Retribution and liberating praxis

Abstract

Analyzing phenomenologically the humans acts, Antonio González, Spanish philosopher and theologian, shows that besides the act itself a result is expected. On religious field the result of the actus religiosus is retribution, i.e., whoever acts well may expect a positive retribution for his acts, on the other hand whoever acts badly may expect a negative retribution. It means that “wickedness” of this life becomes religiously justifiable because whoever “behaves” badly lives “badly”; thus, sacrifice and priesthood, institutions present in various religious traditions, are not only comprehensible, but necessary: the offering of the sacrifice by a member of the priestly caste evil can be appeased. However, in a salvific perspective the retributive logic is totally perverse because it closes off possibilities of salvation to those who, according to the eyes of this world, appear as dammed: the poor, wronged, distressed, persecuted, insulted, slandered one (Mt 5:1-12), the victims of this world. In his liberating praxis Jesus of Nazareth follows the opposite direction: salvation is offered precisely to the victims. Even more, in his praxis the Nazarene reveals that they are victims for the perversity of retributive logic itself. This brief study pretends to review the liberating praxis of Jesus of Nazareth which is today prolonged by women and men who oppose retributive logic and dedicate themselves to the victims of this world. Besides the research of Antonio González, some books and articles of Jon Sobrino, Gustavo Baena e Alberto Parra will be revisited.

KEYWORD: Victims. Non-Violence. Gratuitousness. Mercy.