Morales.
The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church, City of New York, and the Reverend Canon Anthony Guillén, Missioner for Latino/Hispano Ministry.
We also wish to thank: Dr. Catherine Gunsalus González and Dr. Douglas Groll for their editorial assistance in this English edition.
In the first place, I ask that people make no reference to my name; let them call themselves Christians, not Lutherans.
What is Luther? After all, the teaching is not mine [John 7.16]. Neither was I crucified for anyone [1 Cor. 1.13]. Saint Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3, would not allow Christians to call themselves Pauline or Petrine, but Christian.
How then should I —poor stinking maggot-fodder that I am— come to have people call the children of Christ by my wretched name? Not so, my dear friends; let us abolish all party names and call ourselves Christians, after him whose name we hold… I hold, together with the universal church, the one universal teaching of Christ, who is our only master [Matt. 23.8].
Martin Luther
IN 1992 I ASSUMED MY NEW POSITION as professor of theology at Concordia University Wisconsin. Concordia University had recently acquired a new campus at Mequon, Wisconsin, from the Sisters of Notre Dame. This campus had served for many years as a convent and regional quarters for this religious order. That very year, several retired sisters who had lived for many years on this property came for a visit. Their former Mother Superior also came along with this group. It so happened that at one time my office had been her office, where she administered the affairs of the order.
We engaged in a wonderful and friendly conversation, and detecting my Spanish accent, she asked where I was from. I told her that I was born in Cuba. She already knew that I was a Lutheran professor of theology and director of the lay ministry and diaconate program at the university. She asked, somewhat surprised: “How is it possible that you are not a Catholic? She became even more amazed when I told her that I was raised Roman Catholic and that in Cuba we were practicing Catholics. “How is it possible that you abandoned your mother church?” she asked me. For this loving and sweet sister, it was more congruent for a Cuban like me to be a member of the Catholic Church. According to her way of thinking, as well as many other Catholics, becoming a Lutheran, Protestant, or Evangelical goes against all that is culturally valid for a Latino.
Many Latinas and Latinos like me, however, have been influenced in our pilgrimage of faith by Martin Luther as well as by other reformers of the sixteenth century, such as John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli and many other lesser known reformers.
Also during the sixteenth century the Reformation made its way to Spain, influencing a number of priests and theologians. Several of Luther’s works, as well as those of other reformers, were translated into Spanish during this time. Many of these Spanish reformers are mentioned in this book. We will take note also in this volume that several of our contributors were born to Protestant, Evangelical or Pentecostal families, some who have been thus for several generations.
We need to take note that in the Catholic Church there were several reformation movements. We need to acknowledge also women and men of profound faith who initiated those reforms during times of great risk to themselves. In fact, Luther himself considered the planting of his 95 theses as a reformation cry within the Catholic Church. He did not want to form or create a new church, which will be duly noted also in several of the contributed essays.
There was another reformation movement that took place during the sixteenth century in the frontiers of the Catholic Church in Latin America and the Caribbean. This movement was inspired by Antonio Montesinos, Bartolomé de Las Casas, and Antonio de Valdivieso, among others. They lifted their voices to declare the sweet gospel of Jesus Christ within their margins in Latin America. They stood in defense of the helpless and destitute indigenous populations by unmasking the manipulators of the gospel. One of our contributors underscores this important historical note. We find, therefore, in the sixteenth century another reformation movement that took place in Latin America at the same time that the Reformation took place in Europe.
We should note this fact in order to promote another important celebration for Latinos in all the Americas. Friar Antonio Montesinos, on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 21, 1511, on the island of Hispaniola proclaimed a powerful sermon unmasking the cruelty of those present against the indigenous population. Montesinos lifted the gospel of love and justice on behalf of the mistreated population. That sermon inspired Bartolomé de Las Casas to take on the cause of the marginalized native people. Historically, six years before Luther planted his 95 theses at Wittenberg, there existed for us an important reformation manifest within the margins of Latin America. It is unfortunate that we only possess a summary and excerpts of this sermon by Montesinos. We need to reflect at the same time and together, en conjunto, concerning the reformation witnesses that took place in Latin America as well as in Europe.
