Cristianismo radical (Radical Christianity)

Colloquium on the occasion of the publication of the book by Juan José Tamayo

Theologian and essayist

Participants:

Cristina García Pascual, Head of Initiatives, Narratives Hub, University of Valencia

Synopsis

The “radical Christianity” that theologian Juan José Tamayo expounds in this essay has nothing to do with fundamentalism, and even less with violence. It is a Christianity that returns to the very roots of the Gospel as good news of liberation, to the anthropological foundations of well-being and human flourishing, of living and co-existing, and to its origins as a marginal, counter-hegemonic, egalitarian movement critically opposed to colonial political power and legalistic religious authorities. Through a critical-liberationist hermeneutic, Tamayo seeks to address today’s great challenges: neoliberalism, structural poverty, patriarchy, colonialism, the destruction of nature, fundamentalisms, hate speech and the clash of civilisations.

Juan José Tamayo (b. 1946, Amusco, Palencia)

Dr Tamayo holds a PhD in Philosophy from the Autonomous University of Madrid and a PhD in Theology from the Pontifical University of Salamanca. He serves on the International Committee of the World Forum of Theology and Liberation and has been a visiting professor at numerous universities across Latin America, Europe and the United States. A member of the Spanish Society of Religious Studies, he was Director of the “Ignacio Ellacuría” Chair of Theology and Religious Studies at Carlos III University of Madrid from 2002 until his retirement in 2020, and is now its Emeritus Honorary Director. He is co-founder and Secretary General of the Juan XXIII Association of Theologians.

A pivotal figure in liberation theology, feminist theology and inter-religious/inter-cultural dialogue in Latin America and Europe, his theological work is inseparable from an ethical commitment to oppressed peoples and society’s most vulnerable groups, among them migrants and women long overlooked by history. He contributes regularly to the VEINTICUATRO programme on Spanish Television, to Cadena SER and to the newspapers EL PAÍS, Infolibre and eldiario.es.

A prolific author of ninety books, many of which appear with Editorial Trotta—among them Nuevo paradigma teológico (2009, 3rd ed.), Fundamentalismos y diálogo entre religiones (2009, 2nd ed.), Islam: Cultura, religión y política (2010, 3rd ed.), Invitación a la utopía. Estudio histórico para tiempos de crisis (2016, 2nd ed.), Teologías del Sur. El giro descolonizador (2024, 2nd ed.)—he returns to Trotta today with Cristianismo radical (2025, 2nd ed.), the volume we present.

At Editorial Tirant he directs the “Diáspora” series, which includes La teología de la liberación en el nuevo escenario político y religioso (Valencia, 2011, 2nd ed.) and Religión, razón y esperanza: El pensamiento de Ernst Bloch (Valencia, 2015, 2nd ed.). In this collection Tirant has also published Juan José Tamayo. Teología y praxis de liberación, a festschrift marking his seventy-fifth birthday, with contributions from fifty-four colleagues and friends worldwide.

Free admission; limited capacity.

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