


|
|
|

|
|
|

|
|
|
Book Receives First-Place Award from
Catholic Press
Association
Posted June 18, 2003
HOLLAND -- The book "Reading the Bible from the
Margins" by Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre of the Hope College
religion faculty has received a first-place award from the
Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada.
The award, in the "Educational Books" category,
was presented on Friday, May 30, during the association's
annual convention, held in Atlanta, Ga. The association
honored newspapers, magazines and books in several
categories.
Published by Orbis Books, "Reading the Bible from
the Margins" maintains that anyone who reads the Bible does
so from a particular social location, and is based on a
freshman class De La Torre has taught at Hope by the same
title. The primary aim of the book is to expose the reader
to a new way of "seeing" the biblical text.
"Reading the Bible from the Margins" explores how
the Bible can be used to liberate those who suffer race,
class and gender oppression within the United States. The
book analyzes different biblical narratives from the
perspective of the "underside" of normative Christian
interpretations to show how the powerless within U.S.
society find spiritual empowerment.
De La Torre, an assistant professor of religion,
has been a member of the Hope faculty since 1999. This past
September, he was named the 2002 recipient of the
"Outstanding Hispanic Educator" award by the Michigan
Hispanic Legislative Caucus.
In addition to "Reading the Bible from the
Margins," his books since joining the faculty have included
"The Quest for the Cuban Christ: A Historical Search"
(University Press of Florida) and "Introducing Latino/a
Theologies" (Orbis Books). He has also written six book
chapters and eight articles published in professional
journals since coming to Hope.
He has six other books enroute to publication:
"La Lucha for Cuba: Religion and Politics on the Streets of
Miami" (University of California Press), "Santeria: The
Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America" (Wm.
B. Eerdmans Publishing), "Handbook of U.S. Theologies of
Liberation" (Chalice Press), "Doing Ethics from the Margins"
(Orbis Books), "Rethinking Latino/a Religion and Identity"
(Pilgrim Press) and "Handbook of Latino/a Theologies"
(Chalice Press).
-30-