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Since the 1973 publication of Gustavo Gutiérrez’s groundbreaking work A Theology of Liberation, liberation theology's central premise of the preferential option for the poor has become one of the most important yet controversial theological themes of the twentieth century. As the situation for many of the world’s poor worsens, it becomes ever more important to ensure that the option for the poor remains not only a vibrant theological concept but also a practical framework for living out the gift and challenge of Christian faith. The Preferential Option for the Poor beyond Theology draws on a diverse group of contributors to explore how disciplines as varied as law, economics, politics, the environment, science, liberal arts, film, and education can help us understand putting a commitment to the option for the poor into practice.
The central focus of the book revolves around the question: How can one live a Christian life in a world of destitution? The contributors address the theological concept of the option for the poor as well as the ways it can shape our social, economic, political, educational, and environmental approaches to poverty. Their creative examples serve as an inspiration to all those who are seeking to put their talents at the service of human need and the building of a more just and humane world.
“One of Gutiérrez’s key insights into missionary engagement was what is referred to as ‘a preferential option for the poor.’ . . . The importance of this publication is that while making an option for the poor can involve living in solidarity with the oppressed, the various authors demonstrate that it means above all using the skills and qualifications that one had gained in order to be in solidarity with those who are oppressed in their struggles for justice and dignity.” —Mission Studies
Daniel G. Groody is associate professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. He is the editor with Gustavo Gutiérrez of The Preferential Option for the Poor beyond Theology (2013) and, with Gioacchino Campese, A Promised Land, A Perilous Journey: Theological Perspectives on Migration (2008), both published by the University of Notre Dame Press.
Introduction by Gustavo Gutiérrez and Daniel G. Groody
1. On Professors and Poor People: A Jurisprudential Memoir by Robert E. Rodes, Jr.
2. The Option for the Poor and Business Ethics by Georges Enderle
3. The Multidimensionality of Poverty by Javier María Iguíñiz Echeverría
4. Are the Poor Happier? Perspectives from Business Management by Matt Bloom
5. The Option for the Poor and the Indigenous Peoples of Chile by Patricio A. Aylwin and José O. Aylwin
6. Option for the Poor and Option for the Earth: Toward a Sustainable Solidarity by Stephen Bede Scharper
7. Liberation Science and the Option for the Poor: Protecting Victims of Environmental Injustice by Kristin Shrader-Frechette
8. Teaching and Transformation: Liberal Arts for the Homeless by F. Clark Power and Stephen M. Fallon
9. A Hollywood Option for the Poor by Gerard Thomas Straub
10. The Option for the Poor and Community-Based Education by Mary Beckman
11. Health, Healing, and Social Justice: Insights from Liberation Theology by Paul Farmer
12. Closing Argument by Pat Maloney, Sr.
Afterword: The Most Important Certainty by Mary J. Miller
Contributors
Index