Analysis of Leonardo Boff's Jesus Christ - Book Report/Review Example

Religion and Theology Topic: Boff’s Jesus Christ, Liberator and Cone’s The Cross and the Lynching Tree Jesus Christ, the Liberator: A Critical Christology for our Times—Leonardo Boff. 1. Leonardo Boff is a participant of the theology movement of Latin America. He has to his credit some original theological concepts, but by and large, he is a part of the increasingly sophisticated liberation theology movement. But this liberation aspect is about the interpretation of the ground realities and the remedial measure necessary to challenge them. Leonardo Boff argues, “Each generation must answer, within the context of its own understanding of the world, of the human person, and of God.”(1) Liberation does not question the fundamentals of Christianity. Implicit obedience in that area is not negotiable. Faith alone clears the path to reach God. Unless one believes in the existence of God, how can one reach him or seek rewards from him? The difference is only in the application of method to reach out Jesus taking into consideration the secular ground realities. Biblical paradigms are also applied with an analysis of social conditions prevalent in countries wedded to communist philosophy. So, social reality gets equal importance along with faith. These are the two foundation stones on which Boff builds the edifice of Christianity. Theology thus, undergoes the acid test, to become more practical to win the appreciation and acceptance of the common man. It serves as the bridge between traditional faith and religious practices in the changed world of materialistic civilization. Theology turns out to be the savior of Christianity from hard core atheistic practitioners without falling into dogmatic and fanatic religious practices. To explain his concept of theology, Boff does not detach God from past history. According to him, social conditions, affluence or poverty, status quo or revolution, are all the different expressions of God. To be specific about Latin America, theology turns out to be a challenge to historical developments. Authentic Christianity is not related to dogmas alone but it concerns social necessities, it is ethical and experiential. So, the revolutionary communist movement describes another aspect of genuine Christianity as it opposes the stinking status-quo practiced by the dogmatists. 2. Christ in the heart is more important than cross on the neck. Cross is an external embellishment. If an individual practicing Christianity is unethical in disposition and remains trapped in all sorts of negative tendencies, these are no tribute to Jesus, the savior. Revolutions took place when the Rulers resorted to un-Christian principles of governance. People who revolted are thus the true Christians. Christianity and the process of evangelization do not lead to positive tendencies and practices, like brotherhood and justice, automatically. Efforts for inner purification, individual perfection and fight for social justice must go on together like the train that speeds on two parallel tracks. Gospel can survive on such just and equitable conditions. The author argues, “When we talk about Jesus Christ the Liberator, we are presupposing certain preliminaries that must be noted. Liberation is the opposite correlate of domination. To worship and proclaim Jesus Christ as the Liberator is to ponder and live out our Christological faith within a socio-historical context marked by domination and oppression.”(264) Socialism, Communism or any other philosophy of atheism therefore, cannot be condemned outright as unchristian. The root cause of unrest in the society that led to such extreme postures by the people needs to be understood and religion has to intervene according to the social needs of the people. The pages of the Christianity history in many parts of the world are soaked in bloodshed. Boff answers the question of Biblical faith in such crying circumstances. He reiterates that Marxian socio-economic analysis and Biblical faith in its true form can go hand in hand and contribute much to the growth of gospel. This seeming duality need does not lead to divisive tendencies amongst the people of the nations. Its improper application can lead any country to division on the basis of religious (rather irreligious) dogmas. Theology is not about bookish interpretation to find the word meanings and their different applications. At a certain level, they may be necessary, but from the point of view of the common man theology is about historical, liberating action. When humanity becomes truly human if in societal terms plenty and prosperity blesses it, the true glorification of God is possible. In desperate economic conditions, when tomorrow’s bread is not assured from today’s labor, the revelations of the gospel will not reach out to the heart of the man. God’s prophetic voice is that of the oppressed people and the normal necessities and desires of the man are not anti-gospel; what is not desirable is the motivated desire, and unending craze for aggrandizement of wealth, to the detriment of