Feet-on-the-Ground Theology

This fascinating account of theologian Clodovis Boff's five-month missionary journey among the people of western Brazil offers a unique and inspiring view of a people in the process of liberation. Boff records the day-to-day details of his travels and encounters among the rubber gatherers of the remote jungle regions, with the members of basic Christian communities in small towns, and with the priests and lay leaders engaged in pastoral work among the poor. He shares the life, work, struggles, and concerns of these people engaged in their various tasks. From these observations and reflections one can see everyday experience and theological insight arising one from the other. Feet-on-the-Ground Theology reveals the basic dimensions of grassroots liberation theology, providing a portrait of the church of the poor.It seems to me that this book introduces something new in theological literature. It is a new way to do theology and to pose the problems encountered in daily life, problems that do not always have an easy answer. It also reflects a new way of living Christian life, viewing everything in the light of the divine word that illuminates and guides. It is contemplation of the mysteries of faith in day-to-day life.--From the Foreword by Cardinal Aloisio Lorscheider, Archbishop of Fortaleza, Ceara, BrazilClodovis Boff's theological journal on pastoral ministry is an original, insightful, and frequently inspiring example of a praxis approach to theology--so often discussed but less frequently seen. The book is sometimes poignant in the remarkable details it provides about the reality of Brazil's poor and powerless. the almost novelesque qualities of Boff's genre make the book even entertaining. Boff shows how the theologian's craft can be applied with ease and connaturality to the harsh and dramatic realities of a vibrant Third World church.--Allan Figueroa Deck, SJ, Lecturer in Hispanic Pastoral Ministry, The Jesuit School of Theology at BerkeleyFather Boff's book is a 'jewel,' as we say here in the Northeast.--Dom Antonio Batista Fragoso, Bishop of Crateus, BrazilClodovis Boff, born in Concordia, Brazil, is a Servite priest and a professor of theology at the Catholic University of Sao Paulo. He also works with the poor in basic Christian communities and assists in pastoral work in favelas. Among his books are Theology and Praxis and (with Leonardo Boff) Introducing Liberation Theology.