Faith on the Edge

FAITH ON THE EDGE. By Leonard Boff, Harper and Row, $19.95.

Leonard Boff, the theologian, was silenced for a year by the pope because of his leadership in Liberation Theology and his belief in the reality of an ongoing class struggle which Rome says doesn't exist. Now, he is continuing to propagate his "heretical" views, insisting that the true Christian must not only admit to the existence of a world-wide class struggle which is particularly evident in Latin America, but must enter into this struggle on the side of those who are being oppressed by the ruling classes. In complete disagreement with those who say that the church is essentially religious and should not interfere in politics, he says that religion is only truly authentic when it exercises its dedication to social justice and expresses a kind of love characterized by solidarity with the oppressed. Too long, he says, has the church had a covenant with the dominant classes. What is needed, he says, is "a redefinition of the church's mission and its place among the subjugated." He is telling those who accuse him of heresy that there is something far worse than heresy and this is orthodoxy and blind traditionalism. I highly recommend this book to those who are wondering about what possible relevance the cnurch can have in our day and time.

RAYMOND K. DeHAINAUT

Copyright The Human Quest Mar/Apr 1998
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