Christian theological praxis is a term used by most
liberation theologians to express how the
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
of
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
is to be lived in the world.
Description
Christian praxis is something that goes beyond practices, actions, or behaviors. Praxis is described as a combination of reflection and action that realizes the
historicity
Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity denot ...
of human persons. In this sense actions are realized in light of the way they affect history. History has to be seen as a whole, combining in an incarnational way, our
salvation
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...
history and our "human" history.
Expression
Most liberation theologians see Christian theological praxis mainly as lived and expressed in the life of community. "Any discourse of faith starts from, and takes its bearings from, the Christian life of Community".
[ Gustavo Gutierrez, We drink from our own wells (Maryknoll/ Melbourne: Orbis Books/ Dove Communications, 1984), 37-8.] This is where a community is said to become an expression of the presence of the Kingdom of God, so long as it is being true to its calling to Christian praxis. This has been the vision shared by the
basic ecclesial communities
A base community is a relatively autonomous Christian religious group that operates according to a particular model of community, worship, and Bible study. The 1968 Medellín, Colombia, meeting of Latin American Council of Bishops played a maj ...
,
[ Marcelo Azevedo, "Basic Ecclesial Communities, "Mysterium Liberationis (1993): 650.] which follow a pattern of Christian praxis based on what
Gustavo Gutierrez said: "To be followers of Jesus requires that
ewalk with and be committed to the poor; when
edo,
eexperience an encounter with the Lord who is simultaneously revealed and hidden in the faces of the poor".
[
]
See also
* Catechesis
*Character education
Character education is an umbrella term loosely used to describe the teaching of children and adults in a manner that will help them develop variously as moral, civic, good, mannered, behaved, non-bullying, healthy, critical, successful, traditiona ...
*Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". I ...
*Orthopraxy
In the study of religion, orthopraxy is correct conduct, both ethical and liturgical, as opposed to faith or grace. Orthopraxy is in contrast with orthodoxy, which emphasizes correct belief. The word is a neoclassical compound— () meaning 'r ...
* Religious education
Notes
Catholic theology and doctrine
Liberation theology
Marxism
Religion and politics
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