The Ground Beneath the Cross: The Theology of Ignacio Ellacurķa (Moral Traditions) - Softcover

Burke, Kevin F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1589010213 ISBN 13: 9781589010215

Publisher: Georgetown University Press, 2004

Synopsis

This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the thought of Ignacio Ellacurķa, the Jesuit philosopher-theologian martyred for his work on behalf of Latin America's oppressed peoples.

While serving as president of the Jesuit-run University of Central America in the midst of El Salvador's brutal civil war, Ellacurķa was also a prolific writer. His advocacy on behalf of the country's persecuted majority provoked the enmity of the Salvadoran political establishment. On November 16, 1989, members of the Salvadoran military entered the university's campus and murdered Ellacurķa, along with five other Jesuit priests and two women.

Kevin F. Burke, SJ, shows why Ellacurķa is significant not only as a martyr but also as a theologian. Ellacurķa effectively integrated philosophy, history, anthropology, and sociopolitical analysis into his theological reflections on salvation, spirituality, and the church to create an original contribution to liberation theology.

Ellacurķa's writings directly address one of the most vexing issues in theology today: can theologians account for the demands arising from both the particularity of their various social-historical situations and also the universal claims of Christian revelation? Burke explains how Ellacurķa bases theology in a philosophy of historical reality―the "ground beneath the cross"―and interprets the suffering of "the crucified peoples" in the light of Jesus' crucifixion. Ellacurķa thus inserts the theological realities of salvation and transcendence squarely within the course of human events, and he connects these to the Christian mandate to "take the crucified peoples down from their crosses."
Placing Ellacurķa's thought in the context of historical trends within the Roman Catholic Church, particularly Vatican II and the rise of liberation theology in Latin America, Burke argues that Ellacurķa makes a distinctive contribution to contemporary Catholic theology.

About this title

About the Author

Kevin F. Burke, SJ, is acting president and associate professor of systematic theology at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

Edition details

• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1589010213
• ISBN 13: 9781589010215
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 264