Miguel A. De La Torre

Miguel A. De La Torre
Fields	Social Ethics, Theologies of Liberation, Latina/o Religiosity, Santería
Institutions	Iliff School of Theology
Alma mater	Temple University
Known for	Works analyzing Social Ethics and Hispanic Religiosity
Notable awards	"Outstanding Hispanic Educator" award by the Michigan Hispanic Legislative Caucus.

Miguel A. De La Torre (born October 6, 1958) is a professor of Social Ethics and Latino/a Studies at Iliff School of Theology, a religious scholar, author, and an ordained minister.^[1]

Biography

Born in Cuba months before the Castro Revolution, De La Torre and his family migrated to the United States as refugees when he was an infant. For a while the U.S. government considered him and his family as “illegal aliens”. He attended Blessed Sacrament School in Queens, New York and was baptized and confirmed by the Catholic Church. Simultaneously, his parents were priest/priestess of the religion Santería.^[2] He left Queens, moving to Miami, Florida in his teens.

At nineteen years of age he began a real estate company in Miami called Championship Realty, Century 21. The office grew to over 100 sales agents. During this time he obtained a Masters in Public Administration from American University in Washington, DC. Eventually he was elected president of the Miami Board of Realtors. He was also active in local politics, becoming the founding president of the West Dade Young Republicans. In 1988 he was a candidate for the Florida House of Representatives, District 115, but lost to Mario Diaz-Balart.

In his early twenties he became a “born-again” Christian, joining University Baptist Church in Coral Gables, Florida. De La Torre dissolved the thirteen-year-old real estate company in 1992 to attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in order to obtain a Masters in Divinity and enter the ministry. During his seminary training he served as pastor at a rural congregation, Goshen Baptist Church in Glen Dean, Kentucky.

Scholarship

De La Torre continued his theological training and obtained a doctorate from Temple University in social ethics in 1999. According to the books he published, he focuses on ethics within contemporary U.S. thought, specifically how religion affects race, class, and gender oppression. His works 1) applies a social scientific approach to Latino/a religiosity within this country;^[3] 2) studies Liberation theologies in the Caribbean and Latin America (specifically in Cuba);^[4] and 3) engages in postmodern/postcolonial social theory.

In 1999 he was hired to teach Christian Ethics at Hope College in Holland, MI. In 2005 he wrote a column for the local newspaper, The Holland Sentinel, titled “When the Bible is Used for Hatred.”^[5] The article was a satirical piece commenting on Focus on the Family’s James Dobson outing of SpongeBob Square Pants. Dobson responded to the article.^[6]

A controversy over these articles ensued.^[7] A few months afterwards, De La Torre resigned his tenure and took the position of associate professor for social ethics at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado.^[8]

Since obtaining his doctorate in 1999, De La Torre has authored numerous articles and books, including several books that have won national awards, specifically: Reading the Bible from the Margins, (Orbis, 2002);^[9] Santería: The Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2004); Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins, (Orbis, 2004); and Encyclopedia on Hispanic American Religious Culture, Volume 1 & 2, (ABC-CLIO, 2009).^[10] Within the academy he has served as a director to the Society of Christian Ethics^[11] and the American Academy of Religion.^[12] Additionally, he has been co-chair of the Ethics Section at the American Academy of Religion.

He is the founder and editor of the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion.^[13]

De La Torre has been an expert commentator concerning ethical issues (mainly Hispanic religiosity, LGBT civil rights,^[14] and immigration rights) on several local, national, and international media outlets. He also writes monthly articles for Ethics Daily which create controversies within Christian circles.

During the January, 2011 gathering of the Society of Christian Ethics, De La Torre was elected Vice-President of the organization and President-elect for 2012.