fellow human beings. According to Boff traditional (dogmatic) Christianity is the enemy of true Christianity, as perceived from the point of view of liberation movement. Faith is the divine tool of religion. But it should not be used as the tool to exploit the psyche of the gullible and to blackmail them. The common people often believe in miracles, and the traditional preachers use faith to further their vested interests. God does not sit above the cloud to shower miracles on humanity, nor does he have prefabricated solutions to the various representations of the suffering humanity. God will act when he has to act, but not at the behest of the human being, as per the plan of action decided or anticipated by him. Bible is the essence of divine revelation, but human beings have a tendency to interpret the revelations within the limitations of their mental framework. The truth is the only one, but the mental progressions of different individuals vary and, as such, their arguments and counterarguments will also vary. An individual has to transcend this intellectual quagmire to understand divinity, ipso facto, the revelations in the gospel in the purest form. 3. All noble thoughts, whichever source they come from, need to be welcomed and put into practice. No controversy exists about the author’s depiction of Christ. That is to say, the problem is about how Christianity is practiced by those who control Christianity and Churches in different periods of time. Churches are revenue-generating sources as well. Not many problems exist with the followers of Christians, whether they are intellectuals or totally faith-based common men. (Including the illiterates) The problems are created by the so-called guardians of the religion. Intellectuals and those who have mastered gospel alone need not be the true followers of Christ. An illiterate individual who does not know how to recite a word of gospel can be a true Christian. Heart is the domain of religion, not the argumentative mind. Moreover, the author argues, “Theologians are framed within the overall social context.”(265)This is the author’s depiction of Christ, and he is absolutely right in this regard. Boff is the defender of the poor, and is seriously concerned about the social problems. According to him, God does not love poverty, but he loves the poor. To exploit the poor is, therefore, a sin. To fight for the oppressed and take the necessary steps to ameliorate their conditions of poverty should be the objective of a true Christian. Boff’s theology is both practical and humanitarian and therefore, it is worth following. His assertions appeal to the inner conscience of a true Christian. Why then are there differences within the Christian communities? The answer is simple and straightforward. No two minds are alike and therefore, no two systems of reasoning can be alike. The intuitions differ and the ideologies clash. Boff addresses this dilemma of relativism. Differences occur because reasoning of each individual functions at different levels of progression. The best critical reasoning is faulty. For every argument, there is a counter argument. Due to faulty education system, cultural misrepresentations occur and these lead to conflicts. To agree at the intuitional level, identical spiritual progression of the concerned individuals is necessary, which in the practical world is impossibility. Practicing Christianity is the continuous process of living. No final post exists in the journey of religious pursuits. It is the effort without intermission to establish relationship with the Almighty. The hall mark of religion is the acceptance of grace. Without understanding and believing in the grace principle, it is not possible to understand God. Grace is the celebration of divinity. Religious practices are the signposts in the ordinary pathway to God. The transcendental experience is the same in all religions. It can never vary. Just as three is one sun and one moon and the benefits they impart to the humankind are universal, Divine Experience is one and that is identical to all to those who reach that level. The problems arise when the Preachers, pundits and mullahs and even the Preachers within the same religion interpret the experience in words. What they express relates to their historical and cultural expressions and it is bound to vary from one religion, to another and from one period of history to another. In fine, Boff has found the equilibrium between the contending forces, the opposing forces, the forces that do not see eye to eye with each other normally, the forces of so-called materialism and the forces connected to religion. His effort is admirable and should be acceptable to those who desire to find solution to the vexed problems confronting the society. Truth is a relative term, from the perspective of history and culture. Christianity, as propounded by Boff is the highest form of spirituality as well and as a sociological science and one should have no hesitation in accepting his principles. Otherwise, poverty-ridden people may be guided and led by destructive forces. The author