Oppositional Communities as Locations of Grace: Karl Rahner and Postcolonial Theories in Dialogue

• Main Author: Liberatore, Michael J.
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: Karl Rahner; grace; postcolonial theology; oppositional communities; resisting oppression
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/budhi/vol16/iss2/4; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/budhi/article/1024/viewcontent/Budhi_2016.2_204_20Article_20__20LIBERATORE.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Discussions amongst theologians about the relationship between faith and culture often operate from an impoverished and presumptive understanding of culture rooted in European modernity, and complicit in the history of colonization and exploitation that emanates from it. Postcolonial theorists interrogate the meaning of culture and its varied manifestations and reveal how power has been used to frame and define cultures with an aim towards coercive manipulation. These critiques create space for oppositional communities to coalesce and resist identity co-optation and oppression. However, the tendency amongst postcolonial theorists toward deconstruction without positing a reconstructed alternative rooted in subjectivity, creates a challenge for theologians who wish to articulate the positive value of a revelatory creator. Karl rahner’s account of grace and freedom provides a potential dialogue partner to respond to this challenge. rahner’s account of grace can be critically melded with postcolonial theory to create space for reconstructing his tendency towards essentialism, while developing oppositional communities that serve as incarnated challenges to oppression and violence in our contemporary church and world.