Works

BOOKS^[10]:

• Liberation Theologies for Arm Chair Theologians, 2012.
• Genesis: A Theological Commentary on the Bible, 2011.
• Latina/o Social Ethics: Moving Beyond Eurocentric Thinking, 2010.
• Trails of Hope and Terror: Testimonies on Immigration, 2009.
• Liberating Jonah: Toward a Biblical Ethics of Reconciliation, 2007.
• A Lily Among the Thorns: Imagining a New Christian Sexuality, 2007.
• Leer la Biblia desde los Marginados, 2005.
• Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins, 2004.
• Santería: The Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America, 2004.
• La Lucha for Cuba: Religion and Politics on the Streets of Miami, 2003.
• The Quest for the Cuban Christ: A Historical Search, 2002.
• Reading the Bible from the Margins, 2002.
• Ajiaco Christianity: Toward an Exilic Cuban Ethic of Reconciliation, Ph.D. diss., 1999.

MULTI-AUTHORED BOOK PUBLICATIONS:

• The Quest for the Historical Satan, co-authored with Albert Hernandez, 2011.
• Introducing Latino/a Theologies, co-authored with Edwin David Aponte, 2001.

EDITED BOOKS:

• Beyond the Pale: Reading Christian Theology from the Margins, co-edited with Stacey Floyd-Thomas, 2011.
• Beyond the Pale: Reading Christian Ethics from the Margins, co-edited with Stacey Floyd-Thomas, 2011.
• Out of the Shadows, Into the Light: Christianity and Homosexuality, 2009.
• The Hope of Liberation within World Religions, 2008.
• AAR Career Guide for Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession, 2007.
• Rethinking Latino/a Religion and Ethnicity, co-edited with Gaston Espinosa, 2006.
• Handbook on Latino/a Theologies, co-edited with Edwin David Aponte, 2006.
• Handbook on U.S. Theologies of Liberation, 2004.

ENCYCLOPEDIA EDITOR:

• Encyclopedia on Hispanic American Religious Culture, Volume 1 & 2, 2009.

References

1. ^ "http://www.iliff.edu/academics/faculty/profiles/mdelatorre/index.php"^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Interview with Miguel A. De La Torre, author of Santería (November 2004) Eerdmans.com
3. ^ ""http://www.religionlink.com/tip_061204.php"". Religionlink.com. 2006-12-04. http://www.religionlink.com/tip_061204.php. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
4. ^ Ted Henken, A Global Studies Handbook (2008)
5. ^ ""http://www.ethicsdaily.com/news.php?viewStory=5314"". Ethicsdaily.com. 2005-02-02. http://www.ethicsdaily.com/news.php?viewStory=5314. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
6. ^ "article 'Political Bias Distorted Facts' is free to view at The Holland Sentinel - Holland, MI
7. ^ "See newspaper article 'Controversy on Campus' at The Holland Sentinel - Holland, MI
8. ^ — Scott Jaschik (2011-03-08). ""http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/04/28/hope"". Insidehighered.com. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/04/28/hope. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
9. ^ Posted June 18, 2003 (2003-06-18). "Book Receives First-Place Award from Catholic Press Association". Hope.edu. http://www.hope.edu/pr/pressreleases/content/view/full/1616. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
10. ^ ^{a b} "http://www.iliff.edu/academics/faculty/profiles/mdelatorre/delatorre_cv3.pdf"^{[dead link]}
11. ^ "http://www.scethics.org/officers.html"^{[dead link]}
12. ^ ""http://www.aarweb.org/About_AAR/Board_and_Governance/board.asp"". Aarweb.org. http://www.aarweb.org/About_AAR/Board_and_Governance/board.asp. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
13. ^ ""http://www.raceandreligion.com/JRER/JRER.html". raceandreligion.com. 2010-01-01. http://www.raceandreligion.com/JRER/JRER.html. Retrieved 2011-09-18. 
14. ^ ""http://www.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=14766"". Pridesource.com. 2005-06-23. http://www.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=14766. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 

External links

• De La Torre's Official Website
• De La Torre's Official Faculty Page

Persondata
Name	De La Torre, Miguel A.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 6, 1958
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death