The influence of the liberationist perspective in the evolutionary christology of Juan Luis Segundo
Abstract
Juan Luis Segundo develops an evolutionary christology which is influenced by his liberationist perspective. He makes a valid and distinctive theological contribution by explicitly incorporating the concern for the well-being of the poor which is overlooked by First World theologians. Thus, the author argues that compared to statements in evolutionary christology made by Teilhard de Chardin, Karl Rahner, Denis Edwards, and Arthur Peacocke, Segundo's christological reinterpretation is more adequate for the mission of the contemporary Church because it explicitly incorporates the concern for the well-being of the poor as an essential theme and gives it global scope and urgency. This dissertation demonstrates, analyzes, and evaluates how Segundo raises this liberationist concern to the global and planetary dimension. He derives concepts from evolutionary science and social science, and builds an evolutionary framework of thought in which he reinterprets the significance of the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith. Using the primary heuristic principle of formal analogy, he extensively demonstrates how the historical Jesus, in his life and ministry, worked with the mechanisms operative in the evolutionary progress toward greater order, complexity, and integration. Segundo focuses not on the person of Jesus, but on the proclamation of the Kingdom. He asserts that the concern for the well-being of the poor is constitutive of the Kingdom and reflective of the will of the God of Jesus. In the light of evolutionary concepts, it appears to be negentropic and essential to global progress. The resurrection, which includes not only the person of Jesus but the historical project of the Kingdom, affirms the absolute value of working for the well-being of the poor. Thus, this dissertation maintains that the liberationist concern to integrate the poor in more human and just social and global interconnectedness needs to be explicitly addressed by evolutionary christologies done in any social context. Such an effort is vital for the mission of the contemporary Church to proclaim the good news.
Subject Area
Theology
Recommended Citation
Lambino, Miguel Bengson, "The influence of the liberationist perspective in the evolutionary christology of Juan Luis Segundo" (2001). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9999827.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9999827
