The Liberation Theology Podcast

John Dominic Crossan and Michael Okinczyc-Cruz join the show to discuss their recently published book "Jesus and Justice: Organizing for God's Reign on Earth Then and Now." Who is Jesus? What characterizes Jesus' way of community organizing? What can one learn about Jesus and the Reign of God movement by looking at Jesus' historical context?

The Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership
https://www.csplaction.org/

"Jesus and Justice"
https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Justice-Organizing-Reign-Earth/dp/B0GG5M7XQK

Music
"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Br. Ken Homan, SJ, joins David to discuss their recently published article, "Community Organizing and the Call of the King."

Article:

https://www.pdcnet.org/jcathsoc/content/jcathsoc_2024_0021_0002_0307_0324

Spiritual Exercise:

https://www.academia.edu/126445163/The_Call_of_the_King_Exercise_from_Community_Organizing_and_the_Call_of_the_King_

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Faiz Abimanyu Wiguna recounts the life of the philosopher, activist, and mystic Simone Weil. He presents his thesis, which offers a liberationist perspective on the rosary through Simone Weil's practice of attention.

What led Faiz Abimanyu Wiguna to liberationist Catholicism? Faiz tells his story as well as that of politics and religion in Indonesia.

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

On this bonus episode, the Liberation Theology Podcast partners with the Word in Black and Red Podcast. It's a co-released introduction to liberation theology. We discuss the meaning of liberation theology, its varieties, its methods, some key concepts, and several misconceptions.

The Word in Black and Red:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-word-in-black-and-red/id1682991552

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

To what extent and how was Jesus' message political? David discusses Juan Hernández Pico's response to this question. Then, David interviews the education professor James D. Kirylo, who has written a recent book, The Catholic Teacher, with significant influences from liberation theology and critical pedagogy.

Resources:

No sea así entre ustedes by Juan Hernández Pico
https://archive.org/details/noseaasientreust0000hern

The Catholic Teacher by James D. Kirylo
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/catholic-teacher-9781350246188/

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Liberation theology constitutes not only a rupture from Church tradition but also a creative development of this tradition. David investigates the ways that Latin American liberation theologians draw support from, and sometimes critique, the Church Fathers.

Resources:

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

La foi en Jésus-Christ by Jon Sobrino
https://www.editionsducerf.fr/librairie/livre/3297/la-foi-en-jesus-christ

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Pedro Trigo, SJ, helps us answer three key questions about creation and the material world. How to believe in a God of life in a situation marked by death? How to live with God when it is demanded of us to bear the mark of the beast? What is the relationship between humanity and nature?

Resources:

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Ecumenical theologian and author Stephen D. Morrison joins David to discuss common objections to liberation theology and to present a patristic, anti-capitalist Christianity. Isn’t Christianity about a change of heart and a personal relationship with God? Why turn religion into economics and politics? It’s true that early Christians abolished private property and shared their possessions, but this model did not last long because it was unrealistic. Human beings are fallen and selfish. Capitalism is the best economic model given the reality of original sin. Why repeat a failed, impossible experiment by advocating for common property today? Didn’t key figures in the early Church have a wide array of views on economics? Is there enough consensus among them to claim that their witness gives relatively clear guidelines on religion and economics? Marx was an atheist and a materialist. These starting points are not compatible with a Christian approach. Further, Marxism is responsible for the deaths of millions of people in the 20th Century. Why take Marx seriously given that his first principles are flawed and his views yielded mass murder? What is your “elevator pitch” for Christian socialism? How has liberation theology shaped your life and thought as a Christian socialist?

Resource:

All Riches Come From Injustice
https://www.sdmorrison.org/books/

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Laurel Marshall Potter and David Inczauskis present, critique, and share personal intercultural experiences related to the content of Paulo Suess' Mysterium Liberationis chapter on inculturation. How have the Catholic sacraments been abused in the process of Latin America's colonization? To what extent can we arrive at an understanding of Jesus' culture and relate it to today's cultural milieu? How have Latin American countries constructed national cultural identity, and who is marginalized in this construction? What's the connection between local culture and international struggle?