A Framework for Christian Social Involvement from the Writings of Dean Brackley, SJ

Examines the Jesuit moral theologian Dean Brackley's synthesis of Scripture and modern theology into a framework for Christian social involvement. Beginning with Jesus's proclamation of the Reign of God as good news for the poor, the article traces how Brackley draws on Karl Rahner's supernatural existential and orders of creation/redemption, and on Gustavo Gutierrez's three levels of liberation, to argue that salvation is inseparable from historical liberation. It then presents Brackley's constructive framework -- entering the world of the poor, personal transformation through discipleship, and grounding in a discerning community -- as a complement to the pastoral cycle for contemporary Christian social ethics.