Justice is Essential to Christian Faith
Excerpted Text from JW:
“… Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel … of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation.” (no. 6)
Comments:(1) The passage is the most quoted part of JW that has made this document famous and controversial.
(2) The one word in the passage around which most of the controversy has focused is the word “constitutive.” By saying that action for justice is a constitutive dimension or element (‘ratio constitutiva’) of the preaching of the Gospel the Synod was ensuring that such activity could never be dismissed as being merely incidental to the work of the Church; it would have to be given a central place. (3) Ever since the document was issued, this passage, and this word, have been cited on innumerable occasions to show that the church officially rejects the view that action to bring about a more just society takes second place to more ‘spiritual or religious’ matters. (O’Brien and Shannon, op. cit. 385 – their introduction to the Synod document) (4) The statement has become a kind of manifesto for those who are working for political liberation against oppressive regimes or structures and who want to invoke the Church’s support for such activity. (5) The statement has come under attack from those Church leaders and theologians who see the evangelizing mission of the Church as primarily spiritual. (Option For the Poor by Donal Dorr, p. 188) Applicable Cases or Situations Situations pertaining to Justice as essential to Christian Faith and to new concept of sin ... more |
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