Book Review of Ecclesiogenesis by Leonardo Boff, Orbis Books, 1986.
Leonardo Boff, a Franciscan priest, utilizes his background to illustrate basic church communities in his book Ecclesiogenesis. Having studied in Brazil and Germany, Boff uses the start of basic church communities in Brazil as a case study to begin his exploration of these communities. The thesis of this book is that basic church communities represent, in part, the “true, universal church” and can revolutionize the church by turning the focus from structure to community. Ecclesiogenesis is defined as “birthing the church” or “starting the church again (2).” Boff first defends the argument that basic church communities constitute church and quotes José Marins to further establish his case: “For us, the basic church community is the church itself, the universal sacrament of salvation, as it continues the mission of Christ-Prophet, Priest, and Pastor. This is what makes it a community of faith, worship, and love. Its mission is explicitly expressed on all levels-the universal, the diocesan, and the local, or basic (12).”
Boff makes the case that basic church communities help shift the hierarchical structure of the church from “steeple down” to “foundation up” by giving laity a greater level of involvement in the church (25) In describing the Fourth Inter-Church Meeting of the Basic Communities of Brazil, Boff sums up this type of community as follows: “No one wished to be anyone’s teacher. All sought to be disciples of all (36).” Boff also looks back to the historical Jesus and questions whether his intent was to found a church. He concludes that Jesus “preached the kingdom of God, not the church (56)” but also that through Christ’s life and death the church was born.
The author highlights another positive aspect of basic church communities, which is the inclusion of women in leadership roles. He describes the radically counter-cultural stance of Jesus during his lifetime by putting women on equal footing with men.
At first glance, it was challenging for me to see an immediate connection of this book with my own case study. I am attempting to establish community within my own neighborhood, but not a church community. However, I think there are broader themes that Boff introduces that I could apply to my situation. For example, basic church communities seem to transform traditional ways of doing and being and thinking within the church. In order to be effective in my neighborhood, I have to look past what I’ve seen done in the past and get creative. This fall I had the opportunity to visit a weekly karaoke night held for the homeless hosted by a church in Skid Row. I was blown away by the idea that karaoke could be a form of ministry, but it absolutely was. The couple leading it expressed their desire for everyone to have a “good time in the Lord,” invited everyone to church, and provided them with a hot meal. Ecclesiogenesis served as a reminder to me that there are more ways to minister and serve and use the gifts God has given us than the opportunities traditionally presented in the church. This was further crystallized for me by the reminder in the final section of the important contributions women have to make in ministry.
posted by First Pres. Youth Group at 12:36 PM
3 Comments:
Ecclesiogenesis is defined as “birthing the church” or “starting the church again (2).” There is no doubt but that this was the true aim of liberation theology, not the class struggle per se as interpreted by the Marxist-Leninist priests in Latin America, an interpretation that was rejected by many others who promoted base communities and liberation theology. The emphasis on taking the perspective of the poor and the natural world (ecology) was indeed extremely important for the transformation that has taken place in Latin America's economy and the political change to democracy (thanks be to god communism did not prevail as the Marxist Leninist faction wished). However, the transformation of Latin America's culture to that of a consumer society in general reflects the failure to promote liberation theology's real telos. Secondly, and underlying this first failure is the failure to transform the Church itself as a top down affair. Boff's humiliation at the hands of Rome is a part of this story, as well as the ruthless "extermination" of Latin America's bishops and priests who had given the church its new direction from the fifties, thru the sixties and seventies. What we have today is a rigidly hierarchical church and priesthood even more divorced from people and more manipulative in its imitation of america’s protestant emotional liturgies than that of a colonial servitude to european interests and the later feudal servitude to landed capital that endured until the arrival of the "progressive" church. In the fifties a new leadership sought to promote Rerum Novarum, and the forgotten texts of a theology of social justice first articulated in the late 19th. century, culminating in Populorum Progressio, Medellin, and then dropping out again with Pueblo's reinterpretation from "on high". We still need a local church, rooted in strong communities that re-enact the christian culture of their concrete existence in a living liturgy, while operating in communion with the universal church but not totally dominated by it. This, the true goal of liberation theology vis a vis culture, this telos needs to be revitalized if the church is to remain christ's priesthood engaged with the future of humanity. A church ruled from on high, with on catechism, one liturgy universalized in Stalinistic fashion, will strangle the living culture that prevailed throughout history, but which began to be overly centralized in the battle with Protestantism. I saw the historically developed religiosity of Brazilian Churches throw out in order to introduce the sterile liturgy of a rationalized religion promoted after Vatican 11, a sterility that some try to replace with a protestant style emotionalism...me. me, me, I have jesus in my heart. what was really needed was to build on that very living traditional culture in Brazilian hearts, but give it new form. We threw out the baby, and then failed to realize the cultural goal of liberation theology.