I would like to share another anecdote as a way of introducing our ecumenical efforts to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. During the last week of October, 2005, I was teaching a theology course in Santiago de Cuba. A city-wide ecumenical event was organized that week by the Consejo de Iglesias of Cuba to celebrate the Reformation. The event took place at the Salvation Army Headquarters and I was one of the speakers. The pastors and church leaders present for this ecumenical event included Episcopalians, Baptists, Pentecostals of various persuasions, Presbyterians, and members of the Salvation Army, as well as other denominations. I was surprised, however, to see how many attendees affirmed their evangelical roots in Luther. It should be noted also that Luther is commemorated in Central and South America through other ongoing annual celebrations such as in El Salvador, Perú, and Chile.
The speakers at the event in Santiago de Cuba offered several positive propositions on how Luther’s reformation benefited our ministry among the people of God. On the other hand, we were also critical concerning Luther’s theology, given our various Christian traditions and contextual experiences. Therefore, we drew a picture of the Reformation that portrayed different shades and colors. It is not surprising that we were not all in agreement concerning what was truly positive or negative concerning Luther’s Reformation heritage.
The same is true for the authors of this book, although we share a common and helpful ecumenical bond, more so than that in many parts of Latin America. This reflects the committed spirit of the Latinas and Latinos who wrote this volume from the perspective of a teología de conjunto. In Cuba, as well as in other corners in Latin America, there is a greater distance and projected resentment from the part of Evangelicals and Pentecostals toward the Catholic Church, but that is not the case in this volume. Our Latino theology in the United States has always been a joint working project, a teología en conjunto, of Catholics, Evangelicals, and Protestants alike.
Christians at that event in Cuba, however, were primarily impacted by the pressure that communities of faith face by living and proclaiming the gospel at the margins. We shall see how this volume, Our 95 Theses, is also born from the necessity to proclaim and live the Christian faith at the margins. The majority of Latinas and Latinos living in the United States live at the margins, so our time and place demand that we serve our people en conjunto and that we do theology en conjunto. Our theological work and spirit of servanthood spring forth from this fertile, yet rocky soil. This is the concern that drives us as we pray together, as we proclaim the gospel, and work to remove those rocks that prevent us from planting and then gathering the abundant fruit that our people so desperately need. This is our hope and resolve.
Our ecumenical efforts begin from below by listening to the cries of our people at the margins. We are aware of the recent worldwide ecumenical efforts carried out by the Catholic Church since Vatican II, as well as by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). There have been joint and productive talks and it is right and salutary to note these efforts. However, our point of departure is from below by listening to the cries and aspirations of the people at the margins.
This is how we practice and reflect on our pastoral and theological work through these joint efforts. They are carried out by one community comprised of Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Protestants, and Catholics who share similar aspirations. We are fully aware that there still are signs of divisions and ill feelings toward fellow Christians of other denominations among Latino Christian congregations in the United States. We want to remedy this for the sake of our people who live at the margins and for the sake of our common mission in Christ. This is the common vision of the authors in this book.
The title of this book implies much: Our 95 Theses. We recognize the genuine efforts of Martin Luther when on October 31, 1517, as a young Augustinian monk and professor of theology from a very recently established (1509) and insignificant university, he nailed his 95 theses on the Church Castle door in Wittenberg. Luther’s reformation fervor was born out of a necessity to reform the church because of his borderland experience. He saw clearly the urgent changes that his beloved church needed. Luther found the church in crisis because the church was blurring the much needed presence of the love of God among his people. Luther made it fully known how the ecclesiastical posture of the church at that time and place was greatly influenced by the greed for power that gave way to the oppression of the poor and the stealing of the daily bread that dutifully belonged to them.
Luther did not expect that he, an unknown and insignificant theologian, would be heard by the powerful leaders of the church. He did not expect major changes to occur, yet God had other plans. Luther was destined to be heard by those faithful Christians who lived within the margins of the church. They would be the ones who would listen with new vigor to the sweet voice of the gospel and join Luther’s efforts toward a reformation of the church.1
Although we live at a different time in history and our contexts have changed since the time of the Reformation, the posture and vision of our contributions in this volume identify with Luther’s purpose in writing his 95 theses. We lift our voices together guided by a flaming vocation to identify with those whom we accompany at the margins in church and society. The sweet melody of the gospel elevates our resolve to serve who live in the margins. Also the voices and resolves expressed in our essays are voices usually ignored or neglected by the leaders of our denominations who from the center dictate how best to serve our people.
