Identity, language and theology for the proclamation of the Gospel

This dissertation is a linguistic approach to theology informed by the philosophical work of Ludwig Wittgenstein. It is situated in the construction of Puerto Rican identity in the elliptic Puerto Rican geography of the island and the Puerto Rican immigration settlements on the mainland. Its goal is the truthful proclamation of the Gospel to the Puerto Ricans as we come to realize the subaltern situation in which we live. The Puerto Rican location serves as the springboard to both the linguistic and the theological proposals as the research finds a Puerto Rican identity which is open and hybrid amidst essentialist classical articulations. The linguistic proposal is understood as a porous, malleable and open space where friction, overlapping and criss-crossings provoke and promote conversation within and beyond its margins as meaning is in its use. The theological proposal advances a non fideistic and flexible understanding of the nature of doctrine as signposts and theological as notes to the signposts which help people in their daily lives to go on -- to live well and faithfully in the alleys and sidewalks of the city of language as theology is in its use. The theological construction finds its culmination as the foundation for a theology of preaching. Preaching is the place where the Word comes to the words of language and where the God who speaks -- Deus loquens -- find us for forgiveness, justification and justice for all. These three domains; identity, theology and preaching, serve as the general methodological subdivisions and the spinal cord of the dissertation.