Revelation in the Vernacular
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Association of Catholic Publishers 2022 Excellence in Publishing Awards: First Place, Theology
Catholic Media Association, Honorable Mention in Theology: Morality, Ethics, Christology, Mariology, and Redemption
Unveiling divine mysteries across continents and centuries.
Revelation in the Vernacular retrieves a hermeneutics of the vernacular that is rooted en lo cotidiano, in everyday life and experience. Traversing time and geography, Ruiz remaps a theology of revelation done latinamente, beginning with sixteenth-century encounters of Spanish colonizers with Indigenous peoples in the Caribbean. Drawing on the theology of the Incarnation articulated by Fray Luis de León (1527–91), he offers rich resources for interreligious engagement by believers in today’s religiously diverse world. Through an analysis of the documents of the 2019 Amazonian Synod, including Querida Amazonia, the Postsynodal Exhortation by Pope Francis, he explores a culture of encounter and dialogue that has been a hallmark of this pontificate. From the inscriptions in the caves of la Isla de Mona through the writings of the Latin American Bishops (CELAM), this book establishes a solid basis on which to discern the “Seeds of the Word” in our times.
A fascinating read! Moving back and forth across the Atlantic, this book charts traces of divine mystery revealed in cultural expressions. A surprising 16th-century encounter between an indigenous Caribbean people and the Spaniards colonizing them? Yes. A dramatic 21st-century encounter between indigenous Amazonian people, a supportive pope, and their critics? Indeed. Using original sources, this study lays a trail of clues to the possibility that the self-disclosure of God might be greater than one has imagined or understood.---Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, Distinguished Professor Emerita, Fordham University
A thorough and engaging study, which traces the Church's long-standing notions of 'seeds of the Word' across the spectrum of religious experiences, especially in Latin America. Beginning with an astounding set of inscriptions by Spanish explorers in a cave on Puerto Rico's Isla de Mona and continuing through 16th-, 20th-, and 21st-century studies by Church teachers, leaders, and councils, Ruiz demonstrates a nuanced understanding and affirmation of divine revelation across cultures and centuries.---Efrain Agosto, Visiting Professor of Latinx Studies and Religion, Williams College
Preface to the Series | ix
Carmen M. Nanko-Fernández, Gary Riebe-Estrella, Miguel H. Díaz
Acknowledgments | xiii
Introduction: Revelation a Long Way from Patmos | xvii
Charting This Book
1. Plura Fecit Deus: Colonial Encuentros on Mona Island | 1
Encuentros in Cave Eighteen | 8
Media and Message | 27
2. Verbum Caro Factum Est: The Vernacular and the Incarnation | 31
Fray Luis and the Americas | 37
What Fray Luis Read about the Americas | 37
What Fray Luis Wrote about the Americas | 48
Convergences: Fray Luis on the Vernacular and the Incarnation | 61
In Defense of the Vernacular | 61
The Impact of the Incarnation | 73
3. From the Amazon to the Tiber: Words Incarnate in the World | 77
Dios Te Perdone | 78
Contrition and Confession | 85
Seeds of the Word in Amazonia | 94
Seeds of the Word: Amazonian Synod 2019 | 100
4. “Seeds of the Word”: A Latin American Cartography | 107
CELAM and the “Seeds of the Word” | 107
Aparecida 2007 | 107
Santo Domingo 1992 | 110
Puebla 1979 | 116
Medellín 1968 | 120
Seeds of the Word: The Second Vatican Council | 126
Justin Martyr and Seeds of the Word | 136
Growing the Seeds: Amplifying Justin | 142
Querida Amazonia: Dreaming in the Vernacular | 146
Conclusion: Revelation, a Return to Amona | 153
Index | 159
