Ateneo De Manila University
Loyola School of Theology
A SYNTHESIS PAPER
Fr. Momose Fumiaki, SJ
A Liberating Creed
--Reading the Creed anew with the liberating vision--
By
CHAN Yiu Sing, Luke (Lúcás)
February 26, 2005
I. Introduction
What do we Catholics believe? No doubt the easiest and most accurate answer would be our Creed: “I believe in God…” However, what does this mean in our world, especially in Asia, today?
Dogmatic theology, precisely, seeks to ascertain and understand this faith of the Catholic Church. Theology is a faith that seeks understanding, St. Anselm said. However, Henri de Lubac reminds us that a theology that “confines [itself] to the extremities of knowledge…thinking that by cutting itself off from all human roots, it is making dogma all the more divine,” [1] is a ‘shabby theology’. Human experience is a necessary source of our theological enterprise.
Therefore, in this synthesis paper, our starting point is the concrete human experience from which there flows a relevant theme that can be understood by the non-Christian majority of people in Asia. That experience is human suffering and from that experience I offer a liberating lens so as to read the Creed in a contemporary theological way that is relevant to our contemporary Asians.
A. Our starting point—Human Suffering, various but concrete
In 1992, I saw a young girl and a dog searching for ‘valuables’ in the garbage dump of Tondo, the famous Smokey Mountain in the Philippines, on a rainy day.
In 1997, I witnessed the sorrow of an Irish family in Belfast, Ireland, whose son was shot down by the paramilitaries, because of their fight for self-determination and an end to colonization.
In 1999, I worked with a group of islanders in a remote island in the Pacific Ocean that is simply known as ‘within the US missile testing range’. They were completely abandoned by the outside world and their environment and natural resources exploited by the Army.
In 2001, I lived with a group of young Cambodian landmine victims. They have been suffering from various degrees of physical disabilities since childhood. And they faced great discrimination in the labor market.
In 2004, my home city has been shocked by the dramatic increase in the number of suicides, divorces and family tragedies due to unbearable psychological and mental turmoil caused by the recent economic crisis and the subsequent increase of the unemployment rate.
As we enter into the third millennium with new hope, we also realize that the majority of people in our world are still experiencing different kinds of suffering: poverty, exploitation and struggling for freedom, etc. Edward Schillebeeckx says that “there is an excess of suffering and evil in our history…there is a barbarous excess.”[2] In this context, the interest often focuses on the question of theodicy—i.e., how to reconcile belief in a merciful, providential God with suffering.[3] And it is this question that either leads people to search for God or to reject God. The recent massive damage and loss of innocent lives caused by the tsunami, for instance, has given stimulus to people’s question about: how an omnipotent, good God could allow such disasters to happen?
Many religions interpret and respond to this inevitable experience differently. However, Schillebeeckx remarks that all religions share the same deep concern to overcome suffering and to find ways of eliminating suffering.[4] For instance, during the FABC’s Seventh Plenary Assembly, Cardinal Shan observed that the Church’s mission of love and service to life is actualized when it is “put into action in concrete forms of service in alleviating suffering and inhuman poverty...”[5]
Since Vatican II, the Catholic reading of this common desire is best expressed in contemporary theology as ‘liberation’. It refers not only to a personal yearning but very often has also a socio-political dimension. Such a ‘liberation’ theology makes its own the point of view of those who strive for liberation, especially those who are oppressed or suffering.[6]
This longing for liberation, however, is particularly strong in Asia. There are two viewpoints to describe this ‘Asian sense’:[7] 1) the Third World point of view (which focuses on the socio-economic and political aspect of the longing) and 2) the specifically Asian point of view (which highlights the religious/spiritual aspect).
From the Third World point of view, many Asian countries have been victims of unjust colonization and foreign exploitation in the past. Even now many Asians, such as the handicapped in Cambodia or the ‘residents’ of Tondo, are still experiencing ‘life-denying elements’ like severe poverty, child labor, exploitation and violence against women.[8] Liberation could, in the first place, be understood by them as removal of poverty and regaining of dignity, self-determination and national autonomy.