Our starting point is like Luther’s starting point at the time he wrote the 95 theses. Our voices shout out with an evangelical fervor entrusted to us by the guidance of the Holy Spirit to echo the sound of a gospel committed to those suffering at the margins. This is why the title of our book is indeed proper for the celebration of the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation. Our work together shouts out Our 95 Theses for this time and place in the twenty-first century. With Luther, we base our work together in the freedom given to us under the gospel.
This freedom under the gospel compels us as a community of faith to serve our church and society at this time and place. This is why we commemorate the past for the evangelical freedom we gathered under the gospel but we do not remain mesmerized with our past. For this time and place that our Latino brothers and sisters share by living together in the United States, we, the authors, breath the same evangelical spirit to serve one another. We are inspired by Luther’s evangelical fervor and essential Christian freedom. In Luther’s own words: “A Christian is perfectly free, lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all” (The Freedom of the Christian [1520], Luther’s Works [Fortress Press, 1957], Vol. 31: 344).
We, the authors, although using different strokes, colors, and mixing of colors, draw from the same source of inspiration that compels us to paint an evangelical picture that is committed to the very scene in which we live and have our being. We realize that the gospel calls us to reconciliation and peace with God, but this is not the only word. The same liberating gospel calls us to be worthy people of God and communities of faith. It is in this realization that we are urgently called to serve all human beings, especially the poor who live at the margins.
It would be proper at this time to pinpoint how Luther paints his evangelical picture in the 95 theses. This will enable the reading of the essays offered in this volume. Theses 62 to 64 summarize Luther’s reformation vision and dynamics. They in effect lift up what is essential and vital for the Christian church at all times and places.
(62) The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of glory and grace.
(63) But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last [Matt. 20.16]
(64) On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first. [LW, 31, 31]
For Luther, the proclamation of justification by faith, God’s unconditional declaration of love and forgiveness to all humanity, because of Christ’s death and resurrection, cannot be confined to ourselves in order for us to be at peace with God. This is important. The proclamation of the gospel includes God’s good word to us to lift us up from the depths of our ruin. But the gospel compels us also to lift up our voices in hope to change our own marginal situation.
Luther poignantly emphasizes this perspective by engaging in an eschatological vision in theses 63 to 64. This is the picture that is offered in Matthew 20. This eschatological vision may be gathered also in Paul’s testimony concerning the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11.17-23. When we participate in the Lord’s Supper —Paul and Luther concur on this— this celebration calls us in hope to a banquet of reconciliation among all people and all nations. Consequently, Luther focuses on a living hope under the gospel to change the status quo. There is a living hope to break down the barriers where what is only valued is our very own created interests. We hope for a great embrace and welcome for people at the margins. The gospel creates, therefore, new spaces of freedom and reconciliation where “the last will be first.” Our book pinpoints admirably how the majority of Latinos find themselves excluded or not respected in their daily affairs, where they worship the living God, live and work.
We share, therefore, a common hope in our essays that our ministries at the margins be more than immediate works of charity serving those who are most needed. Our hope envisions also that those who live at the margins of our Christian community and society become worthy and contributing members within those very communities. I believe that Luther enhances this vision in theses 62 to 64 when he calls for these changes with a prophetic voice, even though at times he is not clear concerning this or seems to offer a contradictory point of departure.
It is a fact that Luther errs, as all human beings err, when he does not apply properly—some would say when he applies in an abusive manner— his evangelical fervor in other writings and contexts. This is due to his precarious situation before the Catholic Church and how the princes and merchants safeguarded and supported him. This is noted by several of the authors in a critical manner. We shall see how the authors offer some alternatives and restructure what Luther said during the reformation in light of their contexts and experience.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt in reading Luther’s 95 theses that the Reformer is indignant in his evangelical fervor against the selling of indulgences for the one and only purpose to enrich the coffers of the powerful in order to enhance their status in the church. His indignation is especially directed against those who through this oppressive manipulation rob from the meager resources of the indigent and humble families to satisfy their unending avarice (theses 42-46). For Luther, it is shameful to proclaim an illusory peace where the powerful become richer and the poor are abused. Luther concludes his 95 theses with this indignation and evangelical fervor.
For Luther, “the Cross is our only theology” (Crux sola est nostra theologia). Luther’s appropriation of the cross does not end with an explanation of why Christ died for us. The cross serves also as a critical key in our theological practice. The cross is like a precise surgical instrument that is necessary to remove idolatry and to expose the sinful powers that oppress us. By means of the cross, we are able to direct the changes that need to take place according to the will of God. We can perceive this by reflecting on thesis 92 to 95:
(92) Away then with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Peace, peace,” and there is no peace! [Jer 6.14].
(93) Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Cross, cross,” and there is no cross.
(94) Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their head, through penalties, death and hell;
(95) And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations, rather than through the false security of peace [Acts 14.22]. [LW 31, 33]
Luther is not expressing here a morbid sentiment concerning life. Nor he is expressing a Christian spirituality where the faithful finds peace with God only through many sufferings. The Reformer affirms through these theses that we need to employ and proclaim the cross to unmask evil and idolatry as the very core marks of sin.
In several of his works, Luther declares that the proclamation of salvation has been manipulated by several theories or doctrines that serve to mask idolatry. This is how the teaching concerning the selling of indulgences were masked. Indulgences were offered as an undeniable gift of God’s grace. This is why Luther declares “away,” with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Peace, peace, and there is no peace.” We find in these theses a living paradox for when the false prophets proclaim “peace, peace, there is no peace,” and when the prophets of God proclaim “Cross, cross” there is no cross.
Therefore, when we confront sin and the powers of evil under the cross, and this action results in many sufferings and persecutions, we do not look downcast because of our suffering. We are not mere victims. Our sufferings are in fact a sign of the presence of the God of life, the God of dignity among us. God calls us, as well as all the people of God, especially those at the margins, to engage in changes where God’s mercy, justice, and peace will bind us in community. When we confront sin and the power of evil under the cross, and sufferings or persecution befall us because of our actions, we do not belittle or praise our sufferings for they are in fact a testimony to the presence of the God of life and his love among us, calling for change to those oppressive situations. This is what Luther affirms and explains at the conclusion of this important document with theses 94 and 95.
Luther’s most profound expressions concerning the theology of the cross are found in his Heidelberg Thesis of 1518 (especially in thesis 19 -21, [LW, 31, 52-53]) and in his Second Exposition of the Psalms 1519-1521 (Operationes in Psalmos, WA 5). Luther explains clearly in these two writings the life and action of the “theologian of the cross” rather than a “theology of the cross.” “For one becomes a theologian by living, by dying, by being damned; not by mere intellectualizing, reading, reading and speculating” (“Vivendo, immo moriendo et damnando fit theologus, non intelligendo aut speculando,” [Operationes in Psalmos, WA 5, 163, 29-30]).
Luther declares poignantly these words to confront the powers present in the church. It is not that one desires to suffer in doing the work of God. However, when God calls us to unmask idolatry, and to do so using the cross as a sharp surgical instrument, we do so knowing full well that the crucified and risen God accompanies us in our pilgrimage as disciples of the cross. Luther affirms this clearly as he comments on Psalm 22 in his Operationes in Psalmos. There he expresses the intimate relationship that exists between the crucified and risen Christ and all Christians in their sufferings. Luther employs what he calls the “joyous exchange,” because what is present in this exchange is God’s justice with us and for us as he assumes our injustice (WA 5, 607-608). This is how the theologian Regin Prenter expresses what we receive in this exchange: “Our alien righteousness is to Luther the living personal Christ, not an abstract contribution to faith” (Spiritus Creator, Muhlenberg Press, 1953, p. 49).
When we are persecuted or punished and, we suffer for proclaiming Christ’s message of the cross, we do not become mere victims, nor conquered people, but rather we are chosen instruments of the true God in order to unmask idolatry and opt for the concrete love and justice of the living God. This perspective was admirably noted by one of the contributed essays. Latin American Catholic theologians and pastors, such as Jon Sobrino, Oscar Romero and Ignacio Ellacuría, have insisted in a pastoral theology in which there is an unbreakable bond between the crucified Savior and the crucified people.