7:35 AM
Ecclesiogenesis is defined as “birthing the church” or “starting the church again (2).” There is no doubt but that this was the true aim of liberation theology, not the class struggle per se as interpreted by the Marxist-Leninist priests in Latin America, an interpretation that was rejected by many others who promoted base communities and liberation theology. The emphasis on taking the perspective of the poor and the natural world (ecology) was indeed extremely important for the transformation that has taken place in Latin America's economy and the political change to democracy (thanks be to god communism did not prevail as the Marxist Leninist faction wished). However, the transformation of Latin America's culture to that of a consumer society in general reflects the failure to promote liberation theology's real telos. Secondly, and underlying this first failure is the failure to transform the Church itself as a top down affair. Boff's humiliation at the hands of Rome is a part of this story, as well as the ruthless "extermination" of Latin America's bishops and priests who had given the church its new direction from the fifties, thru the sixties and seventies. What we have today is a rigidly hierarchical church and priesthood even more divorced from people and more manipulative in its imitation of america’s protestant emotional liturgies than that of a colonial servitude to european interests and the later feudal servitude to landed capital that endured until the arrival of the "progressive" church. In the fifties a new leadership sought to promote Rerum Novarum, and the forgotten texts of a theology of social justice first articulated in the late 19th. century, culminating in Populorum Progressio, Medellin, and then dropping out again with Pueblo's reinterpretation from "on high". We still need a local church, rooted in strong communities that re-enact the christian culture of their concrete existence in a living liturgy, while operating in communion with the universal church but not totally dominated by it. This, the true goal of liberation theology vis a vis culture, this telos needs to be revitalized if the church is to remain christ's priesthood engaged with the future of humanity. A church ruled from on high, with on catechism, one liturgy universalized in Stalinistic fashion, will strangle the living culture that prevailed throughout history, but which began to be overly centralized in the battle with Protestantism. I saw the historically developed religiosity of Brazilian Churches throw out in order to introduce the sterile liturgy of a rationalized religion promoted after Vatican 11, a sterility that some try to replace with a protestant style emotionalism...me. me, me, I have jesus in my heart. what was really needed was to build on that very living traditional culture in Brazilian hearts, but give it new form. We threw out the baby, and then failed to realize the cultural goal of liberation theology.
7:36 AM
Ecclesiogenesis is defined as “birthing the church” or “starting the church again (2).” There is no doubt but that this was the true aim of liberation theology, not the class struggle per se as interpreted by the Marxist-Leninist priests in Latin America, an interpretation that was rejected by many others who promoted base communities and liberation theology. The emphasis on taking the perspective of the poor and the natural world (ecology) was indeed extremely important for the transformation that has taken place in Latin America's economy and the political change to democracy (thanks be to god communism did not prevail as the Marxist Leninist faction wished). However, the transformation of Latin America's culture to that of a consumer society in general reflects the failure to promote liberation theology's real telos. Secondly, and underlying this first failure is the failure to transform the Church itself as a top down affair. Boff's humiliation at the hands of Rome is a part of this story, as well as the ruthless "extermination" of Latin America's bishops and priests who had given the church its new direction from the fifties, thru the sixties and seventies. What we have today is a rigidly hierarchical church and priesthood even more divorced from people and more manipulative in its imitation of america’s protestant emotional liturgies than that of a colonial servitude to european interests and the later feudal servitude to landed capital that endured until the arrival of the "progressive" church. In the fifties a new leadership sought to promote Rerum Novarum, and the forgotten texts of a theology of social justice first articulated in the late 19th. century, culminating in Populorum Progressio, Medellin, and then dropping out again with Pueblo's reinterpretation from "on high". We still need a local church, rooted in strong communities that re-enact the christian culture of their concrete existence in a living liturgy, while operating in communion with the universal church but not totally dominated by it. This, the true goal of liberation theology vis a vis culture, this telos needs to be revitalized if the church is to remain christ's priesthood engaged with the future of humanity. A church ruled from on high, with on catechism, one liturgy universalized in Stalinistic fashion, will strangle the living culture that prevailed throughout history, but which began to be overly centralized in the battle with Protestantism. I saw the historically developed religiosity of Brazilian Churches throw out in order to introduce the sterile liturgy of a rationalized religion promoted after Vatican 11, a sterility that some try to replace with a protestant style emotionalism...me. me, me, I have jesus in my heart. what was really needed was to build on that very living traditional culture in Brazilian hearts, but give it new form. We threw out the baby, and then failed to realize the cultural goal of liberation theology.
7:36 AM
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