He was born in Amusco (Palencia, Spain) on October 7, 1946. He studied Social Sciences at the León XIII Institute (Madrid). He obtained a bachelor's degree in Theology from the Pontifical University of Comillas in 1971 and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of Salamanca in 1976 with a thesis on “The JOC in Spain: history, pedagogy of faith, and theology (1945-1970),” directed by Professor Casiano Floristán, whose main contribution was that since 1950, the Spanish Christian Worker Youth constituted a precursor to Liberation Theology.
He graduated in Philosophy and Letters from the Autonomous University of Madrid in 1983 and received his doctorate from the same university in 1990 with the thesis “Religion, reason and hope. The Thought of Ernst Bloch,” directed by Professor Carlos París, where he analyzes the utopian hermeneutics of the German philosopher of hope Ernst Bloch applied to the texts of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible, read from the option for the poor.
He was director of the “Ignacio Ellacuría” Chair of Theology and Religious Sciences at the Carlos III University of Madrid from 2017 to 2020, emeritus professor, and currently honorary professor of the same university.
He is a visiting professor at numerous universities, religious science centers, and higher educational institutions:
He is an Honorary Collaborating Professor of the International University of Andalusia (UNIA) in recognition of his close collaboration with said university and his academic contributions in the field of social sciences and religious sciences.
He is co-founder, member of the Scientific Committee, and researcher of the University Institute of Gender Studies at the Carlos III University of Madrid; researcher at the “Julio Caro Baroja” Institute of Historiography of the Carlos III University of Madrid; and researcher at the “DEMOSPAZ” Institute of the Autonomous University of Madrid. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Humanities section of Tirant Lo Blanc Publishing House.
He belongs to the International Committee of the World Forum of Theology and Liberation and has participated in the different editions of said forums since their foundation in 2005 in Porto Alegre, within the framework of the World Social Forums (WSF). He is general secretary of the Spanish Association of Theologians John XXIII, co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of the Association for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (ADII), and a member of the Spanish Society of Sciences of Religions (SECR).
He collaborates with the newspapers El País (Madrid) and Infolibre.
He is a researcher in projects on Sociology of Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Cultural and Religious Diversity, Historiography of Christianity, Religion, Gender and Violence, Liberation Theology, Theology of Religions, Feminist Theology, Southern Theologies, Decolonial Theology, Islam, Culture, Religion and Politics, Utopia, and Utopian Thought.
Professor of the Masters: Carlos III University of Madrid: “International Solidarity Action and Social Inclusion,” from the Francisco de Vitoria Institute; “Fundamental Rights,” from the Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Institute; Own Title on Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples; Own Title of Equality Policies, from the Gender Studies Institute of “Human Rights,” from the Carlos III University of Madrid; “Peace and Conflict Resolution,” from the University of Córdoba; “Islam Today,” from the Euro-Arab Foundation, from the University of Granada; Master in Educational Research for the Professional Development of Teachers, from the University of Cádiz.
He directs the collections “Religiones,” from Editorial Síntesis, “Religions and Human Rights,” from Editorial Dykinson, and “Díaspora. Sciences of Religions,” from Tirant Lo Blanch Publishing House.
He has been a member of the ALICE Research Project, Strange Mirrors, Unexpected Lessons, coordinated by Boaventura de Sousa Santos (alice.ces.uc.pt) at the Center for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra (Portugal). The project receives funding from the European Research Council, 7th Framework Program of the European Union (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement n. [269807]. He has participated as a lecturer in the Colloquium on “Epistemologies of the South” developed at the University of Coimbra (Portugal) within the ALICE Project in July 2014. In 2015 he gave the lectures of the Boaventura de Sousa Santos Chair at the University of Coimbra.
He has received important awards, including the International Prize of the Republic of Tunisia for Arab and Islamic Studies for his book Islam. Culture, Religion, and Politics (2009); the “Islam and Coexistence” Award at the First Muslim Fair in Spain (2010); the Siglo Futuro Foundation Award for his Ethical Commitment (2014) and the Diploma and Medal of the Spanish League for Human Rights on the Centenary of its constitution (1914-2014) for his commitment and intellectual work in favor of dialogue between religions.
