A God of Incredible Surprises: Jesus of Galilee (Celebrating Faith: Explorations in Latino Spirituality and Theology) [Hardcover]

Virgilio Elizondo (Author)

Book Description

Series: Celebrating Faith: Explorations in Latino Spirituality and Theology | Publication Date: November 10, 2003

Why was Jesus, Son of God, from an obscure village in Galilee? What does it mean to our spirituality that he chose not to seek favor from the powerful, but identified with the marginalized, the powerless and those in need of healing? In this remarkable rereading of the life of Jesus, theologian Virgilio Elizondo, cited by TIME Magazine as one of the spiritual innovators of our time, focuses on the humanity of Jesus and the healing his life offers to ourselves and our world today. Readers of this book will see Jesus in a new and powerful way. This is a thought-changing and life-changing book.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What would happen if Jesus came to San Antonio? Would Jesus feel at home in this Texas city? In a series of reflections about Jesus' humanity, Elizondo concludes that Jesus' Galilee was indeed much like modern-day San Antonio. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, like the Jews of Jesus' time, are marginalized by the dominant powers. San Antonio, like Galilee, is a melting pot where people from all nations and ethnic groups come to live. Like many of these dispossessed people, Jesus grew up in an environment where he would have assimilated many of the traits of these peoples. He would have empathized with the marginalized and would have appeared to them as their hope in the midst of a broken world. According to Elizondo, this Jesus of Galilee brings the same measure of hope to the dispossessed of San Antonio as he brought to the marginalized of Galilee. Although the religious authorities in Galilee also rejected Jesus, he sought to reconcile all peoples, uniting them in love. Elizondo passionately proclaims the human Jesus as the living "Mestizo Messiah" who offers hope and liberation to the oppressed. Although Elizondo writes with the ardor and enthusiasm of an evangelist, his reflections on Jesus offer little that is truly new or compelling, and the book's main point that Jesus would have identified with the marginalized Mexicans and Mexican-Americans of modern-day San Antonio is repeated again and again.
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From Booklist

Catholic theologian Elizondo eloquently explains why he believes it is no accident that Jesus was conceived of an unmarried woman, born in the rough-and-tumble multinational community of Galilee, had no scholarly credentials, and dined regularly with society's riffraff yet managed to change the world. God could easily have arranged for the Savior to be high born. Jesus followed the chosen course, however, as a reality check for a culture that judged people inferior because of their ethnicity, circumstances of birth, social stature, and education. Jesus' message, retold here in a series of events and activities, was one of forgiveness and joyful fellowship with anyone and everyone. Elizondo speaks directly to the Latino American community by paralleling Jesus' social status with that of many Latinos and persons of mixed ethnicity. The parallel offers all disenfranchised populations, however, opportunity to gain new self-respect by identifying with Jesus and taking pride in themselves and their heritage instead of drawing their values from America's dominant culture. Elizondo honors Jesus' message with his gentle, encouraging voice. Donna Chavez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 160th edition (November 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742533883
• ISBN-13: 978-0742533882
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #984,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good theology starts from life experiences, January 2, 2004

By 

Jacques Haers (Leuven, Belgium) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A God of Incredible Surprises: Jesus of Galilee (Celebrating Faith: Explorations in Latino Spirituality and Theology) (Hardcover)

Virgilio Elizondo is well known for his commitment as a pastoral theologian promoting mestizo theology. This book presents a christology that takes its bearings to a large extent from his encounters with fellow Mexican American men and women and from his parish ministry in San Antonio, Texas. It also shows a broad scientific erudition and it clearly relies on intense conversations with colleagues and friends. Basically, this christology constitutes an exploration of New Testament passages from the perspective of the following question : « How does Jesus of Galilee become the Christ to persons who feel doomed to exclusion and marginalization because of their mixed-race or mixed-ethnic origins ? » (5) This is, of course, also an approach that will provide the reader with a glance at the faith intimacy of V. Elizondo himself. The answer to the question is that of a friend, with whom one shares the reading of scripture texts to discover that surprising other friend, Jesus of Galilee.

From a christological point of view this book is important as it exemplifies how marginalized men and women read the narratives of Jesus so that these become for them truly healing and empowering encounters with Christ. From the perspective of theological method V. Elizondo introduces a promising approach that connects well with the growing importance of contextual theologies. The creative and stimulating interaction between life and text that we find here, offers surprising insights both in the experience of marginalization and in the meaning of the scriptural texts. The reader discovers supposedly well-known New Testament passages with a fresh eye and in the process comes closer to the mystery itself of God's presence in Jesus of Galilee, who was himself a marginalized person with the capacity to feast and celebrate life, who valued friendship and community, whose loving commitment to others turns the suffering on the cross into strength and joy for those friends who suffer marginalization, feelings of insecurity and exclusion.

When the healing power and joy of Jesus of Galilee are so strongly transmitted to mestizo men and women, to the extent that they experience that he is the Christ of God, then light is also shed on who Jesus himself was and how God worked and continues to work in him for us. Indeed, friends know friends. Not surprisingly, V. Elizondo suggest a mestizo christology : Jesus of Galilee is so understandable to mestizo men and women because he himself experienced mestizo reality as his own. If we were to look for Jesus today, it would not be a bad idea to follow the star - the New Testament passages as interpreted by V. Elizondo - to San Antonio, Texas. This is a truly stimulating and consoling book, in which theology and biblical interpretation become a gift of life.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joyful surprises..., February 5, 2004

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A God of Incredible Surprises: Jesus of Galilee (Celebrating Faith: Explorations in Latino Spirituality and Theology) (Hardcover)

Virgilio Elizondo is one of the foremost theologians in America, particularly when it comes to looking at issues from the Hispanic/Latino perspective. Currently on the faculty at Notre Dame, he has spent time in practical ministry as well as teaching and administrative positions throughout his interesting career.

This book is not so much a theology or history text (Elizondo has written in these areas) but rather a spirituality book, drawing on his own experiences as well as those of his community and his scholarly background. It is truly interesting to see how the influence of his Latino background impacts his spirituality in a North American context. The interplay of ideas and cultures (sometimes clashing, sometimes complementary) makes for new insights.

Elizondo draws his section headings from almost entirely from gospel lines. For example, in highlighting Matthew 11:28 (`Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest') he mentions his Latino university students who find in the church not just a place to worship, but rather as a `hang-out', a place to meet new friends, and a welcoming space for those without much money, as many of his students were, and weren't questioned as to why they were there - in many ways, this reflects the crowds who followed Jesus around. In highlighting another passage, John 1:46 (`Can anything good come from Nazareth?'), Elizondo likens this to the problem of coming from the wrong side of the tracks, the wrong side of town, or the wrong class. Yet in this way (also drawing on John 7:41, that the messiah would not come from Galilee) Jesus can bring about change without being co-opted by the system, or by expectations.

Through insights such as this, virtually every page is a new way of thinking and reflecting. Elizondo is sensitive to issues of culture, race, class, and religion, and shows how these are more embedded in our thoughts than we might think. Elizondo's liberation theology framework is evident in that he looks at Jesus as the champion for the underclass and the oppressed, as a person at the margins for those on the margins of society. Elizondo challenges ideas that mainline denominations often hold of Jesus as a figure of comfort and complacency.

This book would make a wonderful Lenten study for individuals or groups. It also would make a good book for looking at Christology in a non-traditional way.