We live at the margins proclaiming and unmasking the sin, evil, and idolatry before us. And when we are humiliated and persecuted, we do not see ourselves as victims, but rather as bearers of the joyous and redemptive message of the crucified and risen Christ. This realization motivates us at this time and place to proclaim the possibility for God to change our situation in the midst of our human impossibility. Two of the contributed essays, one from an Evangelical and the other from a Pentecostal perspective, appropriate this insight from Luther as he underlines the work of the Holy Spirit. This topic merits more dialogue and reflection in the future.
In order to facilitate the reading and further reflection on this volume, it should be noted how we, the authors, apply our Christian traditions to the present task. My own point of departure, for instance, as a Lutheran, is evangelical catholic. This means that even though the Bible is the key to my theological inquiry, the tradition of the church, especially the tradition that is born from the catholic West, informs my reflection on the text. This way of theologizing may be gathered from the authors whose traditions are Anglican, Reformed and Methodist. But this way of theologizing, although at times differently nuanced, belongs also to the catholic heritage. The tradition is indispensable in reading the Holy Scriptures, even though it is in the Holy Scriptures that we find the deposit of faith.
It should be noted also that several authors follow an Evangelical tradition in their theologizing. Sometimes theologians imbedded in this tradition severely criticize the tradition of the church, or it is simply ignored, for it seems not to be genuinely biblical or because it detracts from the reformation principle of sola Scriptura. We find, nevertheless, that some of our contributors who follow an Evangelical or Pentecostal tradition want to correct this negativism toward tradition, for they also value the tradition of the church in reading Scripture. One should note these divergent viewpoints in reading this book.
It is necessary to reflect on another key note concerning Scripture and tradition. We must take note of several interpretative traditions born within the bosom of our own denominations that, like the air we breathe, direct our readings of Holy Scriptures. Therefore, we shall note different interpretative traditions present even among some contributors who believe that to value Christian tradition detracts from the principle of sola Scriptura.
It is important also to note that in reading Scripture itself we shall discover various traditions and emphases highlighted by the authors. A worthy example of this practice may be noted in reading John and Paul. These inspired writers write concerning the same God, but they take into account different perspectives and dimensions as they received the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Paul, for instance, underlines the concept of grace while John underlines the concept of God’s unconditional love. This is how they express God’s gratuitousness. Each uses a different language to express the mercy of God toward us. Taking this into account, it would be expedient to offer several observations concerning three salient themes in this book. These are: solus Christus (through Christ alone), sola Scriptura (through Scripture alone) and the priesthood of all believers.
For our Latino pastoral work together, it is necessary to apply the reformation principle of solus Christus in light of Jesus from Galilee, who lived at the margins. Since the late 1970s, Virgilio Elizondo opened new interpretative roads concerning our identity and Latino reality in light of Jesus of Galilee (Galilean Journey, Orbis, 1983). It is essential for our Latin reformation theology to develop this principle of solus Christus from our identity in Galilee. Several of the presented essays make special mention of the reformation principle of solus Christus as fundamental to our evangelical proclamation. Nevertheless, some of our authors do not develop or take note of the theme of solus Christus from Galilee.
This point of departure is important for our cultural identity that lives within the margins. Jesus’ accompaniment and his work among us is already an evangelical spark in Luther’s thought. Justification by faith envisions for Lutherans a Christological optic from below where Jesus accompanies us in our weaknesses and we bring forth the presence of Jesus in our discipleship of the cross. This interpretative key must always be applied in the context of our Galilee.
For Luther, due to his time and historical moment, it was impossible to assume this interpretative posture where he could take into account what living at the margins means for our identity. This interpretative optic provides new opportunities to wrestle with themes usually ignored or rejected within Evangelical reformation theological reflection. Among these most significant themes we find Mary’s role as a theologian of the cross and mother of Jesus of Galilee.
