An Interdisciplinary Theological Method from the Knowledge of the Forgotten

Abstract

This essay articulates an interdisciplinary theological method from an historical reality as a theological locus for doing theology in dialogue with marginalized voices. Viewed from a liberating perspective, it advances previous articulations of the theological method developed in Latin America to include new theological methods from specific contexts marked by oppression and marginalization. The author argues that contemplation and dialogue are key foundations for the development of theology in any context. He offers a methodological account of doing theology that is grounded in the historical experience of marginalized communities of faith and advanced through contemplation and dialogue. In doing so, he demonstrates how contemplation and dialogue sustain a methodological framework for doing theology that emerges from hermeneutical mediations (interlocutors in dialogue) through which the transcendent is manifested in the immanent and the ethical implications for a community of faith are made evident.