From the Asian point of view, we can focus on Buddhism, a major religion in Asia. Although Buddhism is not as old as Hinduism, it is “pan-Asian in cultural integration, numerical strength, geographical extension and political maturity.”[9] Therefore, the influence of Buddhism, especially its soteriology, among Asians is widespread and significant. Buddhism’s soteriology points to a liberation praxis that is meta-cosmic—that “pertains to all that is ordained toward the interior liberation of the person,”[10] especially from the present suffering in this cosmic level.
Therefore, the notion of liberation is not alien to the majority of non-Christian Asians. It is rooted both in their Third World and Asian experiences. FABC, for example, thus stresses that the ‘dialogue of life’[11] as a unique form for inter-faith dialogue for the Church in Asia.
B. Reading the Creed anew with the Liberating Vision
In contemporary Catholic theology, the term ‘liberation’ means to release from bondage; and it is related to human experiences of suffering, oppression, freedom and autonomy.[12] Leonardo Boff describes liberation as a two-step process:[13] 1) the overcoming of suffering which emphasizes the aspect of liberation from the past—which is equivalent to ‘deliverance’; and 2) the achievement of freedom as the aspect of liberation for betterment.
With regards to this two-step liberation we may ask, in the light of Christian experience, from what are we liberated and for what purpose? These two basic questions point to our theological reflection on the presence of evil/sin in our world, and on the fulfillment of the human vocation. The ultimate goal of the whole process of liberation is the kingdom of God (communal and cosmic level) and in union with Him (personal level). This reflection will be taken up later. Now I would like to move on to read and interpret the Creed anew in the light of the liberating vision. It is because the Creed, being the hinge “that upon which everything in the Christian Faith turns” (CFC229), is a good basis for the synthesis.
II. Our Creed
A. I believe in God
While it is true that our religious response concerns liberation from suffering and the effects of sin, yet not all religious beliefs offer satisfying solutions. Some deny the existence of deity and perceive the liberation task as a personal struggle; others interpret human fate as entirely in the hands of deity and hence whatsoever catastrophe is the will of God. The Christian understanding of God, however, offers a fuller and more complete view of God and suffering and liberation. The Christian God is one, true, loving God who “comes to meet man,”[14] and “[provides] the definitive…answer to the questions…about the meaning and purpose of [human] life” (CCC68) and offers man a sharing of his divine life.
The understanding of revelation in the view of ‘preferential option for the poor’ is insightful: “[God reveals himself] in history on the margins of society. It is in the memory of those on the margins where the texts of the Scripture originate.”[15] God reveals to us not just his nature but more importantly, his will to liberate us. This revelation is not because of our effort in the first place, but purely due to his gratuitous self-revealing act via the Scriptures and the liberating events of salvation history.
Moreover, God grants us the grace of Faith that liberates our hearts so that we may freely respond to his revelation—a “liberation to obedient answer to the call of the Lord, to hupakoe, to that willing listening…and to the grateful acceptance of God’s self-communication.”[16] Our act of believing is itself a fruit of liberation.
B. The Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth
“I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery for them” (Ex 6:6)
“God freely creates out of sheer love to share his own divine life and goodness.” (CFC358) Yet humankind’s abuse of freedom leads to the emergence of evil and sin and the subsequent suffering. Throughout the history of Israel, the Exodus experience was seen as the highpoint of God’s liberating action from suffering. Yahweh was portrayed as ‘the God who delivers’. Even the commandments he gave them were to liberate them; and this made God’s covenant with them a liberating one (CFC426).
Such liberation by Yahweh, however, is not limited to the Exodus event or to Israel alone. God’s liberating act extends to all peoples (Amos 9:7). He is “characteristically a God who enacts exoduses and who does so…wherever people are in oppressive situations and are helpless to extricate themselves.”[17]
On the other hand, Yahweh’s liberation is a creative act. He liberates them for a new heart and new spirit (Ez 36:24-27). By creating the whole universe anew there will not be any cry of distress (Is 65:17). Liberation as a creative act thus includes a cosmic level and reaches its fullness only when the day of God comes—the appearance of new heavens and a new earth (2Pt 3:13). And creation itself can be understood as the first act of God’s liberation: from chaos to order.
C. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord…
“For freedom Christ has set us free” (Gal 5:1)
‘Jesus as a liberator’ is one of the contemporary Christological themes rooted in the NT. Indeed, Jesus’ ministry, words and life as a whole reflect his uniquely liberating character.
In the first place, by his ministry Jesus freed people from physical suffering: he healed the sick (Lk 4:38-39). Secondly, he liberated people socially, for instance, he associated himself with the poor/outcast (Mk 9:9-10) and criticized the exercise of power as domination over others (Lk 22:25-28).[18] Thirdly, Jesus’ message and teaching challenged the people to break from enslavement by the Law (Mk 2:27) and bondage to self.[19] Last, but not least, the greatest act of liberation is the forgiveness of sin (Mt 9:2-8).
Jesus liberated the people from every form of bondage including suffering, division, sin and death. Yet, the ultimate goal of Jesus’ liberation is the liberation of humankind for the kingdom of God. He did so by means of revealing words and deeds: his direct proclamation (Mk 1:15); the use of parables (Mk 4:30-32); his unique use of ‘Abba’ (Mk 14:36) and those emphatic ‘I’ sayings (Mt 5:21); those miracles/signs (Mk 6:35-44) and table fellowship. All these are revelatory signs of the proleptic presence of the reign of God for which man is liberated.
But above all it is the Paschal Mystery that is the perfection of his liberating action—his death and resurrection “illuminate and consummate his ministry of liberation.”[20] His death is a redemptive suffering. Dietrich Bonhoeffer expresses this in poetic terms: “Only a God who suffers can save us.”[21] Jesus’ death means God suffers with us in Christ in his human nature for our salvation’s sake. It shows God’s solidarity with those who have suffered and calls us to discipleship in our suffering. Such redemptive suffering, as Schillebeeckx points out, has a liberating significance: this is the “suffering which persons assume in their responsible concern to overcome others’ greater suffering.”[22]
His resurrection, on the other hand, confirms everything he said and did regarding his liberating mission, and is the first fruit of all (1Cor 15:20). And by giving out his Spirit to us, the Risen Lord becomes the principle and source of our liberation.
All in all, through his Incarnation and Paschal Mystery, Jesus becomes an efficacious sign of God’s liberation breaking into this world (Lk 4:16-21).
D. I believe in the Holy Spirit
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free” (Rm 8:2)
The role appropriated to the Spirit in liberation can be understood in various ways: It continues Jesus’ liberating action by making it constantly present in the Church (Acts 3:1-10). The Spirit is the principle that liberates us from the oppression of our own sinful situation—the flesh (Gal 5:17-21)—that turns us in on ourselves instead of towards others and God. [23] It is also at work when the oppressed become conscious of their oppression. Thus, the Spirit plays a significant role in the process of changes and is an energizing force to bring about liberation. [24]
Yet the liberating role of the Spirit is best understood by Paul’s teaching on the grace of justification. We are justified by God’s grace (Rm 3:24). Such grace is the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. And this grace as such is a liberating grace because of the consequences of justification: liberation from sin, death and the law (Rm 5-7); sanctification to new life in which man is incorporated into Christ; and adoption as children of God (Rm 8). Therefore, the Church teaches that justification is “not only the remission of sins but the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.” (ND1932) It is the fruit of liberation.
Furthermore, such liberating grace has a cosmic dimension as well: “the creation itself will be set free from its bondage…and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Rm 8:21-23) Therefore, by dwelling in us and in the world, the Holy Spirit continues God’s liberating act that reaches personal, communal and cosmic levels, and guides us to perfection.
E. A Summary—The Triune God
Of course, it would be mistaken to interpret the liberating actions of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as independent activity or as if there were three liberators. Liberation is a Trinitarian act. In the liberation of the Israelites during the OT period, it was not the Father alone but the Trinity—in Wisdom and through the Word—who delivered them.[25] Again, in the liberating act of Jesus, especially in the Paschal Mystery, both the Father and the Spirit were present in the world (Lk 23:34&46, Jn 20:22). When the Spirit continues the liberating act of Jesus, it is still the same Triune God who liberates in the world: “God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba!’ Father!” (Gal 4:6) Therefore, each moment of God’s liberation in us is always the liberating act of the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.