Some Unfinished Reflection on Liberation Theology as an Alternative to the Ivory Towers of Today, or Truly the Good News

As anyone who has had any theological interaction with me knows, I fancy myself an amateur student of liberation theology. I’ve cut my teeth in the theological world on theologians like Gustavo Gutierrez, Leonardo Boff, Camilo Torres and others like them. The praxis of liberation theology and the concern with the physical realities of the world deeply attracted me to it. Not only that, but the emphasis upon praxis and solidarity with the poor as the guiding hermeneutic really places the work of theology in proximity to the God we are seeking to give witness to. Liberation theology is a theology of action, while the theology we tend to think about is more of theology in thought. Liberation theology reminds me that the work of the theologian is to be a participant and witness to the work of God in the historical realities of the world.

I really do love the methodology that the authors highlight of liberation theology. The Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes lays out a three-tiered method for theological reflection. First, analyze the context that on finds them self in using the understandings afforded to us by the various social sciences (in the case of Liberation theology, Marxist social critique). Second, compare the understanding gained in step 1 to the biblical narrative and tradition. Third, decided upon actions based upon insights gained in the two previous steps and engage in the decided upon action. One of the main reasons that I like this so much is because it reminds us that theology is meant to affect change and requires participation. In this sense, I would consider the work of the theologian to be comparable to the work of a prophet. Theologians interact with the God who has made Himself known to us in person of Jesus of Nazareth and in light of that revelation they attempt to bear faithful witness to God. However, that bearing witness always requires a continual change on the part of the theologian because the more deeply we understand the self-communication of God, the more we are able to see the reality of the world and of ourselves. When a person interacts with, bear’s faithful witness to, and reflects upon the God of Jesus Christ, they will always be transformed.

Liberation theology also seems to be an answer to the more speculative and metaphysical theology that has become the norm in the academic circles of the world. For liberation theologians, the starting point for theological reflection is found in real life experience of standing in solidarity with the poor. Thus, instead of starting out with theoretical theological postulations (which often have their basis in philosophical traditions that start outside of the realm of God’s self-communication) and then attempting to find some way to fit in human experience and the realities of life, the liberation theologian bases is the concrete, physical and historical ways that God has revealed Himself to us. So, instead of starting with the Platonic “Supreme Good,” or the Aristotelian “Unmoved Mover,” Liberations theologians start with the God of the Oppressed and the God who brought the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. However, the lens of solidarity-hermeneutics is fraught with dangers unless qualified and placed in its proper context, something that many liberation theologians have spilled countless gallons of ink in the attempt to do.

The emphasis of liberation theologians on the three-tiered understanding of liberation is a very helpful understanding to me theologically because it seems to really give shape and content to the work of Christ as God-Incarnate. The three-tiered view of liberation put forth by Gutierrez sees the work of liberation as; 1.) liberation from the socio-economic oppression, 2.) liberation from dehumanization or anything that makes us to be less than what we are, and 3.) liberation from sin which is the ultimate form of and root of injustice and oppression. I find this helpful because, not only does it seem to provide a substantial foundation for ecclesiological praxis, but it also seems to encompass the totality of Christ’s work on our behalf. This understanding of liberation allows us to become participators in God’s work of establishing His Kingdom through the work of Christ the Liberator, and then the continuing of that work through the Body of the Liberator, the Church. Liberation theology, to me then, not only provides us with the methodology but also the theological content that allows us to understand the Gospel as being truly the Good News.