argues, “The theology of liberation, of Jesus Christ the Liberator, is the pain-filed cry of oppressed Christians. ….Indeed all they ask is to be people, to be accepted as persons. All they ask is that they be allowed to fight to retain their captive freedom. (295) Any religion which will not take a definite stand to prevent injustice, poverty and violation of human rights, will cease to be a respectable institution and it will collapse of its own weight. Boff is aware of this position. The Cross and the Lynching Tree—James H.Cone 1. James H. Cone writes, “Every time a white mob lynched a black person, they lynched Jesus. The lynching tree is the cross in America. When American Christians realize that they can meet Jesus only in the crucified bodies in our midst, they will encounter the real scandal of the cross.” (158) This provocative remark does not smack of Cone’s enmity towards to white Christians, but depicts the horrid experiences through which the black Christians went through and yet succeeded in retaining their Christian faith. How do adverse sociological conditions impact the psyche of an individual? Read Cone’s book and again read it thoroughly to the point of understanding its essence. For Cone it is not preaching vendetta. Rather he is making the factual depiction of Jesus, as experienced by majority of the African Americans. Cone understands his Jesus through the cross/lynching of Jesus Christ and he wonders why not even one theologian in the last one century referred to Christian faith and the lynching processes of the black people lived together. The author argues, “Though both are symbols of death, one represents a message of hope and salvation, while the other signifies the negation of that message by white supremacy.”(xiii) Where are those social-justice theologians?, he wonders. Here arises the problem for Cone to understand the positions of the theologians, the so-called eminent followers of Jesus. He argues, “To address a defect in the conscience of white Christians and to suggest why African Americans have needed to trust and cultivate their own theological imagination” (32). Lynching tree is nothing but the symbol for the suffering of black Christians by the white Christians. Whereas he does not make any contentious arguments about Jesus, and his depiction is free from any feelings of vendetta he laments, “White theologians do not normally turn to the black experience to learn about theology” (64). This is the pointer how the same faith fails to unite the people when the dominant section, indulges in unfair practices against the economically and sociologically weaker section of the society. In relation to black and white Christians the later inflicted inhuman cruelties against the former and exploited them economically to the hilt. Therefore Cone argues, “It is one thing to teach theology (like Niebuhr, Barth, Tillich and most theologians) in the safe environs of a classroom and quite another to live one’s theology in a situation that entails the risk of one’s life” (70). Cross dangling on the neck does not make a true and humble Christian. Jesus of the poor as depicted by Cone is the Lord of the exploited blacks. 2. Practice of the worst form of racism depicts the Christ of Cone. His observation, “The loveliest lynchee was our Lord” (98) is poignant. His depiction of Christ is known as womanist perspective. He argues, “I accept Delores Williams’s rejection of theories of atonement as found in the Western theological tradition and in the uncritical proclamation of the cross in many black churches. I find nothing redemptive about suffering in itself. The gospel of Jesus is not a rational concept to be explained in a theory of salvation, but a story about God’s presence in Jesus’ solidarity with the oppressed, which led to his death on the cross. What is redemptive is the faith that God snatches victory out of defeat, life out of death, and hope out of despair, as revealed in the biblical and black proclamation of Jesus’ resurrection” (150). Even with their grim experiences at the hands of the white Christians, the black people are admiration-worthy, that they still retained faith in Christ and continued to practice Christianity. They accept cross as a divine burden to attain freedom from extreme form of social injustice which the community suffered for centuries. Cone raises highly inconvenient but relevant questions to the white theologians, and they have no religiously tenable and valid answers as to why the white community kept the blacks in captivity, especially those forming the so-called intellectual middle class. The meaning of ultimate sacrifice made by Jesus in being lynched at the cross, for the sake of upholding the truth and social justice, is never understood by the white theologians and masses. Cone has highlighted the two most emotionally important symbols of Christianity in the African American Community. The souls of the blacks have special connection to the lynching tree as it is the pointer to the bitter sociological and economic struggles. 