Miguel A. de la Torre QUOTES

1 " I fully understand the trepidation of placing God on trial. I would rather follow the lead of others and say at the conclusion of time, it will all be explained and make sense. I too feel a pull toward fixing my gaze at a happy ending, joyfully proclaiming ‘it is well with my soul.’ Oh, how much more comforting it would be to proclaim, 'God is good – always!’ With all my heart, soul, mind, and being, I wish to become intoxicated with the simplicity of an unquestionable and uncomplicated faith. But to do so would be an insult to the God in whom I claim to believe.

To challenge God, to yell out in protest, to place God on trial is not the ultimate act of arrogance; rather, it is to take God seriously by crucifying our Christian-based idols for an honest appraisal of the metaphysical – whatever that might or might not be.

And maybe this is the ultimate beauty of faith – to doubt, to wrestle, to curse, to question, to disbelieve, to oppose, to joder, and to hold accountable God in defense of God’s creation. God is placed on trial, not rejected. "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , Embracing Hopelessness

2 " God's self-revelation to humanity does not occur from the centers of world power but in the margins of society. "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , Reading the Bible from the Margins

3 " More than likely these sermons never touched on economic justice; rather, emphasis was placed on learning how to live a more joyous life in Christ or walk closer with Jesus or even how to faithfully tithe. When we think that the main message of the biblical prophets usually revolved around the theme of economic justice, or that Jesus spoke more about money than any other topic, we are left dumbfounded as to why churches within prosperous nations like the United States, who claim to be Bible-believing disciples of Jesus, seldom broach one of the main themes (if not the main theme) of the biblical text. "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , The Politics of Jesús: A Hispanic Political Theology (Religion in the Modern World)

4 " Could it be that the Jesus who supports “the American way” is in reality an anti-Christ? "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , The Politics of Jesús: A Hispanic Political Theology (Religion in the Modern World)

5 " Global inequality is at its highest levels in twenty years. While it is true that in recent decades the world has made dramatic progress in cutting global deaths of children and improving their opportunities, nonetheless, in 32 developed countries, the rich increased their share of national income since the 1990s while in a fifth of the countries, the incomes of the poorest fell over the same period (Espey et al. 2012:vi–x). This has led Save the Children’s chief executive, Justin Forsyth, to conclude: “Unless inequality is addressed . . . any future development framework will simply not succeed in maintaining or accelerating progress. What’s more, it will hold individual countries—and the world—back from experiencing real growth and prosperity. "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , The Politics of Jesús: A Hispanic Political Theology (Religion in the Modern World)

6 " How those in power define Satan is unsatisfactory for the dispossessed. The error made by most liberals is quickly to dismiss the spiritual, the metaphysical, if not the transcendent, as the results of hyper-emotionalism. Conservatives, on the other hand, usually dismiss everything and everyone with whom they disagree as being in league with, or at least influenced by, the Devil. What we need as we conclude our historical quest for Satan is a fresh start at understanding the metaphysical underpinnings of our struggle to comprehend and conceive of evil. To that end, we conclude by asking what a liberative ethical understanding of Satan might look like. "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , The Quest for the Historical Satan

7 " Since September 11, 2001, we have constructed and identified a new satanic enemy, radical Islam. Rather than concentrate on those who perpetuated the horrors of 9/11, a broad brush was employed to demonize all who stood in the way of Empire. Not surprisingly, former president George W. Bush gave us, during his 2002 State of the Union address, the term "axis of evil," which included the countries of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. It would take only a few months before the list was expanded. Warning that the U.S. stood ready to take action, then Under Secretary of State and future U.S. representative to the United Nations, John Bolton, added three more countries to the "axis of evil" list in his May 2002 speech, "Beyond the Axis of Evil." The countries added were Cuba, Libya, and Syria.

Yet enemies of Empire and God need not be the only ones defined as evil. Anyone who questions U.S. exceptionalism or supremacy finds themselves labeled as Satan's mouthpiece. Academics, liberals, and politicians (including presidents) have all been portrayed in demonic terms for going against the prevailing mindset that equates America with that "shining city upon the hill." Unfortunately, such characterizations only stifle constructive discourse. [...] [W]e are left wondering whether humanity would have been better served if there had been no such figure as Satan, the personification of absolute Evil. How many so-called witches might not have been burned? How many holy crusades to rid the world of evil would have been averted? What if, instead, Satan was to be understood differently? What if Satan, or absolute Evil, played a different role in determining moral agency? "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , The Quest for the Historical Satan

8 " Blaming Satan can absolve oppressors quicker than God's grace. I really am not that bad - so the logic goes - it is Satan, since the Garden of Eden, who has been leading humanity astray. I am really a good person, but I do wrestle with my secret demons. When I participate in the pain of others (not just physical but also caused by society and economics) of others, it is the devil that made me do it. Thankfully, Jesus took our place on the cross so that we do not need to pay the price for our sins. The devil made me do it, and Jesus cleaned up my mess. As a new creature in Christ "I" can move on without really addressing the consequences of or restitution for those sins the devil made me do. Hence, Nazi concentration guards can torture all week long and still attended worship ship services on Sunday mornings. Politicians can lead armies to war under false pretenses without addressing the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, who are killed or maimed because, after all, our intentions were pure - it was the enemy who was really evil. Repentance from Wall Street greed that tanked the U.S. economy and swindled thousands out of their life savings in 2008 can occur without having to deal with issues of public accountability and restitution to individual investors. "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , The Quest for the Historical Satan

9 " How did our ancestors go from singing hymns of praise to the Prince of Peace to being the masters of the Inquisition? How did we descend from the lofty and liberating message of the gospel to the damning doctrines and exclusivity of so many writers and leaders among the Early Church Fathers? As authors and scholars with faith commitments to Christianity, we are deeply concerned that our quest for Satan's historical origins has led us to Christian priests, ministers, and bishops; to Christian politicians, rulers, and kings; and to persons who generally identified as Christians. Why? What does this mean? "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , The Quest for the Historical Satan

10 " American religion scholar George “Tink” Tinker, wrestling with the role Jesus played in the lives of his people, concludes that liberation for indigenous folk begins with a clear understanding that Jesus, in whose name well-intending missionaries justified cultural and physical genocide, is not the answer. Salvation for those crushed under Christendom "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , The Politics of Jesús: A Hispanic Political Theology (Religion in the Modern World)

11 " In the desperation of the oncoming abyss, one may desire hope for its avoidance of reality; but hopelessness embraces the reality, recognizing that commitment to liberative principles is what defines our very humanity. "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , Embracing Hopelessness

12 " What is required for the salvation of the center and for the creation of a just society is the radical commitment to be in solidarity with those who exist on the margins of society and to accompany them in their daily struggle. "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , Reading the Bible from the Margins

13 " We can only imagine the repercussions if, today, someone took one of their children and attempted to offer him or her as a sacrifice to please God, professing that God had told them to do it. No doubt such a person would be arrested and placed under psychiatric care, as they should be. But the Abraham story has become so familiar that we fail to read its disturbing dark side. "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , The Quest for the Historical Satan

14 " Satan's metaphysical existence can never be separated from the politics of domination, specifically colonialism. It provides vides the dominant culture with the ability to depict those whom they conquer, oppress, and repress as the Other. "

― Miguel A. de la Torre , The Quest for the Historical Satan