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In some very concrete ways, this book is the result of the work of the Mexican American Program at Perkins School of Theology and of its Director, Dr. Roy D. Barton. In 1975, Dr. Barton convened a group of pastors and professors, under what he called the Hispanic Instructors Program. This group has met at least annually since its inception and has enriched the Hispanic church in many ways. Designed originally as a nurturing and support program for people who could teach in various settings, the Hispanic Instructors soon began to enhance the courses taught at Perkins with their own Hispanic perspective, and their meetings also became a forum for discussing the best curriculum, courses, and bibliography for the Spanish language Course of Study offered at Perkins every summer. Then, other projects emerged either as direct by-products of the Instructors’ meetings, or at least supported by them: the journal Apuntes, for a long time the only journal of Hispanic theology in the United States, and now in its fifteenth year of publication; a series of symposia on a variety of themes, culminating on a series of three symposia under the common title of “Redescubrimiento,” planned around the theme of the Quincentennial of 1492; programs for the training of laity in theology and in the practice of ministry; and many more.

As the Redescubrimiento project drew to a close, the Instructors discussed a number of themes that had emerged and that should be pursued further. One of these themes was biblical interpretation, and included both an exploration of the manner in which Latinos interpret the Scripture, and the desire to make a contribution, out of our own experience, to the entire church’s understanding of at least some biblical passages.

With that end in mind, a procedure was designed. This consisted, first of all, in inviting the Instructors as well as others to submit to the office of the Mexican American Program at least one written piece—a sermon, Bible lesson, portion of a commentary—in which they felt that their own Hispanic experience and commitment had resulted in an insight into the biblical text that was somehow different from the more common interpretations, and was also worthy of being shared with the church at large.¹ Having read these materials, the Instructors met both in small groups and in plenary sessions, analyzing what they had read, and trying to elucidate the elements, as well as the particular instances, of a Hispanic biblical hermeneutic that should be shared with a wider public.

I was asked to take notes of those meetings, and on that basis as well as on the basis of materials written by other Latinos, to write a book for publication by Abingdon Press. The first draft of the manuscript was then shared with the Instructors, who in their December meeting in 1994 made comments and suggestions for its improvement. On the basis of those comments and suggestions, the final draft was produced.

This means that this book is both a communal enterprise and a very personal one. It is communal in that it has resulted from the ideas of a community that has been gathering over the years to discuss issues such as those addressed in this book. Many of those ideas, first expressed by one of our members, have been so shaped by our discussion that it would be extremely difficult to assign them any longer to a particular person. In those cases where my notes clearly indicate who said something, I have tried to acknowledge that fact. I have done the same when referring to written materials—in the case of published materials, I have given the appropriate bibliographical data, and in the case of unpublished materials, I have simply mentioned the author. But the fact remains that most of the ideas expressed in the pages that follow are communal, having been shaped by an interaction that gave rise to views and insights none of us could have developed by ourselves. The same is true for the Latino community at large. Much of what is said here are ideas that I have developed in conversation with friends and colleagues from that community. They are ideas that I would never have developed were it not for the insights and support derived from such conversations. Therefore, they are my ideas and insights in the sense that I claim them as valid, and not necessarily in the sense that I claim them as my own production.

But this book is also very personal. It is personal because, after all, a person is an individual existing in community. It is personal because, even though many of the ideas expressed herein were not originally mine, they have affected and shaped me in a very personal way. And it is personal because my agreement with the other Hispanic Instructors was that, although I would listen to their comments and suggestions, in the end I would be ultimately responsible for whatever was said, and not try to produce a book of such bland shapelessness that they could all agree with everything that was being said—like a committee report!

I thank Roy Barton and the rest of the Hispanic Instructors for the many insights I have received during these years, and most especially for the challenge and the opportunity to write this book. In particular, I wish to thank those colleagues who took the time to read the first draft of the manuscript, and to offer detailed suggestions and corrections: Edgar Avitia, María Luisa Santillán-Baert, Irving Cotto, Roberto Gómez, Pablo Jiménez, Loida Martell-Otero, and José David Rodríguez. Thanks to their efforts, this book has been significantly improved. I trust that through it the reader will gain some new insights, not only into what the Latino Christian community has to say, but also into what the Bible itself has to say!