DFG project: Incarnation of God in the Age of Globalisation

Outline of the Problem

Christological concepts articulate predominately those aspects of divine incarnation and salvation that are historicising and individualising in nature. On the basis of such a focus, these concepts describe central moments of Christian anthropology and soteriology. The relevance of the Christian gospel for socio-economic realities shaping contemporary society – exploitation and oppression in forms particularly prevalent in so-called ‘Third World’ countries – is rarely, if ever, discussed. Individualistically oriented Christian notions of incarnation and God-human salvation can provide a subject-oriented framework for the theological qualification of sin and salvation, but at the same time they disregard structurally and systemically life-denying correlations. The theology of liberation considers this a structural problem: according to this theological paradigm, the classical social doctrine of the Catholic Church has no suitable analytical instrument with which these conditions of exploitation and oppression can be perceived and adequately theologically reflected.

Theology of Liberation and Marx’s Method

In order to be able to develop a corresponding structural format for theology, liberation theology adopts and reconstructs the historical-materialistic method of Marx’s Critique of Political Economy. At the same time, it claims that its theological application of Marx’s economic criticism avoids the ideological consequences of a Marxist/communist philosophy.

Enrique Dussel’s reception of Marx’s theses

Against this background, the Argentinian-Mexican liberation philosopher and theologian Enrique Dussel also attempts to generalise Marxist theory as an ethics of liberation extending beyond Marx’s specific theses. He argues that by applying Marx’s category of “living labour”, he can precisely analyse the reality of the poor and oppressed (Lévinas’ “exteriority”) which, from the point of view of capital, is consistently negated. In his work, the specific theological exteriority of the poor becomes a starting point from which to criticise the destructive mechanisms of a capitalist economic and social order. Beyond Marx, Dussel attempts to methodologically establish the critique of capitalism in a positive formulation of a social order ordained by God. To do this, he makes use of the biblical ‘Kingdom of God’ speech. From this point of view, Dussel seeks to think through and practically promote liberation from oppression and exploitation. For Dussel, the  ‘Kingdom of God’ functions as a normative horizon of the absolute exteriority of God, whose fundamental positivity does more than merely negate untenable conditions. For systematic theology, this productive handling of the biblical promise of the Kingdom of God constitutes a fertile new approach to Christological reflection on incarnation and salvation.

Reception of the socio-scientific Dependency Theory and globalisation critique

In the course of constructing the aforementioned theory which moves beyond Marx’s theses, Dussel also refers to the socio-scientific Dependency Theory (structural, socio-economic dependence of the ‘Third World’ on the ‘First World’ and not simply underdevelopment of the former). This allows him – on the basis of Marx’s criticism – to critique and theologically qualify not only local-national but also global mechanisms of oppression and exploitation as sinful.

Task and goal of the research project

So far, Dussel’s work has mainly been consulted with regard to the philosophical/ethical components of his thinking. The aim of this research project is to make Dussel’s writing on Marx, most of which is only available in Spanish-language publications, accessible in a sophisticated, academically relevant form. Based on this access, the project also aims to systematically and theologically  develop the significance of Dussel’s liberation philosophy. In particular, the value and relevance of Dussel’s concept of “sacramental materialism” is to be presented for the development of a structural format in christology and soteriology. Thus, the aim is to soteriologically cement the often abstract discussion of poverty and oppression in Christian theology and to more concisely reformulate the promise of salvation of faith in the incarnation of God, which primarily promises the salvation of creaturely corporal dignity to the poor.

Concrete procedure

In concrete terms, the following steps are to be undertaken:

1. First, Dussel’s so-called ‘Marx trilogy’ (La Producción Teórica de Marx. Un Comentario a los Grundrisse (1985); Hacia un Marx desconocido. Un Comentario de los Manuscritos del 61–63 (1988); El último Marx (1863–1882) y la liberación latinoamericana. Un comentario a la tercera y a la cuarta redacción de ?El Capital? (1990)) will be made systematically accessible.
2. Subsequently, the findings will be placed in the overall context of his liberation-philosophical and theological thinking, both in terms of content and methodology. In this process, four particular aspects are to be taken into account: (a) Dussel’s methodological transition towards the analectic moment of positive dialectics, (b) the identification of  ‘living labour’ (Marx) with exteriority (Lévinas), (c) a Christian liberation-theological interpretation of historical materialism as sacramental materialism and (d) the biblical-theological discourses on the ‘People of God’, the ‘Kingdom of God’ and ‘Judgment’.
3. Finally, on the basis of these results, a structural format of Christology shall be designed which takes up the mentioned theologumena of ‘People of God’, ‘Kingdom of God’ and ‘Judgment’ and which is capable of fulfilling the systemic relevance of the promise of salvation of the Christian faith.

Conclusion

Only in this structural Christology – complementary to classical soteriology and incarnation Christology – (1) can structures and mechanisms of inhumanity be adequately recognized and theologically qualified as ‘inimical to God’ and only here (2) can the relevance of Christian theology for a (particularly socio-economic) humanisation of world and human be made plausible.