Research reports

A critical study of the liberating God in the theology of Gustavo Gutierrez

Fri, 01 Jan 1993 00:00:00 GMT

A critical study of the liberating God in the theology of Gustavo Gutierrez Borlado, Danilo A. It is a task of theology to articulate an understanding of God that is meaningfully related to the existential questions and deep longings of humanity. It is also crucial that theology should speak intelligibly about the nature, presence, and activity of God in the world. One distinctive and contemporary articulation of God is that of liberation theology. It is a theology done by 'critical reflection on praxis' in the context of poverty, injustice, and human suffering. In this theology God is distinctively understood as historical and liberating, i.e., God is actively present in history liberating humanity from its sinful and scandalous condition. The idea of a liberating God is the main focus and central category upon which the theology of liberation operates and is grounded. God in Christ is Liberator of humanity from sin and all its socio-economic and political manifestations. The liberating God is on the process of liberating humanity and creation here and now. Liberation theology was born, at least, out of three main re-discoveries or realizations. First is the re-discovery of the liberating and historical nature God through praxis. Liberation theology affirms the presence of God in history in and through the faith and praxis of the faith community. The presence and activity of faith (praxis) point to the presence and activity of God in the world. Praxis presupposes faith and faith is evidenced by praxis. Faith and praxis are inseparably and dynamically linked to each other. In other words, God is here and now liberating humanity and the cosmos to its fullness in Christ. Liberation theology is a reaction against unrelated western theological formulations including an other-worldly understanding of God. Since Latin American theology has been dominated by western thinking for many centuries most concepts are not meaningfully related with their context. Liberation theologians are keen to point out that western Christianity or theology addresses a different set of concerns. Whereas liberation theology is primarily concerned with the questions of oppression, injustice, and human suffering European theology is grappling with issues such as secularization, atheism and the meaning of being. Hence, there is a need to indigenize or contextualize Christianity (theology) in Latin America Whereas the west understood God as "The Wholly Other," "The Absolute," "The Unmoved Mover," "The Power of Being," etc., there is a need to ponder God in relation to the struggles and deep aspirations of the Latin American people. Liberation theologians suggest that in the light of the struggle against poverty, exploitation, dehumanization and death, the struggle for life and liberation, God should be understood as el Dios que libere, el Dios de la vida y la liberation (Spanish phrases means the God who liberates, the God of life and of liberation). Second is the re-discovery of and renewed emphasis on the socio-economic and political aspects of salvation. It flows out of the idea of God as historical and liberating. It is argued that the historical and liberating God is concerned not only for the souls of people but of the total person. Salvation is not only freedom from hell and being assured of heaven. It is freedom from sin understood as oppression and injustice, exploitation and domination, and anything that hinders humanity from reaching its fullness in Christ Here biblical themes such as creation, exodus, the ministry of the prophets, the incarnation, the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus serve as the critical basis for the affirmation and emphasis on the wholistic understanding of salvation. On these grounds liberation theology argues that God's liberation includes the socio-economic and political aspects of human existence. In other words, the humanization of humanity is part of being saved the reason why the biblical writers painstakingly elaborated and emphasized the above themes especially the Christ event. The third foundational factor in the emergence of liberation theology is the realization of the nature and primary function of theology as critical reflection on praxis. Theology, it is argued, must not be preoccupied with the formulation of eternal truths into doctrines. As a discourse about God its primary function is to reflect critically on the praxis of the community of faith in response to the existing historical questions in the light of the Word As such theology is the "second act." It does not produce faith but critically and systematically reflects on the practice of faith, on the historical commitments of the people of God. There is then a radical change in the method of theological reflection. The shift is in the area of emphasis: from orthodoxy to orthopraxis. What matters now is not only what is believed but the transformation of the world. The main concern is no longer merely to understand the world but the construction of a new and transformed society, a society where the weak are empowered, the poor are given justice, the marginalized are included Such a theology would be an excellent contribution to the long and costly journey of my own nation, the Filipino people, in their ongoing struggle for justice, life and liberation. Like Latin America, the Philippines has been under the domination of foreign powers for many years. Its theology is likewise dominated by western categories. For us, too, there is a need to emphasize the socio-economic and political aspects of liberation, as 44 millions (70%) of the 62 millions population are living in abject poverty, living in shanties, as squatters in their own country. There is an abysmal gap between the rich and the poor. These appalling realities are seen to be the root of the 23 year old insurgency problem. This poverty stricken condition of the Filipino people gives rise to the alarming relationship breakdown among thousands of families. Today more that 500,000 Filipinos are overseas leaving their families behind, many of whom are women professionals (about 30% are married with children) working either as contract workers or domestic helpers in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Hongkong, Saudi Arabia, Europe, Canada and the United States. In the light of this context and the Philippines being a predominantly Christian country (85%) there is a need to articulate an understanding of God, as in Latin America, that is meaningfully related to the ongoing protest against a dehumanized existence and struggle for a humane life. There is a need for the liberation of theology as most part of the Philippine church is dependent on western and mostly unrelated understanding of God and biblical interpretations. This context and need provides a background and motivation for this essay. More specifically, this study is about the Liberating God in the theology of Gustavo Gutierrez. It is an attempt to contribute to the ongoing theological dialogue in the search for a meaningful and related understanding of God in support of the Filipino struggle. I am embarking into this study with the following goals in mind: a) to develop a good grasp of the distinctive idea of God as historical and liberating; b) to understand the method of liberation theology particularly that of Gutierrez in arriving into such and understanding of God; c) to clarify some ethical demands of a theology that ponders God as Liberator; and d) to make some critical evaluation on some issues arising from the discussions. Chapter 1 deals with the nature and identity of God while Chapter 2 examines the centrality of praxis as away of locating, knowing, encountering, and following God in the world. Chapter 3 brings out some critical points and discussions on some selected issues emerging from the whole discussion. Introduction

