Liberation Theology

Research Paper # 64903

Latin-American Studies > Race, Class, Gender Issues
Religion and Theology > Christianity
Sociology

Liberation Theology

This paper discusses the history of liberation theology and its founder Gustavo Gutierrez.

4,145 words () | 26 sources | MLA | 2005 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that liberation theology as developed by Father Gustavo Gutierrez was shaped by political events specific to Peru and to Latin America's position in the world economy especially the economic crises of the 1960s, which nurtured revolutionary movements in Peru and elsewhere: Social change required unconventional measures as evidenced in grassroot churches and organizations such as the CEB (Comunidades Eclesiales de Base or Base Christian Communities). The author points out that the ecclesiology proposed by Gutierrez is closely associated with his reinterpretation of salvation as a single yet complex process of historical liberation, which encompasses the whole person and all persons, proclaiming a God whose love frees human beings to love. The paper states that liberation theology is moving toward divesting itself from dependence on the Western philosophical tradition by recovering local traditions, values and visions and by using the languages, which emerge from the interaction of the theologians with the poor, who are reclaiming their personhood. Many quotations.

Table of Contents
Introduction/Historical Background
The Ecclesiology of Liberation Theology
The Epistemology of Liberation Theology
Socio-analytic Mediation
Dialogue with the Social Sciences
Introspection and Inter-religious Dialogue
The Hermeneutical Circle
The Hermeneutical Mediation
Practical Mediation
Praxis as Criterion of Truth
Criticisms of Liberation Theology
Alistair Kee
The Vatican
Rosemary Reuther
Michael Novak
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"There have been objections to the liberation theologian's social commitment or disinterested nature of science and knowledge. Critics argue that science is no more revolutionary or reactionary than it is religious or atheistic. In countering this criticism, liberation theologians pointed out that, insofar as it is a science, from an epistemological point of view, theology is a disinterested cognition. Insofar as it is a social positivity, or virtue of its factual insertion into the fabric of social interests, theology is not an innocent, neutral, apolitical function but a partisan and interested social instrument. Liberation theologists recognize that there is no straight, logical path from theory to praxis, nor from praxis to theory."