He is the author of more than 90 books, many of them translated into several languages (Italian, Portuguese, French, Polish, and German) and numerous research articles in journals of philosophy, theology, and social sciences. From 2017 to the present he has published: Theologies of the South. The Decolonizing Turn (Trotta, Madrid, 2017) (translated into German and soon into Brazilian), Is Utopia Dead? Do Dystopias Succeed? (text of his jubilee speech delivered on April 24, 2018) (Biblioteca Nueva, Madrid, 2018; 2020, 4th ed.); A Church Project for the Future in Spain. Forty Years Later (San Pablo, Madrid, 2019, 2nd ed.); From the Colonial Church to Liberating Christianity in Latin America (Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2019); Brother Islam (Trotta, Madrid, 2019); Ignacio Ellacuría. Theology, Philosophy, and Criticism of Ideology (in collaboration with José Manuel Romero) (Anthropos, Barcelona); Pedro Casaldáliga. Long Walk with the Poor of the Earth (Herder, Barcelona, 2020); The International of Hate. The Christo-Neofascist Alliance (Icaria-Antrazyt, Barcelona, 2020, 2023, 3rd ed.); Compassion in an Unjust World (Fragmenta, Barcelona, 2021, 2023, 2nd ed.); Sin without Penance? Towards a Spirituality for the 21st Century (Herder, Barcelona, 2024), Radical Christianity (forthcoming publication in 2024).
His main fields of reflection and study, whose works constitute reference texts for research at a national and international level, are the following:
On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Monsignor Romero, it is worth highlighting the publication of the work San Romero de América, Mártir de la Justicia, of which he is director and co-author (Tirant Lo Blanch, València, 2015), the conference given in August 2016 in the “Monseñor Romero” Interdiocesan Seminary of El Salvador, and his participation in the activities programmed by the Presidency of the Government of the Republic of El Salvador on the occasion of said centenary.
There are also numerous studies by Professor Tamayo on Ignacio Ellacuría. In addition to the aforementioned work co-directed with Dr. Luis Alvarenga Ignacio Ellacuría and critical theory, he is director and co-author of Ignacio Ellacuría, intellectual, philosopher and theologian (ADGN-Books-Valencia and Chair of Theology and Sciences of Religions “Ignacio Ellacuría”) and author of Theology and philosophy in Ignacio Ellacuría. Critique of ideology, in collaboration with José Manuel Romero; author and co-director with Héctor Samour of Ignacio Ellacuría 30 years later (Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2021), which includes the 40 lectures given by specialists from all over the world on Ellacuría at the Congress held at the UCA of San Salvador in 2019, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his murder.
In 2014 he participated with the conference “Utopia and hope in Ignacio Ellacuría” in the International Symposium on Ellacuría held at the UCA on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his assassination, and in 2019 he participated in the 30th anniversary of his assassination with a conference on “Contribution of Ignacio Ellacuría to decolonial thought.” In 2022 he co-directed with José Manuel Romero the Symposium on “The Living Thought of Ignacio Ellacuría” at the University of Alcalá.
Interculturality, dialogue, intercultural and interreligious theology, decolonial theologies: Contribution of religions to a universal ethics, as director and co-author (Dykinson, Madrid, 2003); Fundamentalisms and dialogue between religions (Trotta, Madrid, 2009, 2nd ed.); Interreligious dialogue in the face of the challenges of our time (ADG-N LIBROS, Valencia, 2010); Another theology is possible. Religious pluralism, interculturality and feminism (Herder, December, 2011; March, 2012, 2nd ed.); Judaism, Christianity and Islam, three religions in dialogue (director and co-author) (Dykinson, Madrid, 2010; 2015, 2nd ed.); Theologies of the South. The decolonizing turn (Trotta, Madrid, 2017); The International of Hate (Icaria, Barcelona, 2020).
Islam: Islam. Culture, religion and politics (International Prize of the Republic of Tunisia, Trotta, Madrid, January 2009); Islam. Society, politics and feminism, director and co-author (Dykinson, Madrid, 2014, 2nd ed., 2018); Brother Islam (Trotta, Madrid, 2019).
