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Document Details : Title: Waarom de armen? Subtitle: De ‘voorkeursoptie voor de armen’ in het licht van de Bergrede Author(s): CASPERS, Thijs , CHATELION COUNET, Patrick Journal: Tijdschrift voor Theologie Volume: 53 Issue: 4 Date: 2013 Pages: 337-354 DOI: 10.2143/TVT.53.4.3203331 Abstract : This article proposes the Sermon on the Mount as the Biblical-theological argument for the ‘preferential option for the poor’. This ‘preferential option’ is the most controversial theological formula (theologoumenon) in catholic social teaching. First, the authors of this article describe the development of the ‘preferential option for the poor’ within the context of catholic social teaching. This shows that the willingness to consider a ‘preferential option for the poor’ was the result of developments around the time of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The concept as such was introduced by Latin- American liberation theology, however. More specifically, by Gustavo Gutiérrez, in an article he published in 1973. Next, the authors explore the essence of this theologoumenon. They show that Jesus Christ pre-eminently manifests himself in the solidarity with the vulnerable and the destitute. Taking the concept of kenosis as their guiding principle, the authors identify the poor as the place where the ‘good news’ is given a voice and where it starts. This is followed by an exegetical reading of the theologoumenon in the light of the Sermon on the Mount, in particular of Matthew 5,3: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’. The Sermon on the Mount is interpreted as a meta-ethics. This meta-ethics is not a codex or a blueprint of ossified law, it requires a ‘listening’ response, to which harmony and personal responsibility are central. Subsequently, the theologoumenon is explored by means of concepts like peace, justice, truth and mercy. These concepts form a horizon within which ethical conduct acquires its practical form. The appeal to ethical conduct does not focus on humanity, on individuality or its supposed autonomy, but on God and ‘the Kingdom of God’; at best, man is invited to partake in God’s ultimately decisive salvific activity. The authors believe that the first beatitude, ‘Blessed are those who beg for breath’ (an alternative translation that shows we are dealing with the worst form of poverty), is the ink in which the meta-ethics of the Sermon on the Mount is written, and as such it is the guiding principle for personal responsibility. God will take care of the lowest, unconditionally. Imitating God’s preferential option for the poor means that the church of Christ is the Church of the poor. |
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