An Introductory Reader’s Guide to Latino/a Theology, by Dr. Terance Espinoza.

The term “Latino/a Theology” is broadly defined here as Biblical and Theological Studies by or about people who identify as Latino/a, Hispanic, Chicano/a, Mestizo/a, Mujerista, LatinX, or any other related identity markers. The opinions and goals in this body of literature are varied, and there is no single theological representative to rule them all. The purpose of this list is to provide resources that speak from a particular social location and that will contribute to becoming more well-read in this broad area of theological reflection.

Introductions

1. Agosto, Efrain. “Latino/a Hermeneutics.” Pages 350-371 in Hearing the New Testament: Strategies for Interpretation. Edited by Joel B. Green. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010.
2. Aponte, Edwin David and Miguel A. De La Torre, eds. Handbook of Latina/o Theologies. St. Louis, MO: Chalice, 2006.
3. De La Torre, Miguel A. and Edwin David Aponte. Introducing Latino/a Theologies. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2001.
4. Espín, Orlando, ed. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Latino/a Theology. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2015.
5. Espinosa, Gastón. “Mexican-American and Latino Religions.” Oxford Bibliographies. 2017. Online: https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/
6. Lozada, Francisco, Jr. and Fernando Segovia, eds. Latino/a Biblical Hermeneutics: Problematics, Objectives, Strategies. SBL Semeia Studies 68. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2014.
7. Trimm, Charlie, Brittany Kim, Zihan Xi, David Roberts, and Jeremy Labosier. “Works Written by Latino/a Old Testament Scholars.” Every Voice Kingdom Diversity. 2022. n.p. Online: https://everyvoicekingdomdiversity.org/database/

Commentaries

1. Padilla, C. René, Milton Acosta Benítez, and C. Rosalee Velloso Ewell, eds. Comentario Bíblico Contemporáneo. San Sebastián, Costa Rica: EdicionesCerteza Unida, 2019. (CBC)
2. Padilla, Osvaldo. The Acts of the Apostles: Interpretation, History and Theology. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2016.
3. Padilla, Osvaldo. The Pastoral Epistles. Tyndale New Testament Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2022.

