Johan Baptist Metz’s Theology and the Theology of Liberation Jon Sobrino Dear Baptist, a hearty and brotherly embrace, now, as you celebrate a long and full life, ninety years in the service of theology and above all of humanity, of those who have suffered--and who still suffer today. In the following reflections you will see how your way of thinking and being has been a help to me. It is my wish that you continue to lead the way with that strength which God has given you. May God keep you in joy and vitality. For that we from El Salvador recommend to you Monsignor Romero. Here now are my reflections: I would like to begin with a word of thanks to my friend Baptist for his many years of doing theology with intelligence and compassion. His theology pushes us towards truthfulness in the face of reality; it pushes us to give those who suffer life and to continue keeping them alive. He puts into words what our journey to God has to be, a journey to the God of Jesus who calls us to discipleship—and whom we do not know at all without discipleship. Tenacious, action-oriented, and without falling into routine, his theology insists upon never ceasing to be humane and Christian. This is what Metz has given to many of us, especially those of us in the Third World. And he has also received inspiration and ideas from the world of our poor and suffering. For me, I notice an important convergence in method and content between his theology and that which we in Latin America have sought to develop. I would like to illustrate this with a central point. The Primacy of Reality in Doing Theology From the time of my first Metz lecture I remember especially an article from the year 1965: “Unbelief as a theological Problem.” The sociological analysis of the situation of belief as one of the “signs of the times” had impressed me. But the way in which Metz introduced the reality of belief and unbelief especially impressed me. He described the situation as: “a general and lasting danger to belief which is not a later and external result of some historical accident, but which come from, and belongs to, its very nature.”1 This was meant to honestly introduce the reality of belief. It might be surprising that I begin with this memory in order to analyze the convergence between Metz and us, between Political Theology and the Theology of Liberation. I remember it because I recognize in retrospect that this article on unbelief helped me to see the absolute seriousness and uncompromising nature of 1 Johann Baptist Metz, “Unbelief as a Theological Problem,” in Johann Baptist Metz, ed., The Church
and the Modern World (Fundamental Theology), Concilium vol. 6 (New York: Paulist Press, 1965), 5977, 62.