a little bit of background

When I glanced through the syllabus, hunting out deadline dates, it was one of the first words that caught my eye:

liberation

I read the sentence wherein it was contained. Nothing mind-blowing, just a suggestion that, for one of the assignments we had to make a thematic study of the Old Testament and that, for Urban Majors like myself, the theme 'liberation' was suggested.

This theme isn't too new to me. Last term I carried out a short study on Liberation Theology and read around on the subject. Although I probably wouldn't pass as a follower of Liberation Theology, I certainly came to see Christ as Liberator. Studying this theology helped clear some of the cultural lens I had when studying the Bible.

For the purpose of kick-starting this blog, and to get a few readers that will help me when I begin to explore the theme of Liberation in the Old Testament, I am going to put some of my previous 'Liberation Theology' paper below. Some of the assignment (which I'll post later) was in the form of a dialogue with a PhD student. I'm also going to post my bibliography (which will be on-going) in the side bar.

So, the first part:

Liberation Theology: The Wider Context

Heretical. Dangerously defective. Eccentric. Threatening. Marxist. Violent. Idealistic.  Revolutionary. Creative. Holistic.  Transformational. Liberation Theology has had, at one time or another, all of these labels attached to it. Which of them, if any, are true? How can something so controversial aid us in creating a theology of missions? Labels must not cause us to fear but to question; they must not lead us to judge but to search. After all, throughout history, Jesus Christ has had many of those very adjectives attached to him! Liberation Theology, and the controversies that surround it, deserve our attention and analysis. We must endeavour to approach this topic as discerning learners, aware of our own biases and presuppositions.

Liberation Theology is best described as a family of theologies (Rhodes, para 3), including such diverse groups as feminists, Universalists, homosexuals, African-Americans, even guerrillas. For the purpose of this paper, the focus will be on the beginnings of Liberation Theology in the 1960/70s and its Latin American proponents.

The underlying theme of Liberation Theology is its, “attempt to look at the world in terms of involvement with the under-privileged and oppressed...” (R Brown, 4).  Gustavo Gutierrez, who first coined the term Liberation Theology in 1973, is said to have declared that ninety percent of the movement was its preferential treatment of the poor (Allen, para 5). This presupposition informs its hermeneutics, ecclesiology, soteriology and the like, as well as encouraging the use of secular analytical tools such as Marxism.

The influence of this theological process is arguably complex, vast and unmeasured. The growing emphasis on the oppressed may well find some of its basis in Liberation Theology, yet most Western Christians would have very little awareness of the writings of theologians like Gutierrez. However, a summary of the movement’s impact may include the following aspects:

Positive Impact on Missions	Negative Impact on Missions
A FOCUS ON LIBERATION FROM OPPRESSION
A timely challenge to the Church that moves away from charity that simply makes the oppressor ‘feel better’ to true transformational liberation (R Brown, 8).	Some concern has been raised over its revolutionary over-emphasis on political activism (Boff, para 27), with its proponents sometimes described as, “militant” (Bonino, xxii) and at times advocating violence (Pope Paul VI, 81).
A FOCUS ON LIBERATION FROM DUALISM
A new understanding of the holistic nature of the Gospel, encouraging the Church to understand that the Gospel liberates and transforms all realms of life such as political, economic and racial (Hillar, para 14). “The church and the world can no longer be segregated” (Webster, para 12). The gospel affects all areas of life and mission is beginning to reflect this.	If everything is the Gospel, then nothing is the Gospel. Confusion is created as to what salvation and the gospel really is, and perhaps leads one to deviate from the Biblical view of the salvation and therefore mission. “Liberation Theology proceeds on the basis of a distorted Christian gospel.” (Henry, 198)
A FOCUS ON LIBERATION FROM INDIVIDUALISM
Liberation Theology emphasises a corporate approach liberating the oppressed, believing in wholesale changes of political and social structures (Boff, para 27). There is also an emphasis of love for neighbour that is, “co-existensive with justice.” (Ricoeur qtd in Bonino, 114).	This idea, of the communal and historical nature of salvation and liberation, can lead to a departure from the evangelical understanding of individual ‘conversion’ and results in universalism, as Gutierrez himself appears to advocate (Nunez, 181).
A FOCUS ON A LIBERATION FROM TRADITIONAL METHODOLOGY
Liberation Theology’s early roots encouraged the use of social and liberal sciences (Boff, para 8) -this has been advocated by modern theologians as useful for transforming communities with the Gospel (Conn & Ortiz, 271). Theology is seen as a process, rather than a stagnant set of rules (R Brown, 5)	For many, the Liberation theologian’s emphasis on orthopraxy over orthodoxy is worrying, signalling a move from bible-based missions and to a purely political agenda:  a baptized version of Marxism (Campolo, para 7)
A FOCUS ON LIBERATION FROM TRADITIONAL HIERARCHIES
“The praxis of liberation theology finds its embodiment in the Christian ecclesial base communities. They are small, lay-led groups that...work together to... establish a more just society” (Hillar, para 19).	Within the Catholic Church, the home of Liberation Theology, there has been division and strife over the movement (Formicola, 35). It could be argued that division within and between church denominations hinders mission.