Futuring Our Past: Explorations In The Theology of Tradition. Edited by Orlando O. Espín and Gary Macy. Mary Knoll, New York, USA, Orbis Books 2006. Pp. xii + 308. $28.00.
Futuring Our Past is the second book from the Center for the Study of Latino/a Catholicism at the University of San Diego. The book and larger series reflect theologically upon the distinctiveness of Latino/a Catholicism from an interdisciplinary approach. The Catholic understanding of Tradition is not just about the preservation of ancient practices or customs; it is the process by which the faith is handed on (“traditioned”) from one generation to another. The two central questions guiding this book’s 12 articles were: 1) How is the Christian tradition “traditioned” among Latinos/as? and 2) What impact (if any) does this “traditioning” have on tradition itself?
The editors made no attempt to force agreement among the papers, and they prepared the volume not for Latinos/as, but for a general audience. This diversity of perspectives and generalized audience lends authenticity to each piece, but one encounters no consistent themes throughout the book, which thus can feel like a collection of disparate ideas without cohesion. Espín himself explores the essence of traditioning, which forms the basis for the book’s argument, asserting that all Christian churches throughout history have depended upon tradition transmission in order to survive and propagate. Bernard Cooke provides a foundational understanding of tradition as normativity, and thereafter clarifies the kinds of authority that function in the process of traditioning; these include historical events, rituals, influential and charismatic leaders, and the papacy. Francisco Lozado probably contributes the most controversial chapter, where he challenges readings of the biblical tradition (defined as both the content of the texts and their historical
understandings) based on what may be called social location hermeneutics. Lozado posits that a social location hermeneutic does not challenge the authority of the biblical tradition, but fortifies and buttresses it. Such readings, he believes, also contribute to the perspective among minorities that they are indeed outside the mainstream. Instead of the social location hermeneutic, Lozado offers a reading strategy that begins by thinking and developing alternative stances toward the biblical tradition that seek to de-center and de-authorize that tradition itself.
In an intriguing contribution, Jean-Pierre Ruiz dialogs with the play by Nilo Cruz, entitled Anna in the Tropics, in order to move toward a rethinking of the complex relationship between scripture and tradition, which allows him to ‘read between the lines’ of scripture and tradition. He asserts that the play Anna in the Tropics opens door for a postcolonial re-configuration of scripture and tradition. The play’s setting in the early twentieth century allows for the exercise of a hermeneutics of retrieval with respect to the Spanish colonial legacy. In another chapter, Gary Riebe-Estrella asserts that the process of traditioning is constitutive of tradition itself in that there is a mutual interaction between what is handed on and the process of handing it on (note that tradition is not a hardened object, such as a metal, but is something conditioned by the handling itself instead). In so arguing, Riebe-Estrella employs the metaphor of conversation for tradition, dialoging with B. Lonergan and E. Whitehead along the way. Miguel H. Díaz attempts to take a Trinitarian approach to the community building process of traditioning within his contribution to this volume. Díaz approaches his task from four directions, including how the New Testament sees tradition, postbiblical developments regarding Trinitarian theology, which leads Díaz to highlight the principle of oneness in diversity. Díaz concludes his essay with some reflections of the contemporary relevance of embracing a Trinitarian approach to tradition. This book is recommended for scholars of religion and Hispanic theology, and interested graduate level students.
Bradford McCall
Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA