Revelation in the Vernacular

Overview

 “A fascinating read! Moving back and forth across the Atlantic, this book charts traces of divine mystery revealed in cultural expressions. A surprising 16th-century encounter between an indigenous Caribbean people and the Spaniards colonizing them? Yes. A dramatic 21st-century encounter between indigenous Amazonian people, a supportive pope, and their critics? Indeed. Using original sources, this study lays a trail of clues to the possibility that the self-disclosure of God might be greater than one has imagined or understood.”—Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, Distinguished Professor Emerita, Fordham University

“A thorough and engaging study, which traces the Church's long-standing notions of ‘seeds of the Word’ across the spectrum of religious experiences, especially in Latin America. Beginning with an astounding set of inscriptions by Spanish explorers in a cave on Puerto Rico's Isla de Mona and continuing through 16^th-, 20^th-, and 21^st-century studies by Church teachers, leaders, and Councils, Ruiz demonstrates a nuanced understanding and affirmation of divine revelation across cultures and centuries.”—Efrain Agosto, PhD, Croghan Bicentennial Visiting Professor of Biblical and Early Christian Studies, Williams College

This remapping of a theology of revelation done latinamente begins with early encounters of Spanish colonizers with Indigenous peoples, retrieves a hermeneutics of the vernacular rooted en lo cotidiano (everyday life)—a retrieval with significant possibilities for contemporary believers in a religiously diverse world—, and looks finally at the documents of the Amazonian Synod to revisit the question of revelation in the context of interreligious understanding. 

Jean-Pierre Ruiz is associate professor of biblical studies at St. John’s University in New York, where he is also a senior research fellow at the Vincentian Center for Church and Society. A past-president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the U.S., he has served as editor of the Journal of Hispanic/Latino Theology and associate editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion. His books include Readings from the Edges: The Bible and People on the Move.

Related Materials