Jose Miguez Bonino and his ethics of political power reconsidered: (It's presuppositions, gaps, challenges and possibilities for enrichment)

• Main Author: Ellema, Gil Atiga
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2009
• Subjects: Míguez Bonino, José; Power (Social sciences); Religion and ethics; Theological ethics; > Moral theology; Religion; Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_doctoral/258; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_doctoral/article/1257/viewcontent/CDTG004606_P.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

The relentless issues of justice and liberation in the question of power, our continued concern for solidarity with the poor, and the hope for better and just society are the three grounds why this researcher chooses to study theological ethics of power. And in this matter, Jose Mi­guez Boninos liberationist perspective most powerfully speaks to. In general, his theological ethics treated political power in the dialectics between the historical liberating praxis and Gods Kingdom and justiceas its two locations. More specifically, he subjects the whole question of power to both social analysis and historical mediation, on the one hand, and to biblical and theological analysis of power as Gods power, on the other hand, and juxtaposes the two in a dialectical manner. This study, thus, seeks to answer the question: What is the shape of an ethics of political power in Mi­guez Boninos political ethics? In obtaining the answer, this study discusses and explains the ethical and theological presuppositions and themes in his political ethics through which the ethics of political power and its essential elements are viewed. This study also presents the gaps, challenges and possibilities for the deepening and enrichment of Mi­guez Boninos ethics of political power especially in his later writings. This study employs the hermeneutical method since this study deals with the text of written and published materials for interpretation and analysis. Accordingly, the tasks of the method will be done: (a) introduce the author (Mi­guez Bonino) in relation to his work and social location (b) analyze the socio-historical context of the documents (c) draw out the intention of the author or of the documents (d) draw out the framework and perspective of the main subject in the documents and (e) identify the variables, categories, and related themes of the main subject. In a nutshell, Miguez Boninos theological ethics of power proposes a notion of power as a liberating and transformative action (historical, humanistic), concretized in the historical participation of men and women under the eschatological promise or expectation (realisticutopian), and in obedience to God and his Word (biblical). This notion of power characterizes the true mark of a liberationist ethics of power that can adapt to the currents of theologizing in todays time and in the future. Despite its gaps, it is one important example of a theological production that sets the agenda for future studies and the continuing enrichment of the subject on power.