Feminism: Religion, gender and violence (director and co-author, Universidad Internacional de Andalucía, Seville, 2010; Dykinson, Madrid, 2016, 2nd ed.; 2019, 2nd reprint); Judaism, Christianity and Islam, three religions in dialogue: three chapters dedicated to “Women in Judaism”, “Women in Christianity” and “Women in Islam” (director and co-author, Dykinson, 2015, 2nd ed.); Another theology is possible. Religious pluralism, interculturality and feminism (Herder, Barcelona, 2012, 2nd ed., with a chapter dedicated to “Feminist Theology”); Invitation to utopia. Historical study for times of crisis (with a chapter dedicated to “feminist utopia in history”) (Trotta, Madrid, 2012, 1st reprint: 2016); Islam, society, politics and feminism (director and co-author, Dykinson, Madrid, 2014); Fifty Intellectuals for a Critical Consciousness (work in which he elaborates the profiles of some of the most relevant thinkers of the 20th century who have decisively influenced the formation of the thought and liberating praxis of Professor Juan José Tamayo. Of these profiles, it is worth highlighting which draws on 14 thinkers of the 20th century: María Zambrano, Hannah Arendt, Simone Beauvoir, Simone Weil, Dorothee Sölle, Roser Bofill, Fátima Mernissi, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth Johnson, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Shirin Ebadi, Lavinia Byrne, Elsa Tamez, Amina Wadud) (Fragmenta, Barcelona, 2013). Coming soon: Feminist theology (Akal).
He is the author of numerous articles on feminism in collective works and specialized magazines, and conferences in Europe, Latin America, and Africa on the subject. He is currently working on the elaboration of a critical-feminist theory of religions and researching masculinities as the basis of patriarchy and, especially, on homophobic sacred masculinity.
He has directed the Research Projects funded by the Women's Institute “Gender Violence for religious reasons” (2014), “Gender Violence, Religions and Education for Equality” (2015) and “Islam or feminism. Patriarchy and gender perspective” (2019), around which the conferences have revolved with both themes from April 22-23, 2014, and May 21-22, 2015, and the seminar from April to November 2019, respectively.
She has co-directed with Octavio Salazar, professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Córdoba, the Summer Courses “Feminism, gender and masculinities” (2015) and “Feminism, gender and culture” (2016) at the International University of Andalusia (UNIA). At the Carlos III University of Madrid, he has been teaching the Humanities course “Women in religions” for ten years. He has directed and taught the monographic courses on “Women in religions” organized by the Vice-Rector for Equality, of the Complutense University of Madrid, in 2014 and 2015.
Utopia, utopian thought and theology of hope: “The spell of utopia”: Bible and Faith vol. XX, May-August 1994, n. 59 (director and co-author of this issue); “Historical utopias and Christian hope. Lectures by Dr. Juan José Tamayo at the Mackay Chair”: Life and Thought (San José, Costa Rica) vol. XXI, 2001/2; To understand Christian hope (EVD, Estella, Navarra, 2008, 3rd ed.); Invitation to Utopia. Historical essay for times of crisis (Trotta, Madrid, 2012); Historical utopias and Christian hope (Tirant lo Blanch, València, 1992; 2nd ed.: updated, with new introduction and bibliography (Tirant lo Blanch, València, 2015); director with Luis Alvarenga, of Utopia and critical theory (Tirant lo Blanch, València, 2014); director and co-author of Utopia, engine of history. International Symposium on the occasion of the V Centenary of “Utopia” by Tomás More (Fundación Ramón Areces, Madrid, 2017); Is utopia dead? Are dystopias triumphing? (2020, 3rd ed., 1st reprint).
Secularism and religions: From heterodoxy. Reflections on religion, ethics and secularism (Ediciones El Laberinto, Madrid, 2006), On the border. Christianity and secularism (Editorial Popular, Madrid, 2010) and Another religion is possible (Fe Adulta, Madrid, 2011), as well as numerous conferences and articles on the subject in specialized magazines and in the media.
Ethics and Human Rights: Contribution of religions to a universal ethics, director and co-author (Dykinson, Madrid, 2003); Ten key words about human rights, director and co-author (EVD, Estella, Navarra, 2005); At the doors of the 21st century. Historical changes and ethical proposals (Manantial, Málaga, 1998); Bioethics and religion, director (Dykinson, Madrid, 2007) and collaboration in several volumes of History of fundamental rights, directed by Gregorio Peces Barba, Javier de Ansuátegui, Eusebio Fernández and Rafael de Asís (2008-2014).
