SUFFERING AS MYSTERIUM INIQUITATIS AND MYSTERIUM SALUTIS JON SOBRINO AND JEAN-MARC ÉLA ON SUFFERING AND LIBERATION By PAULUS BAMBANG IRAWAN*
Abstract: Jon Sobrino and Jean-Marc Éla provide unique contributions for theological ethics in reflecting suffering as mystery of evil (mysterium iniquitatis) and suffering as the driving force for liberation (mysterium salutis). As a proponent of liberation theology, Sobrino focuses on structural problem of evil. In this regard, Éla gives his unique voice by analyzing suffering from its socio-cultural perspectives. Putting Sobrino and Éla in dialog shows the need for interdisciplinary approach in doing theological ethics. This interdisciplinary reflection on suffering on the one hand will bring a more holistic view on the complexity of the problem of suffering. On the other hand, it brings a more contextual understanding on the meaning of discipleship in a violent world.
Keywords: Saffering, evil, liberation, resocialization, structural & sociocultural approach, discipleship.
PROLOGUE In his interpretation to Paul Klee’s Angelus Novus, Walter Benjamin wrote: “A Klee painting named Angelus Novus shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe