It's all Liberation Theology to me: "brief" explaination

 Context: Social Structure

Context is a buzzword among liberation theologians, as it calls into consciousness the particular epistemological foundation of each individual or group. Learning about the contexts which others are living in allows us to begin to figure out and dissect the roots of their beliefs. Humans are able to use the interpretation of context to understand each other’s mannerisms and speech, as well as, understand the roots of group movements. The latter is the more relevant for the discussion of the context of the beginnings of the liberation theology movement in Latin America.

The situation present in Latin America at the inception of this movement included widespread oppression and violence both interpersonal and institutionalized, with the impoverished absorbing the majority of the suffering (Gutierrez 93). As mentioned in We Make the Road by Walking, “…the majority of the people of the Third World are considered “excess population” (24). By this statement Pablo Richard gets at the heart of the problems of violence and oppression of Latin America, as those who are have the historically disadvantages position are increasingly considered to be non-people. In any point in history, when people have been considered to be ‘less than human’ the worst human rights issues have ensued.  As said in Impasse and the Dark Night by Constance Fitzgerald, a Carmelite sister, “the poor are objects until we are poor, too” (8). Historically speaking, the situation in Latin America is the result of “conquering European powers in the sixteenth century” (Quest 70).  In order to get at the root of these forces of division and domination, we must trace them back to that point of colonization in the sixteenth century and back to the present day situation. In the early 1940s, the idea that God calls us to live in solidarity or take on a life of “voluntary poverty” (Essential Writings 43) begins to bubble under the surface.

Some theologians and thinkers believe that this post-modern situation of the world was and is one that is on the verge of a “great turning” or a significant paradigm shift in favor of the poor.  According to Gustavo Gutierrez in Option for the Poor, the beginning of the liberation theology movement has resulted in a “raised consciousness [which] is pregnant with implications for the future” (93). This movement is one that has developed extensively a tie between the religious life of the people and their political liberation by challenging the Godliness of ignoring the suffering of the poor.

The Good News: Biblical Support and Influence

As a theological movement, liberation theology has its roots in a particular reading of the Bible in the context of the poor around the world, but particularly in Latin America where it started.  The Bible itself is full of stories of liberation and salvation of the people. One of the most widely discussed of these stories in the context of liberation theology is that of Exodus, where the Israelites were led of their slavery in Egypt by Moses (Quest 74). This archetypal story of rescue from oppression is one that, when read by the oppressed, allows for a new understanding of God’s love and desire for His people to be free. Of course, the story of Jesus who came to serve and live amongst the poor and undesirables has an immense impact on those who are living in a situation of financial poverty and pervasive repression. There are also stories from Psalms, Amos, Proverbs, and the four Gospels; that express ideas of solidarity, the value of human life regardless of their station, and the self-less giving of oneself.

The pre-liberation theology doctrines of the Catholic Church, according to liberation theologians, did not call the rich to act in a way that truly eliminated the problems of extreme poverty. Rather it sided with the rich in giving minimally to the poor to assuage their conscious but not enough to make a substantial impact. The idea of a “biblical praxis of justice” was not theologically present or there was a lack of agreement about the meaning or reading of the bible so that this problem continued from the sixteenth century on forward (Quest 83). According to Gustavo Gutierrez in his Essential Writings, “…while we read the Bible, it is also true to say that the Bible “reads” us. Through scripture God questions believers about the adequacy of their discipleship (40). In this sense there is some level of personal interpretation that is always present in the reading of the bible as each brings their own context with them as their eyes move across the page or their ears hear the stories. In the case of the Latin American poor taking a closer and group reading of the Scriptures, they began to see more and more the call for justice and equality between the people in the words they read.

See -> Judge -> Act: Popular Movements

Popular movements are the joint forces of the people to accomplish a common goal. In the case of Latin America, liberation theology was an ideal example of such a movement. In the mid-twentieth century “a pastoral movement to revitalize faith among poor people began to gather into small groups” (Quest 81). These small groups were the original Christian-based communities whose focus was to read scripture, reflect on its meaning, and then they began to act to seek change together. They started to take organized action against the injustices they faced and to develop a new identity that opened a new future for themselves. Essentially, these groups became “sites where poor people made the amazing discovery that they are beloved of God” (Quest 81). The connection between people as they realized that they were no long isolated but rather had a community around them who were thinking the same way allowed them to see their collective power in new ways. In Seeing Through the Impasse by Nancy Slyvester, she cleverly articulates this moment of newfound clarity when she says “we begin to see the power we have collectively to be and act in new transformative ways” (2).  This collective power is what drove and drives the liberation theology movement.

The goal of this popular movement is not to do a hundred and eighty degree turn of the power structure so that those who are currently impoverished would then be those who were oppressing others. Instead they seek to “create a new community on the model of the reign of God preached by Jesus” (Quest 81). Meaning they want to spark a paradigm shift in thinking that recognizes all human beings as made in the image and likeness of God, and thereby valued. Joanna Macy discusses this desire in The Great Turning as Compass and Lens, as the impulse “despite centuries of mechanistic conditioning, we want to name, once again, this world as holy” (46). Human beings inspired by the word of God together seeking to create their own foretaste of heaven, which in some ways counteracts the traditional idea that one’s time on earth is the suffering preparing one for their treasure in heaven.

