Christian theological praxis is a term used by most
liberation theologians to express how the
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
of
Jesus Christ
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
is to be lived in the world.
Description
Christian praxis is something that goes beyond practices, actions, or behaviors. Praxis is described as a combination of reflection and action that realizes the
historicity
Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity deno ...
of human persons. In this sense actions are realized in light of the way they affect history. History has to be seen as a whole, combining in an incarnational way, our
salvation
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
history and our "human" history.
Expression
Most liberation theologians see Christian theological praxis mainly as lived and expressed in the life of community. "Any discourse of faith starts from, and takes its bearings from, the Christian life of Community".
[ Gustavo Gutierrez, ''We drink from our own wells'' (Maryknoll/Melbourne: Orbis Books/ Dove Communications, 1984), 37-8.] This is where a community is said to become an expression of the presence of the Kingdom of God, so long as it is being true to its calling to Christian praxis. This has been the vision shared by the
basic ecclesial communities
An ecclesial base community is a relatively autonomous Christianity, Christian religious group that operates according to a particular model of community, worship, and Bible study (Christianity), Bible study. The 1968 Medellín, Colombia, meeting o ...
,
[Marcelo Azevedo, "Basic Ecclesial Communities," ''Mysterium Liberationis'' (1993): 650.] which follow a pattern of Christian praxis based on what
Gustavo Gutierrez said: "To be followers of Jesus requires that
ewalk with and be committed to the poor; when
edo,
eexperience an encounter with the Lord who is simultaneously revealed and hidden in the faces of the poor".
[
]
See also
*Catechesis
Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...
*Character education
Character education is an umbrella term loosely used to describe the teaching of children and adults in a manner that will help them develop variously as moral, civic, good, mannered, behaved, non-bullying, healthy, critical, successful, traditiona ...
* Liberation theology
*Orthopraxy
In the study of religion, orthopraxy is correct conduct, both ethical and liturgical, as opposed to faith or grace. Orthopraxy is in contrast with orthodoxy, which emphasizes correct belief. The word is a neoclassical compound— () meaning ...
*Religious education
In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to t ...
Notes
Catholic theology and doctrine
Liberation theology
Marxism
Religion and politics
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