A Face for God: Reflections on Trinitarian Theology for Our Times

María Clara Lucchetti Bingemer is Brazilian. In 1975 she graduated as a journalist at the Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro where she also completed a Master in Theology. In Rome, she earned her Doctorate in Theology from the Pontificia Università Gregoriana. She is an Associate Professor at the Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro where she teaches Fundamental Theolgy and the Treatise on the Revelation of God. Dr. Bingemer is one of the most important women theologians from Latin America and a frequent lecturer in international conferences. She is regarded as an expert on lay spirituality emerging from the basic Christian communities in Latin America. She is a leader in the Jesuit-founded lay movement Christian Life Communities, and was Regional Coordinator of the Latin American Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians from 1986 to 1992. Professor Bingemer is a member of the board of many journals of theology, among them Revista Eclesiastica Brasileira and Concilium. From 2004 to 2008 she was a member of the board of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion. Among her publications are: Simone Weil: Una Mística en Los Límites", Jesucristo Siervo de Dios y Mesias Glorioso, Un Rostro Para Dios, Cuerpo de Mujer y Experiencia de Dios. Sentir y Experimentar a Dios de un Modo Femenino; and co-author of Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Poor.

Since the dawn of time, humans have been seeking the face of God. Our times are no different. We live in a world in which we find the coexistence of secularism and atheism, and religious institutions with ancient roots existing alongside new religious movements that formulate their own new synthesis in order to give expression to the reality of God. Within this pluralism, which points toward the never-ending search in the human heart, a need emerges for a deepening of the Christian conception of God. A Face for God is a spiritual and theological reflection on contemporary beliefs about God. After addressing the philosophical background of today s prevailing postmodern attitudes and rapidly changing cultural expressions, the author questions whether it is still possible to offer a profile and face for God, one with consistency and personality, amid the ambiguous religious feelings of our times. The author offers useful suggestions for enriching the search for, and the experience of, God in our lives by drawing a profile and face of God through the Trinitarian understanding of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.