Liberation Theology Essay - 646 Words

Liberation Theology Liberation theology is situational. The emergence of liberation theology and the interpretation of the Bible under liberation theology stems directly to the participants place in society. As the title suggests, liberation theology interprets the Bible as a document of hope that will give strength and validity to a struggle against an oppressor. Liberation theology rises out of a new political consciousness. The oppressed people have to realize they are oppressed and that the Bible text can be used as a tool to overcome their oppressors. In regards to South Africa, there was an awakening when the black people realized their lack of influence in politics, the huge economic disparity between rich and poor, and their low†¦show more content†¦State theology is controlled by the same people who control the political parities, the economic situation, and the agents of oppression. In this theology, money talks, and the people without money have no voice. Apartheid was like a religio n in that it was something people strongly believed in, it used the Bible as justification, and it was practiced every day. The important item to remember is that apartheid was created by humans. It was flawed (obviously) and actually worked in direct opposition to the Church’s teachings. As Boesak points out, â€Å"Can a Christian in a Christian country with a host of Christian churches speak and preach about the sanctity of family life and about the responsibility of parents and children and at the same time vote for a government and sustain and aid a system that gives theological justification to laws that maintain that black people cannot live together as husband and wife.† (120) the hypocrisy here seems so blatant. As liberation theology has moved on in the post Apartheid era, there has been several problems in its adaptation. The South African liberation theology movement was based almost solely on racial equality and the end to apartheid. When apartheid was dismantled, the movement had no direction, even though several social issues still remained. The focus of the movement was so specific that it made it difficult to transition to anything more inclusive. Another problem with liberation theology is that the text it usesShow MoreRelatedLiberation Theology Essay1157 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction According to Enns (2008), liberation theology attempts to infer the holy writ through the plight of the poor. This movement originated from South America in the early 1950s when Marxism was the most popular theory among the poor. It was a response to the ill-treatment and poverty facing the ordinary people. It dealt with the issue of distribution of wealth among people in order to upgrade the economic status in life. This movement had strong Romanian Catholic roots bolstered in ColombiaRead MoreBlack Liberation Theology Essay1864 Words   |  8 PagesBlack Liberation Theology can be defined as the relationship that blacks have with god in their struggle to end oppression. It sees god as a god of history and the liberator of the oppressed from bondage. Black Liberation theology views God and Christianity as a gospel relevant to blacks who struggle daily under the oppression of whites. Because of slavery, blacks concept of God was totally different from the masters who enslaved the m. White Christians saw god as more of a spiritual savior, theRead MoreBlack Liberation Theology Essay1819 Words   |  8 PagesBlack Liberation Theology can be defined as the relationship that blacks have with god in their struggle to end oppression. It sees god as a god of history and the liberator of the oppressed from bondage. Black Liberation theology views God and Christianity as a gospel relevant to blacks who struggle daily under the oppression of whites. Because of slavery, blacks concept of God was totally different from the masters who enslaved them. White Christians saw god as more of a spiritual savior, theRead MoreAfrican Women s Liberation Theology Essay2365 Words   |  10 PagesDISSERTATION AFRICAN WOMEN IN LIBERATION THEOLOGY Literature Review Liberation theology is the fulfilment and deliverance of theology from the instance of positioning it in real situations in life into the centre of the battle. Liberation theology desires to bring excessive religious zeal which fails to identify the quality of declaring God who created all man equal but is disinterested about their existence. McCall says â€Å"Liberation theology represents attempts to move theology from the abstract to practicalRead MoreLiberation Theology Essay1076 Words   |  5 Pagestouching on the ideas of James Cone’s ideas on Liberation Theology and the relationship between the Cross and the Lynching Tree, our group decided to focus the topic of our presentation around Liberation Theology. However, in order to create a counter argument to stimulate further discourse, we introduced the Theology of Prosperity, as an opposing theological concept, to our presentation. Hence, we came up with the topic of Liberation Theology vs. Theology of Prosperity. Firstly, it was necessaryRead MoreEssay about Liberation Theology796 Words   |  4 PagesLiberation Theology I see [liberation theology] as a theology of the people, rather than of professional theologians; rising out of the cries of the oppressed; refined in the experience of those who may not even be able to read and write; clarified in thousands of base communities; embodied in lives that risk everything to be faithful to the good news that God hears their cry, sides with them in their distress, and works with them for liberation- a liberation in which they play a central roleRead MoreEssay on Oscar Romero, Liberation Theology and the Catholic Church3831 Words   |  16 PagesOscar Romero, Liberation Theology and the Catholic Church In the post-World War II era, the globe was polarized by two idealistically divergent superpowers; the United States and the Soviet Union, two nations that strived to promote capitalism and communism, respectively, throughout the globe. Nowhere was this struggle more apparent than in developing countries with shaky political and economic backbones. Specifically, in Latin America the old, corrupt and often totalitarian regimes were threatenedRead MoreAnalysis Of Gustavo Gutierrezs Theology Of Liberation1850 Words   |  8 PagesLiberation theology calls followers of Jesus to work together to create a just society that brings change and align themselves with the oppressed. All of my sources Gustavo Gutierrez, Paul Farmer, and Sohail Hasmi place defending the rights of the poor as a central aspects of their arguments. Which is why I am led to believe that my sources could come together, even if they have different point of views. In Gustavo Gutierrez’s Theology of Liberation, he argues this theology is about committing toRead MoreEssay on Liberation Theology in Latin America1734 Words   |  7 Pagesgroups of individuals in an attempt to change the social structure of their respective countries. In turn, these popular movements led to the rise of dictatorships aimed to control the people and protect the desires of the country (Introducing Liberation Theology). The social, political, and economical atmosphere of this time proved prime for religious change and new ideals. In the early 1960’s, the churches in Latin America experienced a much-needed sense of revitalization. The church eagerly soughtRead MoreHistory Of South American Poverty And The Development Of Liberation Theology1451 Words   |  6 PagesLiberation Theology â€Å"But the poor person does not exist as an inescapable fact of destiny. His or her existence is not politically neutral, and it is not ethically innocent. The poor are a by-product of the system in which we live and for which we are responsible. They are marginalized by our social and cultural world. They are the oppressed, exploited proletariat, robbed of the fruit of their labor and despoiled of their humanity. Hence the poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action