Globalization: Ten key words about globalization, director and co-author (EVD, Estella, Navarra, 2002).
Intellectuals, education, and critical consciousness: Fifty intellectuals for a critical consciousness (Fragmenta, Barcelona, 2013); “The challenges of education: secularism, critical consciousness, interculturality, dialogue of knowledge and utopian horizon,” in Rosa Vázquez Recio (coord.), Education from recognition and the common good, Morata, Madrid, 2018.
Research on Jesus of Nazareth: Images of Jesus (Trotta, Madrid, 1996); That's why they killed him. The ethical horizon of Jesus of Nazareth (1998; 2003, 2nd ed.); God and Jesus. The religious horizon of Jesus of Nazareth (2000; 2006, 4th ed.), all three edited by Trotta, and as director and co-author Ten key words about Jesus of Nazareth (EVD, Estella, 1999, 2005, 5th ed.). Next publication: Jesus of Nazareth, indignant. Author of numerous articles about Jesus of Nazareth in theology magazines and collaborations in collective works.
Monographs on God: The assault on faith (Mañana Editorial, Madrid, 1977); To understand the crisis of God today (Estella, Navarra, 2008, 3rd ed.; forthcoming revised and expanded edition in Akal); On God and other questions, in collaboration with Gerardo Martínez Cristerna (Mexico, 2010), and numerous articles in specialized magazines and dictionaries of philosophy and theology on the subject.
Church: For a People's Church, in collaboration with María José Antón and Jesús Rey, suppressed by the Public Order Court (TOP) (Mañana Editorial, Madrid, 1976); The Spanish Church between the bell tower and politics (San Sebastián, 1978); A Church project for the future in Spain (San Pablo, Madrid, 1978: updated 2nd edition in 2019 with a new prologue and epilogue, titled A Church project for the future in Spain. Forty years later); Prophetic Church, Church of the Poor (Trotta, Madrid, 1994); Goodbye to Christianity. The Spanish Catholic Church in democratic society (Ediciones B, Barcelona, 2003); Church and society in Spain, in collaboration with José María Castillo (Trotta, Madrid, 2005).
He has directed numerous collective works, including: The Second Vatican Council, twenty years later, with Casiano Floristán (Cristiandad, Madrid, 1985); Fundamental concepts of Christianity, with Casiano Floristán (Trotta, Madrid, 1993); Christianity and liberation. Tribute to Casiano Floristán (Trotta, Madrid, 1996); Christianity in the face of the challenges of our time (University of Valladolid, Valladolid, 2004); New Dictionary of Theology (Trotta, Madrid, 2005, 2nd ed.: 2014); Pluralism in the Catholic Church (ADG-N LIBROS, Valencia, 2011), etc.
The book rigorously explores the theologies of the global South: African, Asian, Latin American, indigenous, and Black American, situating them within their contexts and highlighting their significant trends: feminist, ecological, liberation, and indigenous religions.
These emerging, counter-hegemonic theologies create alternative discourses that address major contemporary challenges: colonialism, patriarchy, epistemological racism, capitalism, environmental degradation, democracy crisis, and fundamentalisms. These theologies traverse paths of intercultural, interreligious, interethnic, and interdisciplinary dialogue in a quest for new epistemological horizons.
The Hate International: How it is built. How it is deconstructed (Icaria, Barcelona, 2022, 3rd ed.), analyzes the international interdisciplinary phenomenon of political theism, which it terms “Christoneofascism”—an alliance between extreme right-wing politics and fundamentalist Catholic and evangelical movements.
Compassion in an unjust world (Fragmenta, Barcelona, 2023, 2nd ed.) demonstrates compassion as the foundational principle of ethics and moral solidarity behaviors, both theological and philosophical.
Pedophilia, Sin without penance? (Erasmus, Córdoba, 2024).
Towards a spirituality for the 21st century (Herder, Barcelona, 2024).
Radical Christianity (forthcoming in 2024), proposes a historically significant, culturally relevant, and politically engaged Christianity that seeks to reclaim the roots of original Christianity and respond to contemporary challenges.
On the occasion of his 75th birthday, the tribute book Juan José Tamayo: Theology and praxis of liberation has been published, featuring contributions from 60 scholars from Spain, Latin America, the United States, and Africa.
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