Liberation Theology and the Captivities of Jesus

Worldview ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 41-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Neuhaus

Gustavo Gutierrez is a native of Peru and professor of theology at the Catholic University of Peru. He is also chaplain to the National Union of Catholic University Students and advisor to the Latin American Bishops Conference. Gutierrez is widely credited with having coined the term "liberation theology," and with the recent publication of his A Theology of Liberation (Orbis; 323 pp.; $7.95/4.95) North American readers are challenged by a major systematic effort to articulate the meaning of the Christian gospel in terms attuned to the revolutionary ferment in Latin America.


Author(s):  
Mario I. Aguilar

This chapter identifies theologies of sacraments in the context of liberation theology, rooted primarily in work among poor Christians in 1960s Latin America. In doing so it addresses the “first step” (“the experience of God through the poor and the marginalized”) and the “second step” (“the historical and theological developments that led to the beginnings of liberation theology as a reflection on Christian experience”). The seminal work in liberation theology developed by Gustavo Gutiérrez and Juan Luis Segundo is described, as is the impact of the 1968 Latin American Bishops Conference in Medellin. In addition, the work of Ernesto Cardenal, a Nicaraguan Catholic priest, poet, and politician, in viewing the Eucharist in connection to the prophetic work of Jesus Christ among the poor is examined—specifically in the context of celebrating Eucharist in the Nicaraguan peasant communities of the archipelago of Solentiname.



2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (289) ◽  
pp. 69-101
Author(s):  
Afonso Murad ◽  
Élio Estanislau Gasda ◽  
Geraldo De Mori

O Congresso Continental de Teologia, realizado na Unisinos, em São Leopoldo, RS, entre os dias 7-11 de outubro, por ocasião da celebração dos 50 anos do Concílio Vaticano II e dos 40 anos da publicação da obra de Gustavo Gutierres que inaugurou a Teologia da Libertação, foi sem dúvida um dos maiores eventos teológicos ocorridos nesta região. Momento de celebração e de memória do caminho feito, com seus avanços e recuos, mas também momento de olhar para o presente e o futuro da América Latina e do Caribe, perguntando-se sobre o futuro da Igreja e da reflexão teológica nesta região. O texto apresenta os principais momentos e conteúdos do Congresso, mostrando sua importância para a teologia latino-americana e caribenha, além de apontar para as novas tarefas que parecem emergir deste momento ímpar da teologia na contemporaneidade.Abstract: The Continental Congress of Theology, held at Unisinos in São Leopoldo, RS, between 7-11 October, on the occasion of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Vatican II and the 40th anniversary of the publication of Gustavo Gutierrez’ work that inaugurated the Liberation Theology, was undoubtedly one of the greatest theological events occurring in this region. A time of celebration and of remembering the path we covered with its advances and retreats, but also a time to look at the present and future of Latin America and the Caribbean, wondering about the future of the Church and the theological reflection in this region. The text presents the key moments and main contents of the Congress, showing its importance for the Latin American and Caribbean theology, as well as pointing to new tasks that seem to emerge from this unique moment in contemporary theology.Keywords: Latin America and the Caribbean. Continental Congress. Vatican II. Liberation Theology.



Author(s):  
Lilian Calles Barger

This chapter examines the differences within liberationists’ ranks, and how counter-challenges from a consensus theology in its last throes tested the coherency of liberation theology. As the new Latin American theology challenged the U.S. empire, black and feminist theologians within its borders found an institutional space in which to incubate a new orthodoxy and engage in internal debate. Latin America, historically an object of North American missionary and political expansion, drew the bulk of the relevant attention, casting the entire enterprise of liberation theology as a Latin American product and a problem for U.S. regional political and cultural dominance. The fragmented liberal theological establishment of the United States and the weakened Catholic cultural hegemony in Latin America shaped the reception of liberation theology, allowing the establishment of a new orthodoxy.



Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 251
Author(s):  
Raimundo C. Barreto

This article explores the intersection between history, mission, and theology in Latin America by shedding light on the encounter between North American missionary Richard Shaull and Brazilian theologian and poet Rubem Alves. It examines Shaull’s impact on Alves as Alves became, first, one of the founders of Latin American liberation theology and, later, one of its challengers as he moved away from normative theological language towards theopoetics. In this article, I underscore particular snapshots of Alves’ vast work, noting that the images of the poet and the prophet that permeate much of it are not mutually exclusive. I argue that Rubem Alves’ provocative work remains an important resource for a theory of action that takes subjectivity and beauty seriously. Throughout this article, Shaull and Alves are presented as different but complementary thinkers, representative of Alves’ prophetic and poetic types. It is argued that a closer look at the similarities and complementarities in the works of this duo may provide us with new insights through which Rubem Alves’ poetic voice and Richard Shaull’s prophetic persistence can come together as resources for the reimagination of our hopes for a more beautiful and just world.