Studies

1. Álvarez, Daniel Orlando. Latin@ Identity in Pneumatological Perspective: Mestizaje and Hibridez. Centre for Pentecostal Theology, 2016.
2. Armas, Kat. Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us about Wisdom, Persistence, and Strength. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2021.
3. Apuntes: Reflexiones teológicas desde el Margen hispano. 1981-. Journal.
4. Aquino, María Pilar, Daisy L. Machado, and Jeanetter Rodriguez, eds. A Reader in Latina Feminist Theology: Religion and Justice. Austin: University of Texas, 2002.
5. Bañuelas, Arturo J., ed. Mestizo Christianity: Theology from the Latino Perspective. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1995.
6. Branson, Mark Lau and C. René Padilla, eds. Conflict and Context: Hermeneutics in the Americas. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986.
7. Chaves, João B. Migrational Religion: Context and Creativity in the Latinx Diaspora. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2022.
8. Chávez, Cesár, “Mexican Americans and the Church.” Paper presented to the Second Annual Mexican Conference. Sacramento, CA. March 8-10, 1968.
9. Concilun Revista International de Teología. Journal.
10. Conde-Frazier, Elizabeth, Atando Cabox: Latinx Contributions to Theological Education. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021.
11. Crespo, Orlando. Being Latino in Christ: Finding Wholeness in Your Ethnic Identity. Downers Grover: InterVarsity Press, 2009.
12. De La Torre, Miguel A., ed. Hispanic American Religious Cultures. 2 vols. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2009.
13. De La Torre, Miguel A. and Gastón Espinosa, eds. Rethinking Latino/a Religion and Identity. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim, 2006.
14. De Luna, Anita. Faith Formation and Popular Religion: Lessons from the Tejano Experience. Celebrating Faith: Explorations in Latino Spirituality and Theology. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.
15. Deck, Allen Figueroa, ed. Frontiers of Hispanic Theology in the United States. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1992.
16. Echevarría, Miguel G. A Basic Guide to the New Testament. (forthcoming)
17. Elizondo, Virgil, Galilean Journey: The Mexican-American Promise. 2^nd ed. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 2000.
18. Escobar, Samuel. En busca de Cristo en América Latina. Buenos Aires: Kairos, 2012. English edition: In Search of Christ in Latin America. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2019.
19. Espinosa, Gastón. “The Pentecostalization of Latin American and U.S. Latino Christianity.” Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 26 (2004): 262–292.
20. Espinosa, Gastón. “‘Your Daughters Shall Prophesy’: A History of Women in Ministry in the Latino Pentecostal Movement in the United States.” Pages 35-48 in Women and Twentieth-Century Protestantism. Edited by Margaret Lamberts Bendroth and Virginia Lieson Brereton. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002.
21. Estrada, Rudolfo Galvan, III. A Latino Reading of Race, Kinship, and the Empire: John’s Prologue. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023.
22. ———-. A Pneumatology of Race in the Gospel of John: An Ethnocritical Study. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2019.
23. González, Justo L. & Zaida Maldonado Pérez. Introducción a la Teología Cristiana. Nashville: Abingdon, 2003.
24. González, Justo L. The Mestizo Augustine: A Theologian Between Two Cultures. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2016.
25. ———- Mañana: Christian Theology from a Hispanic Perspective. Nashville: Abingdon, 1990.
26. Guerrero, Andrés G. A Chicano Theology. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1987.
27. Hernández, Dominick S. Engaging the Old Testament: How to Read Biblical Narrative, Poetry, and Prophecy Well. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2023.
28. ———-. Cómo Leer los Proverbios; Caminos hacia la Sabiduría. Barcelona: Clie, 2022.
29. ———-. Proverbs: Pathways to Wisdom. Nashville; Abingdon Press, 2020.
30. ———-. Illustrated Job in Hebrew. Wilmore, KY: GlossaHouse, 2020.
31. Hispanic Theological Initiative. Princeton Theological Seminary. Online: https://hti.ptsem.edu/
32. Isasi-Díaz, Ada María. En la lucha / In the Struggle: Elaborating a Mujerista Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004.
33. Isasi-Díaz, Ada María. Mujerista Theology: A Theology for the Twenty-First Century. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1996.
34. Isasi-Díaz, Ada María and Fernando F. Segovia, eds. Hispanic/Latino Theology: Challenge and Promise. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1996.
35. Journal of Hispanic/Latino Theology. 1993-. Journal.
36. Kohn, Natalia, Noemi Vega Quiñones, Kristy Garza Robinson, Hermanas: Deepening Our Identity and Growing our Influence. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2019.
37. Martell-Otero, Loida I., Zaida Maldonado Pérez, and Elizabeth Conde-Frazier. Latina Evangélicas: A Theological Survey from the Margins. Eugene: Cascade, 2013.
38. Martínez, Juan Francisco. The Story of Latino Protestants in the United States. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018.
39. McClymond, Michael, ed. Encyclopedia of Religious Revivals in America. Vol. 2, Primary Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2007.
40. Padilla, Alvin, Robert Goizueta, and Eldin Villafañe, eds. Hispanic Christian Thought at the Dawn of the 21st Century: Apuntes in Honor of Justo L. González. Nashville: Abingdon, 2005.
41. Padilla, Osvaldo. The Speeches of Outsiders in Acts: Poetics, Theology and Historiography. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 144. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
42. Perspectivas. 1998-. Journal.
43. Revista Bíblica. 1939-. Journal.
44. Revista Iberoamericana de Teología. 2005-. Journal.
45. Rodriguez, Daniel A. A Future for the Latino Church: Models for Multilingual, Multigenerational Hispanic Congregations. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2011.
46. Rodriguez, Daniel A. “The Galilee Principle: A Latino Evangelical Perspective. Leaven 9 (2001): 1-6.
47. Romero, Robert Chao. Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2020.
48. Valentín, Benjamín, ed. In Our Own Voices: Latino/a Renditions of Theology. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2010.
49. Valentín, Benjamín, ed. New Horizons in Hispanic/Latino(a) Theology. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim, 2003.
50. Villafañe, Eldin. The Liberating Spirit: Toward an Hispanic American Pentecostal Social Ethic. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1992.

*This page is a work in progress and will continue to be developed. It is being published now in an effort to collaborate with students and colleagues. If you have suggestions for resources that belong on this page, please leave them in a comment below.

Note to students

As with all research bibliographies, resources are included not because they are endorsed but because they make a contribution to the discipline in a meaningful way. It is not expected that you will agree with everything in these resources or with everything the authors say in other venues. But it is important to read with a generous and open attitude in order to understand what they are saying so that whether you agree or disagree with them, you are able to articulate their views in a fair and clear manner.