Luther emphasizes how Jesus walked with Mary, and Mary with Jesus under the cross and under the praxis of the Holy Spirit in his exegetical study on “The Magnificat,” based on Luke 1.46-55. (LW 21, 297-355). For Luther, Mary is the disciple of the cross par excellence, who speaks powerfully, and completely inspired as a vehicle of the Holy Spirit. Her speech reveals God’s action and praxis in favor of the poor and most vulnerable of the earth. She signifies in her words and actions God’s full presence, for she embodies God’s presence as a theologian of the cross. This theme is not really explored in our book, but that does not mean, however, that our authors do not find this to be a valuable theme to be explored. After all, we, the editors, did not single out this as a theme to be discussed. Also, this present contribution cannot include all of the important themes to be studied. Several of our contributors, however, have discussed in other writings the theme of Mary as Christ’s disciple, and as the bearer of the Holy Spirit. Further reflection on this theme will help to affirm the ministerial role of women in the church. This reflection will not only enable us to rise from the abyss of marginality, but also to further understand God’s presence among us.
This is an opportune time to reflect on a very crucial way that God is present among us. This theme is developed in a constructive manner in the essay on the mission of God. Under the theme of sola Scriptura, we may perceive that God’s mission is Trinitarian, as it is expressed in Jesus’ priestly prayer in John 17. This missionary, Trinitarian vision has already gathered abundant fruit within the ecumenical theology of the Catholic Church since Vatican II. But this Trinitarian vision needs to be explored and valued from below through our everyday lives and cultural existence.
In our theological work we seem at times to either isolate or emphasize the work of the Father, or of the Son or that of the Holy Spirit. It may be noted in the contributed essays that there is a living awareness that we cannot divide the presence and work of our Trinitarian God among us. To ignore this leads to strife and divisions that reject Jesus’ fervent prayer to the Father: “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name —the name you gave me— so they may be one as we are one” (John 17.11). If we do not take into account God’s Trinitarian work, it limits the many mansions within the kingdom of God that we may inhabit, and sets apart the presence of the living God from his own creation. This leads to tragic consequences and limits God’s presence among us.
Three authors in particular point out that when we give witness to the presence of God over all his creatures, we receive wonderful benefits. The concept of vocation is especially noted in this context. All of God’s creatures, Christian or not, have been called to preserve and honor God’s creation. Among the many benefits that impact this way of thinking is the role of all humans being elevated as God’s very own means to create and preserve a healthier environment in society and nature. Consequently, all vocations of women and men working for the common good in all of creation must be honored as valuable contributions.
Women are not only honored for being valuable disciples of the kingdom. They are not only honored in their role as Mary, but also in their role as Eve because their walking together with males in taking care of creation and the family need to be highly valued. Men need to elevate the role of women, not only for being Marylike disciples, or for being their sainted mothers, but also because they, as Eve, bear living fruit from their wombs, and work alongside men to live a harmonious life, especially in family life.
Men should be valued also in their honoring of creation, especially within their families, not because they are the main source of livelihood (or feel inferior for not being the main source of livelihood) for their families, but because they contribute in their vocation as spouses in the nurturing of their families, even contributing and sharing in such daily cares as raising their children, cooking, as well as doing handy work at home.
We honor together our family and our daily lives because it means that we are honoring and tending to God’s creation. Luther elevates this understanding of vocation, and several of our authors give evidence concerning this reformation insight. Key to this reformation vision is that not only Christians, but also other human beings are worthy agents in the care of God’s creation. This is very crucial for Christians to affirm in our present world in which many Christians believe themselves to be better citizens, or better caretakers of God’s creation than non-Christians. Therefore, they offend or attack non-Christians for fulfilling the vocations entrusted to them, also by God, to care for the world. In this light, we should note another important reformation theme mentioned by our authors. This is a theme that urgently impacts our planet at this time and has to do with the relationship of ecology to poverty.
The poverty and marginalization that our people encounter is painfully impacted by the manner in which human avarice is polluting God’s creation, specifically our climate and natural resources. This may be tragically seen in the contamination of the potable water that the poor now are forced to drink. These were once pure and potable waters turned to putrid and poisonous waters because of human avarice. Potable water, as well as other proper equilibrium of our planet, such as climate conditions, are essential necessities to our quality of life. They are as essential to our dignity, our communal convivir, as is living in peace with God and other human beings.
