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A review by davehershey
A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation (Revised by Gustavo Gutiérrez, Gustavo Gutierrez
5.0
Who Should Read this Book – People who are interested in theology, especially those who have a desire to learn from writers outside the white, European tradition.
What is the Big Take-Away from this Book – God created humans as holistic creatures encompassing both body and soul so theology must not limit itself to so-called spiritual questions but also examine questions of nature, society, politics and economics. To do this well in America, American Christians like me need to read authors from outside our context.
And a Memorable Quote: “Consequently, when we assert that humanity fulfills itself by continuing the work of creation by means of its labor, we are saying that it places itself, by this very fact, within an all embracing salvific process. To work, to transform this world, is to become a man and to build the human community; it is also to save. Likewise, to struggle against misery and exploitation and to build a just society is already to be part of the saving action, which is moving towards its complete fulfillment. All this means that building the temporal city is not simply a stage of ‘humanization’ or ‘pre-evangelization’ as was held in theology until a few years ago. Rather it is to become part of a saving process which embraces the whole of humanity and all human history. Any theological reflection on human work and social praxis ought to be rooted in this fundamental affirmation” (91)
This is a key work in liberation theology. Gutierrez writes from his context as a Roman Catholic in Latin America. Thus, Catholic councils and theologians loom large. These were, for me, the least interesting parts of the book, and perhaps the most dated already. But when Gutierrez turns his focus to theology, he transcends his own context.
When I was in seminary we learned theology and then we took some time to study contextual theologies. Theology was the tradition of the church from early church councils to medieval scholastics to Reformers then on to modern theologians wrestling with a growing post-Christian context. Then we turned to black liberation theology, or Latin American liberation theology, or feminist or LGBTQ or whatever and it was often noted that these contextual theologies began with their experience.
To be fair, my seminary was quite open-minded and our professors recognized that all theology is rooted in some context. There is no pure theology. Over the years, I’ve learned to love and learn from all sorts of people. Gutierrez taught me a lot in this book. That’s what I mean by saying he transcends his own context. As he wrote about the situation in Latin America, I saw much overlap with the situation in North America. When he began developing a holistic, full-fledged theology that included both spiritual and material realities and concerns, I saw much in there that we Christians need to learn in the USA.
When I observe the Christian atmosphere here in the USA, I truly wonder if Christianity has actually ever taken root here (I’m reminded of a David Bentley Hart quote that asks that question). We say we’re Christian but we’ve made faith into mere belief, something right at home in our capitalist, consumerist, individualist society. I mean, a large portion of Christians I know would probably see I read a book on “liberation theology” and think I’m some kind of socialist because they’re more shaped by Rush, Beck, Hannity and those guys than anything distinctly faith-centered.
I’m not saying I have it all figured out; on my best days I am just as consumerist and individualist as the next guy. I am saying that we’d all do better off, if we believe in the universal church, learning from folks like Gutierrez. Theologians and Christians from other contexts - global and historical - have their own blind spots but at least they’re probably different than the blind spots we have in the US. For illuminating my blind spots, I am grateful.
What is the Big Take-Away from this Book – God created humans as holistic creatures encompassing both body and soul so theology must not limit itself to so-called spiritual questions but also examine questions of nature, society, politics and economics. To do this well in America, American Christians like me need to read authors from outside our context.
And a Memorable Quote: “Consequently, when we assert that humanity fulfills itself by continuing the work of creation by means of its labor, we are saying that it places itself, by this very fact, within an all embracing salvific process. To work, to transform this world, is to become a man and to build the human community; it is also to save. Likewise, to struggle against misery and exploitation and to build a just society is already to be part of the saving action, which is moving towards its complete fulfillment. All this means that building the temporal city is not simply a stage of ‘humanization’ or ‘pre-evangelization’ as was held in theology until a few years ago. Rather it is to become part of a saving process which embraces the whole of humanity and all human history. Any theological reflection on human work and social praxis ought to be rooted in this fundamental affirmation” (91)
This is a key work in liberation theology. Gutierrez writes from his context as a Roman Catholic in Latin America. Thus, Catholic councils and theologians loom large. These were, for me, the least interesting parts of the book, and perhaps the most dated already. But when Gutierrez turns his focus to theology, he transcends his own context.
When I was in seminary we learned theology and then we took some time to study contextual theologies. Theology was the tradition of the church from early church councils to medieval scholastics to Reformers then on to modern theologians wrestling with a growing post-Christian context. Then we turned to black liberation theology, or Latin American liberation theology, or feminist or LGBTQ or whatever and it was often noted that these contextual theologies began with their experience.
To be fair, my seminary was quite open-minded and our professors recognized that all theology is rooted in some context. There is no pure theology. Over the years, I’ve learned to love and learn from all sorts of people. Gutierrez taught me a lot in this book. That’s what I mean by saying he transcends his own context. As he wrote about the situation in Latin America, I saw much overlap with the situation in North America. When he began developing a holistic, full-fledged theology that included both spiritual and material realities and concerns, I saw much in there that we Christians need to learn in the USA.
When I observe the Christian atmosphere here in the USA, I truly wonder if Christianity has actually ever taken root here (I’m reminded of a David Bentley Hart quote that asks that question). We say we’re Christian but we’ve made faith into mere belief, something right at home in our capitalist, consumerist, individualist society. I mean, a large portion of Christians I know would probably see I read a book on “liberation theology” and think I’m some kind of socialist because they’re more shaped by Rush, Beck, Hannity and those guys than anything distinctly faith-centered.
I’m not saying I have it all figured out; on my best days I am just as consumerist and individualist as the next guy. I am saying that we’d all do better off, if we believe in the universal church, learning from folks like Gutierrez. Theologians and Christians from other contexts - global and historical - have their own blind spots but at least they’re probably different than the blind spots we have in the US. For illuminating my blind spots, I am grateful.