Pros: One of few books on Hispanic Christian Theology by a Hispanic author. Well-written/argued.
Cons: Too short. Forces Gonzalez to make too many generalizations about a very large population.
The Bottom Line: A specialized book. I would recommend it to those wishing to understand Hispanic Protestant worldview. One must understand the limitations of so short a book on so complex a subject.
pilotpat's Full Review: Justo Gonzalez - Manana: Christian Theology from a...
DISCLAIMER
In my short Epinions "career" I have limited myself to travel and gadgets. Here's my first foray into a book review - a book I read in preparation/during my recent visit to Ecuador (a trip, by the way, which soon will fuel some more of my more "traditional" reviews).
OVERVIEW
Mañana: Christian Theology from a Hispanic Perspective, by Justo L. Gonzalez is true to its title. Gonzalez intent and execution is to present Christian theology, from the basics of reading the Bible to the application of the tenets, stories, and philosophy, from the Hispanic perspective. One weakness of the work comes from the sheer scope of his intended task, the attempt to condense into less than 200 pages the worldview of a population that, at the time of his writing was approaching 400,000,000 (not including Hispanics such as Gonzalez who live outside of Latin America) and today exceeds 500,000,000 people. Even attempting to narrow that worldview to that of the 35 million Hispanics living in the United States, which Gonzalez toys with briefly at the beginning of the book, is daunting. However, few other writers have attempted such a monumental task, and Gonzalez's effort is illuminating.
A MINORITY WITHIN A MINORITY
Gonzalez spends the first portion of the book establishing his credentials as a minority within a minority, specifically a Protestant Hispanic. This status made him a member of the religious minority, which he illustrates by recalling memories of classmates crossing themselves when they discovered he was Protestant , as well as a member of an Ethnic minority, a Hispanic in the United States. He continues with a short history of Latin America since the Western invasions, specifically the history of the Church and Christianity (again a daunting task to cover in the 30 pages he allots to the task), and the persecution and oppression wrought by that culture.
THE HEART OF THE MATTER
What I believe to be the heart of Gonzalez' work comes next, what he calls "reading the bible in Spanish." Gonzalez bases the rest of the book on this premise, using the remaining chapters to address specifics of where a reading of the Bible in such a manner should bring us. By "reading the Bible in Spanish," Gonzalez does not refer to the mechanical reading of the Bible in the Spanish language per se, but reading the Bible with the eyes of a Hispanic person (again, the generalized Hispanic that Gonzalez must address considering the limits of publication). Through these eyes, Gonzalez argues that we must read the Bible "as exiles, as members of a powerless group, as those who are excluded from the 'innocent' history of the dominant group, and we shall begin to see that it is indeed a political book." What Gonzalez is speaking of, and what he addresses over the rest of the book in various aspects, is liberation theology, the application of Biblical belief through the lens of God's promises to the oppressed through Isaiah, and repeated by Christ at the beginning of His ministry.
"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me/Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor./He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives/And recovery of sight to the blind,/To set free those who are oppressed,/To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD." Luke 4:18,19 (NASB)
In other words, Gonzalez rejects pure spiritual theology, the attempt to define the teachings of the Old and New Testaments as instruction leading only towards spiritual salvation. Gonzalez calls that "semi-Marcionism," comparing our acceptance of a God who saves our souls and rejection of a God who calls us to "set free those who oppressed" akin to Marcion's heresy that separated the Old Testament God of judgment from the New Testament God of reconciliation. He insists that a faithful and whole reading of Scripture will lead us to political action, versus spiritual hermitage. On this I must agree, though I may disagree in method or even in some presuppositions on which his later calls to action are based.
CONCLUSION
Gonzalez' work was both energizing and tiring for me (as a non-Hispanic) to read. At times I found myself disagreeing vehemently with him. One example is his utter disdain for the "hysterical" efforts of the United States during the Cold War, which he refers to as "perhaps the greatest instance of the failure of the North." Based upon the date of publication, it is apparent that Gonzalez finished writing this book only months before these futile efforts precipitated the fall of the Soviet Union. And again, I must renew my argument that the worldview of such a large population of people towards the faith of Christianity cannot be summed in such a short treatment. That being said, I believe that Mañana is a hard-hitting and much-needed description of the general historical and present influences upon which we must mold our theology when considering our brethren to the South.
This volume offers a major theological statement from a respected theologian and author. Richly insightful and unique, Manana is one of the few major ...More at Christianbook.com
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