Towards praxis of compassion a mediated theological analysis of economic personalism

Economic Personalism (EP) has emerged as a school of thought that claims to offer solution to the predicament of human reduction in capitalist economics. Its strong personalist anthropology and free market neoliberalism are inscribed in an important document, “Statement of Principles for Economic Personalism.” In this document, EP has laid down its foundational principles, its vision and mission, for its avowed humanizing role in the middle of the capitalist market dynamics and ecology. This study has raised suspicion/critical reservations regarding EP’s claims when seen against the background of market contradictions, like alienation, commodification, and reification of human beings. In other words, even if EP sees itself as offering a “right approach,” this study views tis embeddedness in a liberal-capitalist world which, thus, makes EP as part of capitalism’s contradictions. In order to verify EP’s claims and offer a sound theological analysis, this paper utilizes Clodovis Boff’s “theoretical-practical model” that makes use of social scientific lenses, theological hermeneutics through biblical exegesis, and the praxeology of Church of the Poor in BEC structure as mediations in understanding the position of EP. Assumed to possess interests masked behind the textual claims, this paper subjects the EP document through Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Historical-Critical Analysis to uncover both the implicit intentions of its claims as well as its implicit interests and ideologies. Only after its social scientific mediation that EP is further discerned in the light of Jesus’ praxis of compassion viewed through the Synoptics and Pauline letters. The praxis of compassion thereafter becomes the criterion by which to validate EP and its ideologies unmasked through CDA and historical-critical analysis. EP is found to be insufficient and a poor embodiment of the praxis of compassion - thus, this paper proposes, as PCP II’s concrete expression of the Church of the Poor, the Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) as the suitable human communal base that possesses the qualities and traits for a promising economics of compassion. Hence, the BEC- based Economics of Compassion (BEC-EC). Thus, this study completes a dynamic and spiraling three-stage methodology that starts with a search for a practice better than that proposed by EP and ends with BEC-EC being offered as the bearer of the compassion-orientation of Jesus’ praxis as reflected in the scriptures