Theology Today - Vol 50, No.1 - April 1993 - BOOK REVIEW

The God of Life
By Gustavo Gutierrez
Translated from the Spanish by Matthew J. O'Connell,
Maryknoll, Orbis Books, 1991. 214 pp. $13.95.

Gustavo Gutierrez is the best known and most widely read Latin American liberation theologian. He prefers to be known, however, as a Peruvian Catholic priest committed to the poor and actively involved in parish work. As such, Gutierrez views himself primarily as a pastor entrusted with the task of teaching and preaching the Word of God; he deliberately attempts to nurture Christian faith and vocation in the midst of oppression and violent death. The God of Life is a clear expression of Gutierrez at work as a pastoral theologian.

The original version of this book is a small volume of Bible studies published in Lima, Peru' in 1982 and dedicated to the memory of El Salvador's Archbishop Romero. It contains talks given by Gutierrez in celebration of the "God of Life" in a social-political context of poverty,

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violence, and death. The book reviewed is a greatly expanded version of the earlier work. Gutierrez believes that the message of life needs to be heard in the 1990s even more than ever before, for the presence and power of death has increased dramatically in Latin America and elsewhere. The basic structure was retained, by focusing on the same key questions: What (Who) is God?, Where is God?, and How do we speak of God? His responses are more comprehensive because the whole range of the biblical material (rather than a small number of biblical passages) is now brought to bear on them. As usual, O'Connell's translation is excellent.

The purpose of these reflections on the God of life is stated in terms of spirituality and biblical hermeneutics: "to help readers to know more fully the God of biblical revelation and, as a result, to proclaim God as the God of life." Further, Gutierrez asserts that theological reflection nourished by the Word of God must increasingly "take the form of a hermeneutic of hope [this book is] meant to help us give the reason for our hope (see IPT 3:15) in the midst of so many problems and hardships, new forms of oppression, and struggles for justice." In the process of meeting that purpose, Gutierrez deliberately tries to make the Scriptures accessible to a wide readership; for that reason he avoids technical language and limits the number of notes and bibliographical references. Extensive Bible passages are accompanied by relatively short commentaries.

As already indicated, the book is structured according to three fundamental questions. Gutierrez demonstrates that those questions derive their traditional formulation from the experience of struggling believers and from reflection on that experience.

In Part One-"God is Love"-Gutie'rrez deals with the question of What (and Who) is God? by declaring that God is "a God (Father and Mother) who is love." In three chapters, he makes the point that the God of life manifests love by forming a family of equals through an act of liberation in which God does, and demands, justice amid the people and enters into an irrevocable covenant with them in history. Liberation, justice, and covenant thus imply one another; each is necessary for the full meaning of the others. These actions reveal a living, holy, faithful God who leads believers to certain kinds of behavior. The fourth chapter focuses on idolatry as the opposite of acknowledging the God of life, which supposes an option in favor of death.

Part Two-"The Kingdom is Among You"-responds in three chapters to the question, Where is God? by affirming "in the kingdom that Jesus proclaims." First, Gutierrez discusses the theme of the God who comes, who is not only present in the cosmos but in history as well, who announces, "I will dwell in the midst of you." The God who comes, secondly, declares that the day of the Lord is at hand, the time is completed, the kingdom of God is already here. It is a message addressed to all: all the nations, all the least (who shall be first), all the poor (who are the special object of God's preferential love). Finally, a

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"kingdom ethics" is presented out of the fact that God's reign is both grace and demand.

Part Three-"Under the Inspiration of the Spirit"-addresses the question, How are we to speak of God? by asserting "according to the prompting of the Spirit." The topic is discussed in two chapters focusing on the cry of the poor, gratuitousness and freedom of God's love, and Mary as a woman believer and daughter of a people. Gutierrez reminds us that speech about God is linked to the presence of the Spirit. And the Spirit is also life, just as Yahweh, the God of love, is life, and Jesus, the God of the kingdom, is life.

This is Gutierrez' most accessible work to date. He convincingly makes the case for a liberationist view of biblical faith that embraces love of God together with love of neighbor.

Daniel S. Schipani
Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries
Elkhart, IN