Our people who live at the margins suffer in a greater and disproportionate manner from the avarice that has damaged God’s creation. This was not something as urgent or tragic in the sixteenth century as it is today. Luther poignantly affirms in his explanation of the Apostolic Creed that we cannot neglect the Trinitarian presence of God among his creatures and his creation. God’s acts of redemption and creation are painted by Luther with distinctive strokes and variations of colors, but nonetheless they integrate actions of how God is present and walks with his creatures. This reformation insight is briefly noted in this book and needs to be present in our continued work of reformation of the church.
Our Trinitarian vision also elevates instruments sometimes ignored or disdained for communicating the presence and acts of God. The principle of sola Scriptura cannot cast aside other instruments given by God to communicate his presence. Music and art, for example, are valuable instruments for our Latin culture. They are means whereby God communicates admirably his presence and purposes within his creation. Luther and the Reformation, to a certain extent, appropriate these means through new contextual cultural expressions in order to worship and communicate the vastness and beauty of God. This perspective is pointed out in several of our essays, but more theological and cultural reflection is needed within our pastoral de conjunto.
The themes of sola Scriptura and the priesthood of all believers were the two themes most frequently addressed in this volume as contributions by the Reformation to our Latino people. In order to discern and reflect on the different postures offered in addressing these themes, it is prudent to point out how these two themes were interrelated. The theme of the royal priesthood of all believers was affirmed in light of the principle of sola Scriptura. Several authors pointed out how the scriptural teaching concerning the priesthood of all believers has liberated all the people of God to carry out ministries. It has freed women and men alike. All Christians are capable of reading, studying, and teaching the Holy Scriptures. Nevertheless, we find among our authors positions that differ concerning the place and function of the priesthood of all believers within Holy Scriptures. It is within these variety of interpretations that the reader will perceive our various and distinct theological traditions. It is important to continue an in-depth dialog concerning these various postures in order to not limit or ignore the testimony of the Holy Spirit among us.
Let us take note of some of these interpretative differences offered in this volume for future dialog. For example, some of the essays emphasize that ministry belongs to every person. Our Christian freedom as daughters and sons of God is pinpointed in these essays. Some of the authors underplay the value of the apostolic, pastoral, and diaconal ministries of the church, although this point of departure limits other aspects of ministry that are also present within the New Testament. The Scriptures underscore also specific callings made by God to prophets, apostles, deacons and pastors. Several essays also take note of these specific callings given to women and men by God (Romans 16).
Another important aspect of the teaching of Holy Scriptures concerning the royal priesthood of all believers is that being members of the royal priesthood does not mean that each believer may bypass the wisdom of the gathered community of faith in interpreting Scriptures, nor should they appoint themselves on their own account as leaders within the church. The reading of Holy Scriptures and the various calls for leadership and ministry within the early church are acts and actions that emanate from the gathered community, koinonia, of the people of God. This is how the Holy Spirit is present within the church and for the sake of the community’s witness (Acts 6; 1 Cor. 12).
We must note this biblical teaching and dynamic in order not to fall into the kind of idolatry that Luther frequently rejects. We cannot put God in our pockets and pretend that we speak in the name of God, when all that we speak are only our very own opinions that burst forth from our own vanity. This is why we need to live always within our Christian communities, to pray and meditate on Holy Scriptures to discern how God is present, walking and acting among us at this time and place. This sense of being church predominates in our essays. It is from this point of departure that Our 95 Theses: 500 Years Since the Reformation is written. It is thus that we hope for an ever greater unity of the church in spite of our human limits. May it be so.
Nota
1 We understand that the gospel of the Reformation was received favorably by the princes who protected Luther, as well as by middle class merchants in Germany. This is why at times Luther’s message in relationship to the poor becomes inconsistent and contradictory.
CHAPTER 1
IN 2017, THE UNIVERSAL (WORLD-WIDE) CHURCH will commemorate and celebrate the fifth centennial of an event with enormous consequences for the history of Christianity, even though at the very moment — when it took place in 1517— it seemed to be no more than a bold invitation made by an Augustinian monk, who was a university professor in a very small German town, to his students and colleagues at the same university. This invitation to a theological debate questioned the presuppositions that praised the sale of indulgences. With these ninety-five theses presented for debate, Martin Luther boldly carved for time immemorial his name in the annals of church history.
My contribution to this ecumenical project is consciously made as a Latino who is also a theologian and Catholic.2