Tracer study for the CPU College of Theology graduates from 1995 to 2006

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Tracer study for the CPU College of Theology graduates from 1995 to 2006 Landero, Excelyn C.; Reyes, Grace C.; Villeza, Rea Angelica F. This tracer survey was conducted in compliance with the Commission on Higher Education’s requirement for Quality Assurance, Monitoring, and Evaluation of Higher Education Institutions. It aimed to gather necessary information as to the employment of the CPU College of Theology graduates from year 1995 to 2006. Sixty out of 90 graduates constituted the respondents. This is a descriptive study that used the one-shot survey design. The instrument used was based on the CHED graduate tracer survey. Result of the study showed that majority of the respondents were married, female, with ages between 31-35 years old, and lived in Region VI. Most respondents finished Bachelor of Theology and were employed as full time pastor in Baptist or Evangelical churches under the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (CPBC), or were connected with CPBC – related institutions. Most of the respondents who opted to change jobs identified career challenge as the reason. Abstract only Full text available

Factors related to the understanding of the cultural mandate in the creation account of Genesis among the Convention of Philippine Baptist ministers in the Province of Iloilo: Its implications to CPBC ministers’ current perceptions of environmental Christian stewardship

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Factors related to the understanding of the cultural mandate in the creation account of Genesis among the Convention of Philippine Baptist ministers in the Province of Iloilo: Its implications to CPBC ministers’ current perceptions of environmental Christian stewardship Pagara, Bernabe C. This study aimed to determine factors related to the Convention Baptist ministers’ understanding of the cultural mandate in the creation account of Genesis and its implications to their current perception of environmental Christian stewardship. The researcher used the one-shot population survey. The statistical tools used to test the research hypotheses were the mean and percentage distribution, gamma, t-test and the One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Gamma was used to determine the relationship of variables while ANOVA for the difference set at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that majority of the respondents are male, 40-49 years old, married, college graduate, trained but non-ordained. This study showed that 39.0 percent of the respondents got an average rating, while 31.0 percent got a high rating in terms of their level of understanding of the cultural mandate in the creation account of Genesis. In other words, majority of the respondents understood the questions correctly. Moreover, this study revealed that there was no significant relationship between the respondents’ understanding of the cultural mandate and their current perceptions of environmental Christian stewardship in the biblical-theological (gamma value of -.094 and a level of significance of .840), ethical-economic (gamma value of .009 and a level of significance of .965), socio-political (gamma value of -.009 and a level of significance of .044), and cultural-contextual (gamma value of -.363 and a level of significance of .359). Results further revealed no significant difference in the respondents’ understanding of the cultural mandate in the creation account of Genesis when they were classified by age (p = .824,p > 0.05), sex (p = .926,p >0 .05), residence (p= .847,p > 0.05), educational attainment (p = .819,p > .05), length of service (p = .428,p > 0.05), and pastoral status (p = .051, p > 0.05) except when they were grouped by marital status (p = .019,p> 0.05). Finally, in the exegesis of Genesis 1:26 and 28, this study reveals that human beings have a responsibility to be good and responsible stewards of their environment and the world that God had created out of nothing. They are to utilize their God-given gifts and their moral responsibility to fill, subdue, and rule the creation sensibly and selflessly. As God’s children they are to show their utmost love and faithfulness to their Creator and Lord. As shown in the survey, majority of the CPBC ministers in the province of Iloilo are knowledgeable of the cultural mandate; however, the survey indicated that the respondents were behaviorally passive in their participation in environmental Christian stewardship. Thus, ministers are called to reflect on the biblical issue about sin of omission. Abstract only

Level of self-concept of the College of Theology students at Central Philippine University, school year 2005-2006

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Level of self-concept of the College of Theology students at Central Philippine University, school year 2005-2006 Pagara, Bernabe C.; Pagara, Paige H. This study determined the level of self-concept of the College of Theology (COT) students at Central Philippine University (CPU), school year 2005-2006. This study is a descriptive-relational research and it used the validated questionnaire based on Mary and Robert Goulding models. Collected data were tabulated, summarized, and analyzed by simple percentages and frequency distribution. These data were encoded using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Gamma and chi-square were used to determine the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The results revealed that majority of the respondents who enrolled in the College of Theology in SY 2005-2006 were middle child in terms of birth-order position with economic status as way below poverty line. Further, the respondents’ self-concept remained the same regardless of their conversion experience (number of years having been baptized), length of church membership, family income, family status, parents guidance and supervision, and significant others. Neither the level of their self-concept has been affected by the said independent variables except ordinal position in the family. This study concludes that the respondents had very good level of self-concept because of increased personal spirituality. One’s spirituality may directly influence (predict) self-concept, whereas, certain parental influences may only indirectly affect self-concept. Overall, the findings of this study is not complete, hence academic performance of the same respondents will be explored in the next two years in the light of their level of self-concept. Abstract only