Wittenberg Meets the World by Alberto L. Garcia and John A. Nunes (review)

By the time the general readership of Lutheran Quarterly reads this review in 2018 it will have been saturated with a panoply of books, articles, dramas, recitals, concerts and films analyzing every aspect of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and specifically Martin Luther—what he said and did, what we think he meant by what he said and did, and what we wish he would have said and done. As we drink in this wealth of information and analysis we should not be surprised that a great part of this activity emanated from Western ecclesial and cultural centers. Lutheran, Protestant, and Roman Catholic judicatories hosted ecumenical encounters, prayer services, and concerts. What has been missing in so much activity surging out of Western centers of academia, culture, and power is how the world that does not identify with Luther, Reformation culture, and Western assumptions of power might view this momentous event. In other words: What can the Reformation and its revolutionary themes possibly mean for the weak, vulnerable, oppressed peoples on the margins?

In this book the authors challenge their readers to rethink what they might have thought was "all said and done" in the traditional Reformation formulas and vocabularies. From beginning to end (even the cover creatively juxtaposes a recognizable Luther with an unknown person of color) this book invites the reader to imagine and expand treasured cornerstones of Reformation thinking. Illustrative of the depth of their thought and application of faith to life is their treatment of the Reformation's central concept of justification. The authors put this theme front and center, occupying at least a third of the work, essentially allowing other key words to relate to this foundational concept.

In eight essays the authors successfully draw the reader into their shoes in looking at Luther as a Cuban-American (Garcia) and a Caribbean Jamaican (Nunes). Particularly important is their method of doing teologia en conjunto (the collaborative doing of theology) so practiced in postcolonial theologies today and in sharp contrast to lone wolf dilettante theologians so revered in many traditions. This is shown in the structure of the work: basically, four themes in eight chapters in which each author addresses the same theme. Chapters one and two draw us into their dialog affirming the centrality of justification. Both Garcia and Nunes invite a broader look and revisiting of the biblical concept of justicia. On the one hand they are insistent on reassuring the beleaguered conscience of the imputed justice of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. At the same time, however, they invite the individual to see sin in systems and structures and consequently the implications for pardon and renovation of societies as a part of God's redemptive activities. Chapters three and four challenge the reader to introspective repentance and active ministries of sacrificial love. Traditional definitions of witness are stretched to engage aspects of sacrifice (witness as martyria). Both authors use their essays in chapters five and six to explore dynamics of service in diaconia. Crucial to both authors is their call for Christians to see service as identification with the weak and vulnerable rather than well-intentioned ministry for and to the needy (Garcia). At the same time Nunes invites Christians into collaborative efforts in ministry to the whole person. Chapters seven and eight draw the reader into a consideration of Christian fellowship and communion. Both authors invite the reader to reconsider and reimagine fellowship beyond racial, national, denominational, and institutional structures and to revel in the possibilities of true community centered in the Christ celebrated in Word and sacrament.

The work contains an extensive bibliography which encompasses the works of Latino, African-American, and other majority world theologians of the last thirty to forty years. A study guide for each chapter should be useful for adult group discussions. One would hope that this work would be high on the "must read" list of Reformation at 500 Year celebrations. Even more so, however, is a second...