3. The interpretation of Christian living elucidated by Cone refers to the African community. Even in the face of grim sociological and economic difficulties and humiliation faced at the hands of the white community, the black community stuck to their Christian faith, and it is the greatest achievement of their inner conscience. They are better Christians than the whites. They succeeded in finding a spiritual meaning to their suffering and compared it with the sacrifice made by Christ on the lynching tree. At the same time the author argues in a tone of warning as well as regret, “The cross can heal and hurt; it can be empowering and liberating but also enslaving and oppressive.”(xix) Christ did not allow the worst to succeed and brought to the understanding of his followers the ultimate meaning of life by overcoming the power of sin and death. The greatest understanding of divinity is to find meaning to live without malice and retain faith in God in toughest of the circumstances, rather in all circumstances. Cone argues that the African Americans were able to accomplish that level and the image of Jesus hung on the tree to die, gave them immense courage and they lived with the conviction that God was with them, even when the community was undergoing a period of untold suffering in the lynching era. The Christian theology of the black Americans faced the toughest challenge, over 5000 people died during the lynching period, and yet the community was able to overcome death and injustice, remembering the suffering of Christ lynched on the cross. Theological meaning has to be discovered through multiple angles, during the different periods of history, as to how lynching is done without pricking the Christian conscience and how those who owe allegiance to Christ, can remain willfully blind to evil. At times, one wonders how spirituality shows the dual power to commit and control oppression of all types. Cone has created new waves of racial consciousness, and the reader can put into practice the principles enunciated by him, though great perseverance is needed for the black Americans to follow them implicitly. As for the white American Christians, it is imperative that they make a conscious study of the facts revealed by him, so that such inhuman acts are not repeated by the future white Christian generations. For lynching was not the serious mistake committed by one or two individuals here and there, but by a socially sanctioned mob, and such violence was provided sustenance by the Southern Christian society that propounded the philosophy of white supremacy. This is the tragedy of the Christianity vs. racism in America. Works Cited Boff, Leonardo. Jesus Christ Liberator: A Critical Christology for Our Times. Orbis Books, 1978. Print Cone, James H. The Cross and the Lynching Tree. Orbis Books, 2011. Print The lynching of black America is taking place in the criminal justice system where nearly one-third of black men between the ages of 18 and 28 are in prisons and jails, on parole, or waiting for their day in court. One-half of the two million people in prisons are black. That is one million black people behind bars, more than in colleges. Through private prisons, whites have turned the brutality of their racist legal system into a profit-making venture for dying white towns and cities throughout America. One can lynch a person without a rope or tree. The civil rights movement did not end lynching. It struck a mighty blow to the most obvious brutalities, like the lynching of Emmett Till and the violence of the Ku Klux Klan. But whenever society treats a people as if they have no rights or dignity or worth, as the government did to blacks during the Katrina storm, they are being lynched covertly. Whenever people are denied jobs, health care, housing, and the basic necessities of life, they are being lynched. There are a lot of ways to lynch a people. Whenever a people cry out to be recognized as human beings and society ignores them, they are being lynched. People who have never been lynched by another group usually find it difficult to understand why blacks want whites to remember lynching atrocities. Why bring that up? That was a long time ago! Is it not best forgotten? Absolutely not! The lynching tree is a metaphor for race in America, a symbol of America's crucifixion of black people. It is the window that best reveals the theological meaning of the cross in this land. In this sense, black people are Christ-figures, not because we want to be but because we had no choice about being lynched, just as Jesus had no choice in his journey to Calvary. Jesus did not want to die on the cross, and blacks did not want to swing from the lynching tree. But the evil forces of the Roman State and white supremacy in America willed it. Yet God took the evil of the cross and the lynching tree upon the divine self and transformed both into the triumphant beauty of the divine. If America has the courage to confront the great sin and ongoing legacy of white supremacy, with repentance and reparation, there is hope beyond the tragedy -- hope for whites, blacks, and all humankind -- hope beyond the lynching tree. Read More