This thesis examines the thought of the Spanish philosopher-theologian Ignacio Ellacuría, one of the so-called second generation of Latin-American liberation theologians. The focus is on Ellacuría's intention to construct a Christian interpretation of salvation that is conceptually relevant to, and capable of making a practical difference in, our challenging historical and political realities. This intention was formed in the wake of the Vatican's 1984 "Instruction on Certain Aspects of the Theology of Liberation" (Libertatis nuntius), in which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith charged that liberation theology eliminates the transcendent aspects of salvation by falling prey to an exclusively this-worldly (and often Marxist class-struggle) account of liberation. Ellacuría confronted this challenge in a comprehensive way through an analysis of the philosophy of his mentor, philosopher Xavier Zubiri. In this way, Ellacuría interpreted transcendence as being within historical reality not just beyond it. This then forges a direct link between transcendence, understood intra-historically, and the struggle for social justice for the poor majorities in contexts of systemic oppression. For Ellacuría, this struggle is the historical manifestation and proper meaning of the Reign of God. This dissertation begins by locating Ellacuría's intellectual work in the dual context of El Salvador and his own biography. It then expounds Zubiri's philosophy of historical reality before explaining Ellacuría's deployment of it to reinterpret salvation and liberation. It concludes with an analysis of the ethical implications of Ellacuría's approach. The three-fold thesis of the dissertation is that (1) Zubiri's philosophy of historical realism is coherent and relevant to the Christian understanding of salvation and liberation, (2) Ellacuría's adaptation of Zubiri's philosophy is a creative and intellectually compelling solution to an exceptionally difficult conceptual problem, and (3) Ellacuría's theological achievement has precisely the ethical implications that he believed it did, namely, that there can be no separation between the Kingdom of God and this-world liberative movements on behalf of the poor and oppressed.

Le présent mémoire a comme sujet l'analyse et la caractérisation de la pensée de Paul sur la parousie (la deuxième venue du Seigneur) et l'étude de l'interprétation de cette pensée dans la théologie contemporaine,telle que représentée par Rudolf Bultmann, tenant de la démythologisation, et les théologiens de la libération Ignacio Ellacuria et Jon Sobrino. Les éléments clés de la parousie sont décrits principalement en Matthieu 25,31-46, 1 Cor 15,20-28, 1 Thess 4,13-18, 2 Thess 2,1-12. D'après Paul, « Le Seigneur, au signal donné, à la voix de l'archange et au son de la trompette de Dieu, descendra du ciel ». La principale question du mémoire porte sur cette vision paulinienne: Est-ce que la deuxième venue du Seigneur d'après la description paulinienne est encore crédible pour l'homme contemporain ou est-ce qu'il s'agit d'un élément mythologique non essentiel à la foi chrétienne? Bultmann considère que la parousie est un mythe : à ce jour, la parousie ne s'est pas produite, et elle ne se produira jamais. Le kérygme est le seul élément que Bultmann considère comme valide. « The kerygma is the proclamation of the decisive act of God in Christ ». Par contraste, Ellacuria est d'avis que l'élément eschatologique est essentiel pour comprendre l'histoire, car cette dernière est orientèe vers la fin. De manière analogue, Sobrino présente le Royaume de Dieu comme étant un élément clé de l'eschatologie. La théologie de la libération présente également la parousie comme un élément à venir qui représente l'implantation intégrale du Royaume de Dieu et qui devrait se comprendre comme une perspective eschatologique au-delà de l'imagerie de la parousie. / The subject of this thesis is the analysis and the characterization of Paul's doctrine on the parousia (the second coming) of Jesus, and the study of the interpretation of the parousia by the contemporary theologians, such as Rudolf Bultmann, the representative of the demythologization and the theologians of the liberation, Ignacio Ellacuria and Jon Sobrino. The key elements of the New Testament's doctrine of the parousia are described in Matthew 25,31-46, 1 Cor 15,20-28,1 Thess 4, 13-18 and 2 Thess 2,1-12. According to Paul, « There will be the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven ».The key question is: What do the contemporary men and women think of this doctrine? Is the second coming of Jesus according to Paul's description still believable to contemporary persons or is it rather a mythical element non essential to the Christian faith? Bultmann sees the parousia as a mythical issue. The parousia has not happened until now, and it will never occur. The only element that Bultmann proposes as valid is the kerygma. « The kerygma is the proclamation of the decisive act of God in Christ ». Ellacuria on the contrary, believes that the eschatological element is essential to understand history, which itself is oriented towards the end of time. Sobrino in a similar way, proposes the Kingdom of God as a key element of the eschatology. The theology of liberation presents as well the parousia like a future event, representing the integral implementation of the Kingdom of God, which should be understood as an eschatological perspective going further than the imagery of the parousia.

Le présent mémoire a comme sujet l'analyse et la caractérisation de la pensée de Paul sur la parousie (la deuxième venue du Seigneur) et l'étude de l'interprétation de cette pensée dans la théologie contemporaine,telle que représentée par Rudolf Bultmann, tenant de la démythologisation, et les théologiens de la libération Ignacio Ellacuria et Jon Sobrino. Les éléments clés de la parousie sont décrits principalement en Matthieu 25,31-46, 1 Cor 15,20-28, 1 Thess 4,13-18, 2 Thess 2,1-12. D'après Paul, « Le Seigneur, au signal donné, à la voix de l'archange et au son de la trompette de Dieu, descendra du ciel ». La principale question du mémoire porte sur cette vision paulinienne: Est-ce que la deuxième venue du Seigneur d'après la description paulinienne est encore crédible pour l'homme contemporain ou est-ce qu'il s'agit d'un élément mythologique non essentiel à la foi chrétienne? Bultmann considère que la parousie est un mythe : à ce jour, la parousie ne s'est pas produite, et elle ne se produira jamais. Le kérygme est le seul élément que Bultmann considère comme valide. « The kerygma is the proclamation of the decisive act of God in Christ ». Par contraste, Ellacuria est d'avis que l'élément eschatologique est essentiel pour comprendre l'histoire, car cette dernière est orientèe vers la fin. De manière analogue, Sobrino présente le Royaume de Dieu comme étant un élément clé de l'eschatologie. La théologie de la libération présente également la parousie comme un élément à venir qui représente l'implantation intégrale du Royaume de Dieu et qui devrait se comprendre comme une perspective eschatologique au-delà de l'imagerie de la parousie. / The subject of this thesis is the analysis and the characterization of Paul's doctrine on the parousia (the second coming) of Jesus, and the study of the interpretation of the parousia by the contemporary theologians, such as Rudolf Bultmann, the representative of the demythologization and the theologians of the liberation, Ignacio Ellacuria and Jon Sobrino. The key elements of the New Testament's doctrine of the parousia are described in Matthew 25,31-46, 1 Cor 15,20-28,1 Thess 4, 13-18 and 2 Thess 2,1-12. According to Paul, « There will be the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven ».The key question is: What do the contemporary men and women think of this doctrine? Is the second coming of Jesus according to Paul's description still believable to contemporary persons or is it rather a mythical element non essential to the Christian faith? Bultmann sees the parousia as a mythical issue. The parousia has not happened until now, and it will never occur. The only element that Bultmann proposes as valid is the kerygma. « The kerygma is the proclamation of the decisive act of God in Christ ». Ellacuria on the contrary, believes that the eschatological element is essential to understand history, which itself is oriented towards the end of time. Sobrino in a similar way, proposes the Kingdom of God as a key element of the eschatology. The theology of liberation presents as well the parousia like a future event, representing the integral implementation of the Kingdom of God, which should be understood as an eschatological perspective going further than the imagery of the parousia.

At the start of the George H.W. Bush administration, American involvement in El Salvador‘s civil war, one of the last Cold War battlegrounds, had disappeared from the foreign policy agenda. However, two events in November 1989 shattered the bipartisan consensus on US policy toward El Salvador: the failure of the FMLN‘s largest military offensive of the war and the murder of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her daughter by the Salvadoran military, the FAES. Despite more than one billion dollars in US military assistance, the war had stalemated, promoting both sides to seek a negotiated political settlement mediated by the United Nations. The Jesuit murders demonstrated the failure of the policy of promoting respect for democracy and human rights and revived the debate in Congress over US aid to El Salvador. This thesis argues that the Bush administration sought to remove the burden of El Salvador from its foreign policy agenda by actively pushing for the investigation and prosecution of the Jesuit case and fully supporting the UN-mediated peace process. Using recently declassified government documents from the George Bush Presidential Library, this thesis will examine how the Bush administration fundamentally changed US policy toward El Salvador. Administration officials carried out an unprecedented campaign to pressure the FAES to investigate the Jesuit murders and bring the killers to justice while simultaneously attempting to prevent Congress from cutting American military assistance. The Bush administration changed the objective of its El Salvador policy from military victory over the guerrillas to a negotiated political settlement. The US facilitated the peace process by pressuring the Salvadoran government and the FMLN to negotiate in good faith and accept compromises. When both sides signed a comprehensive peace agreement on January 16, 1992, the burden of El Salvador was lifted.