The juxtaposition of the ideas of liberation found in the Bible and the formation of a popular movement is the foundation of liberation theologies perspective. According to Clodovis Boff in the Methodology of the Theology of Liberation, “Liberation theology is like a tree. If you see only professional theologians, you are looking at only the branches. You are missing the trunk, which is the reflection of the pastors and other ministers, and you are certainly missing all the roots, which are beneath the surface of the soil and maintain the entire tree, trunk and branches alike” (86). This tree model is an eloquent description of the symbiotic connection between the various parts of the popular movement that comprises liberation theology.

Martyrs, Authors, and Heroes: Important Figures

The stories and influence of the martyrs of El Salvador cannot go without mention in the discussion of liberation theology in the country. One of the most famous martyrs, due to his social position and actions, is Monsignor Oscar Romero who was a bishop in El Salvador who was murdered while saying Mass. The six Jesuit priests who were murdered, along with a woman and her daughter also have been widely remembered. Several nuns from the United States, the former secretary of Monsignor Romero, and numerous other religious and innocent civilians who were massacred are also a source of inspiration to the people of El Salvador. There is a strong desire to not let them be forgotten and to continue the struggle for justice.

One manner of talking about the memory of these people is to call is subversive. What this is to say is that their memory does something to the people: it calls them to be contemplative and honor the deaths by continuing the fight for justice instead of falling into complacency. Keeping this memory also reminds the people of the teachings of their martyrs. An example would be remembering Romero’s accordance with the statement of the second century bishop that “the glory of God is the human being fully alive” and in particular the poor human being fully alive (Quest 82). That the almighty and powerful God will be glorified not be sacrifices and burnt offerings, but the life of his people. Another would be the questions posed by Ignacio Ellacuria, the murdered former president of the UCA, “Ask yourselves: what have I done to crucify them [the poor]? What do I do to uncrucify them? What must I do for this people to rise again?” (Quest 84). These questions and strong beliefs are that which the murderers sought to smother and silence, however, in keeping the memory of these people alive the poor have a victory in the fight for their freedom.

When well-known liberation theologian Jon Sobrino talks about the martyrs of El Salvador, he makes it clear that they remember not only the memory of their own martyrs but the continuance of the “joyful memory” of the Christ (Subversive 21). In the book Quest for the Living God by Elizabeth Johnson, she states that “The resurrection irrevocably pledges that there will be a blessed future for all the violated and the dead, cast off as if their lives had no meaning” (78). Thereby the pure essence of the martyrdom of these people from Jesus to the unknown victims of the massacres, the memory of their life and death is a tool to counteracting the harsh forces of the world that have violated the people. The people of El Salvador have not forgotten, which allows them to so strongly continue the fight and hope for liberation in the future.

Intellectual Mystery: Theological Development

Liberation theology is often referred to as a new way of doing theology, rather than a new theology. Unlike previous theologies it was started at the level of the least formally educated people, which is to say the oppressed and disadvantaged poor of Latin America. They were seeking to impress upon each other and society their reading of the bible which went against the “official preaching and teaching [that] favored those who ruled” (Quest 71) and instead suggested that God had “a particular care for those who are suffering injustice and seeks to relieve their situation” (Quest 81). This also sparked a move away from the traditional Catholic doctrine that presented “God as the Supreme Being who made all things and governed the world the way an all-powerful kind ruled his realm, with authority” (Quest 73). This idea of God as the supreme punisher led many to believe that the poor were afflicted or filthy sinners, and thus needed to suffer in their castigation; whereas, the newer reading of the scriptures caused the poor to see God as compassionate, merciful, and a liberating force for the people. While there is a constant of the belief in God as powerful and creator of the world in both theologies, there is quite a difference in the interpretation.

The development of the liberation ideas as theology began with the formation of basic ecclesial communities which created the basis for a popular movement. Then, it was influenced by the education method called conscientization by Paulo Freire. This was followed by the growing awareness and spread of this knowledge to the universities and intellectual community. All of which Hennelly discusses in his article Liberation Theology: A Documented History, where he also states that, “For the first time in history, liberation theology has created an opportunity for the voice of the poor—the mute and invisible four-fifths of the world—to be heard clearly and loudly in every corner of the planet” (30). This new kind of theological movement has allowed for those who have always been on the “underside of history” to make themselves known, heard, and use that to work for their own liberation (Essential 43). By taking their faith basis and analyzing the circumstances of their life in the world, they are able to publicly and eloquently provide a counter argument to those in power.

According to Monsignor Romero in The Political Dimension of the Faith, “the church cannot do otherwise, for it remembers that Jesus had pity on the multitude. But by defending the poor it has entered into serious conflict with the powerful who belong to the monied oligarchies and with the political and military authorities of the state” (129). This idea that the church must listen to the voices of the poor and become a more political force of the movement is a widely contested issue. Many believe that this action is stepping out of the religious experience and guidance role the church has traditionally held, while others side with Romero this is the orthopraxis needed to be true Christians in the society.

The more general discussion of what it means to be a Christian in a world ravaged by inequalities, especially in the developing or Third world was gradually brought to the discussion tables in the synods of bishops of the Catholic Church. Starting with Medellin in Colombia (1968) where poverty was the central focus of the teachings for the first time. Then in Puebla, Mexico (1979) where it was clearly declared that the situation of the poor was inhumane and humiliating. These meetings coupled with the development and presentation of Vatican II provided the forum and discussion that brought the voices of the poor to the intellectual circle, which led to the creation of the official theology of liberation.

To summarize liberation theology: Liberation theology is listening to the scriptural interpretation of the poor and following the belief in a compassionate and salvific God to intellectually, spiritually, and physically create a more just world.

Please note: All citations/quotes come from our reading packet, which is a composite of most of the top liberation theologian's writing.... but I don't have a works cited page for them.