[THO] Study Group

Spent the afternoon in a study group for my Grace course. We were talking through how Gutierrez understands the work of grace in Liberation Spirituality. We had to bring in Ken Himes, Dorr and Voegelin to understand how We Drink from our own Wells tackles the the critique of the CDF on Liberation Theology. Namely the accusation that Liberation Theology legitimizes revolutionary violence and associates Christianity with political movements. Himes was a discussion of Just War theory and helped us understand why revolutionary action is so bad in theory. But unfortunately we are living in the shadow of two world wars and the suffering faced by Latin Americans is precisely the product of the colonial governments that should be the praxis of God's activity in the political arena. Dorr begins the political conversation around the preferential option for the poor which is used to say that God is actually on the side of the oppressed poor in this. So should it surprise us that when the poor rise up and engage the political powers they also have an encounter with God? Well, if we really think about how this happens in Gutierrez's book we should be a bit surprised. But stepping back I keep thinking this is exactly what love does and if hope is not hope for this world then how can we say that our hope is in the Living God who was willing to step into this world and who promises that we will never be without His presence. Run on sentence maybe, but this is a big concept and the cornerstone for Liberation Spirituality.

Now to sit down for three hours and spill out everything we reviewed today. I'm going to read through my notes one last time, but I think I have my head around it well enough to do the exam.

But first I need to complete my Ecology take-home. I have one b-day party and a trip to lease a new car, but other than that this weekend is all about the exams.

BTW, we are pretty much sold on leasing a Saturn VUE hybrid. We are pretty stoked.