Come, Holy Spirit: Inner Fire, Giver of Life, & Comforter of the Poor

by Leonardo Boff, Margaret Wilde (Translator)

The presence of the Holy Spirit runs throughout the Scriptures, from the story of Creation, through the inspiration of the prophets, the incarnation and mission of Jesus, and the birth of the church at Pentecost. But as Leonardo Bo shows, the Spirit is also interwoven in the mysterious origins of the universe. And that Spirit continues to be revealed through the history of humanity—in the spirit of renewal, change, and prophecy,in the history of the church, and in the struggles of our own time.
For Bo ff, this theme takes on special urgency in a time of ecological peril, religious conflict, and oppression of the poor. As Boff writes, when the Spirit comes, “the corpses are filled with life and the wilderness becomes a garden. th e poor are granted justice, the sick are restored to health, and we who are all sinners receive forgiveness and grace. is is our faith, and more than that, it is our undying hope.”

222 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2015

About the author

Leonardo Boff, born as Genézio Darci Boff, in Concórdia, Santa Catarina, Brazil, on the December 14, 1938. He is the grandson of Italian immigrants from the region of Veneto who came to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in the final part of the nineteenth century. He received his primary and secondary education in Concórdia - Santa Catarina, Rio Negro - Paraná, and Agudos - São Paulo. He studied Philosophy in Curitiba - Paraná and Theology in Petrópolis - Rio de Janeiro. He joined the Order of the Franciscan Friars Minor in 1959 and received his doctorate in Philosophy and Theology from the University of Munich - Germany, in 1970.
For 22 years he was the professor of Systematic and Ecumenical Theology at the Franciscan Theological Institute in Petrópolis. He has served as a professor of Theology and Spirituality in various centers of higher learning and universities in Brazil and the rest of the world, in addition to being a visiting professor at the universities of Lisbon (Portugal), Salamanca (Spain), Harvard (United States), Basel (Switzerland), and Heidelberg (Germany).
He was present in the first reflections that sought to articulate indignance toward misery and marginalization with discourse, which later generated the Christian faith known as Liberation Theology. He has always been an ardent of the Human Rights cause, helping to formulate a new, Latin American perspective on Human Rights with, “Rights to Life and the ways to maintain them with dignity.”
He has received honorary doctorates, in Politics from the University of Turin (Italy) and in Theology for the University of Lund (Sweden). He has also been honored with various awards, within Brazil and the rest of the world, for his struggles on behalf of the weak, the oppressed and marginalized, and Human Rights.
From 1970 until 1985 he participated in the editorial council of Editora Vozes. During this time he participated in the coordination and publication of the collection, “Theology and Liberation” and the entire edition of the works of C. G. Jung. He was Editor-in-chief of “Revista Eclesiástica Brasileira” from 1970 to 1984, of “Revista de Cultura Vozes” from 1984 to 1992, and of “Revista Internacional Concilium” from 1970 to 1995.
In 1984, he was submitted to a process by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, former Holy Office, in the Vatican. This was due to his theses linked to liberation theology exposed in his book "Church: Charism and Power. In 1985 he was condemned to “obsequious silence” and was removed from his editorial functions and suspended from religious duties. Due to international pressure on the Vatican, the decision was repealed in 1986, allowing him to return to some of his previous activities.
In 1992, under renewed threats of a second punitive action by authorities in Rome, he renounced his activities as a priest and ‘promoted himself the state of laity.’ “I changed trenches to continue the same fight.” He continues as a liberation theologian, writer, professor, widely hear conference speaker in Brazil among other countries, also as an adviser of social movements of liberating popular matrix, as the Landless Movement and the Base Ecclesial Communities (CEBs), between others.
In 1993 he was selected as professor of Ethics, Philosophy of Religion and Ecology at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ).
On December 8, 2001 he was honored with the alternative Nobel prize, “Right Livelihood Award” in Stockholm, Sweden.
He presently lives in Jardim Araras, an ecological wilderness area on the municipality of Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro. He shares his life and dreams with the defender/educator of Human Rights from a new ecological paradigm, Marcia Maria Monteiro de Miranda. He has also become the “father by affinity” of a daughter and five sons, sharing the joys and sorrows of responsible parenthood. He lives, accompanies and recreates the unfolding of life in the “grandkids” Marina, Eduardo and Maira.

Reviews

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a lovely look at the church's understandings of the Holy Spirit, especially in the context of Creation and Liberation theologies. It links these two understandings of the world's history and promise through the church as community of the spirit, rather than institution of hierarchy. While the book does contain some gender essentialism (elevating the "anima" and "animus" as principles of being) and anti-Semitism (defining Judaism as rigid adherence to "the law" and neglecting its profound dialogues and spiritual communities), these seem to come mainly from lack of adequate research. I enjoyed this look into an often-neglected element of Christian religion.