Author(s):  
Ole Jakob Løland

AbstractThe battle for meaning and influence between Latin American liberations theologians and the Vatican was one of the most significant conflicts in the global Catholic church of the twentieth century. With the election of the Argentinean Jorge Mario Bergoglio as head of the global church in 2013, the question about the legacy of liberation theology was actualized. The canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the pope’s approximation to the public figure of Gustavo Gutiérrez signaled a new approach to the liberation theology movement in the Vatican. This article argues that Pope Francis shares some of the main theological concerns as pontiff with liberation theology. Although the pope remains an outsider to liberation theology, he has in a sense solved the conflict between the Vatican and the Latin American social movement. Through an analysis of ecclesial documents and theological literature, his can be discerned on three levels. First, Pope Francis’ use of certain theological ideas from liberation theology has been made possible and less controversial by post-cold war contexts. Second, Pope Francis has contributed to the solution of this conflict through significant symbolic gestures rather than through a shift of official positions. Third, as Pope Francis, the Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio has appropriated certain elements that are specific to liberation theology without acknowledging his intellectual debt to it.



1978 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-370
Author(s):  
Alan Neely

Liberation theology surfaced at Medellin in 1968. Professor Neely, whose eleven-year service in Colombia included that date, fully acknowledges the importance of the CELAM conference. However, he feels that the beginnings or antecedents of this movement can be traced to a number of sources both in Latin America and elsewhere. We're deeply indebted to the author for this careful, objective analysis which views the Latin American developments in terms of a broader historical perspective.



2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Jorge Costadoat Carrasco

RESUMEN: El objetivo de esta investigación es suministrar argumentos para identificar la Teología latinoamericana con la Teología de la liberación, y viceversa. Entre estos argumentos se debe considerar la conciencia de alcanzar la “mayoría de edad” de la Iglesia en América Latina en el postconcilio; la convicción de los teólogos de la liberación de estar elaborando una “nueva manera” de hacer teo­logía; una toma de distancia del carácter ilustrado de la teología; y la posibilidad de reconocer en los acontecimientos regionales, particularmente en los pobres, un habla original de Dios. Este artículo pretende hacer una contribución al status quaestionis del método teológico.ABSTRACT: The objective of this paper is to provide arguments to identify Latin American Theology with Liberation Theology, and vice versa. Among these arguments, one should consider the awareness of the Church in Latin America reaching its “age of maturity” in the post-conciliar period. Other arguments are the conviction of liberation theologians to be elaborating a “new way” of doing theology; a distance from the illustrated characteristic of theology; and, the possibility of recognizing in regional events, particularly in the poor, God’s original speech. This article aims to contribute to the status quaestionis of the theological method.



2019 ◽  
pp. 95-126
Author(s):  
Sharon Erickson Nepstad

This chapter examines the conditions that fostered liberation theology in Latin America. The chapter provides a brief overview of liberation theology’s central themes and how it fueled revolutionary movements in Central America, particularly in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. It surveys the Catholic hierarchy’s responses, ranging from sympathy to condemnation, and highlights several US religious movements that expressed solidarity with Central American Catholics who were fighting for social justice. These organizations included Witness for Peace, which brought US Christians to the war zones of Nicaragua to deter combat attacks, and also Pledge of Resistance, which mobilized tens of thousands into action when US policy toward the region grew more bellicose. Finally, the chapter describes the School of the Americas Watch, which aimed to stop US training of Latin American militaries that were responsible for human rights atrocities.



Theosemiotic ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 15-42
Author(s):  
Michael L. Raposa

This chapter supplies a historical survey of theosemiotic, focused less on demonstrating actual lines of causal influence than on exposing the resonance of certain ideas articulated by thinkers sometimes far removed from each other in space and time. It links Peirce’s thought to that of earlier figures (like Augustine, Duns Scotus, John Poinsot, Jonathan Edwards, and Ralph Waldo Emerson), certain contemporaries (especially William James and Josiah Royce), and later thinkers and developments (most notably, H. Richard Niebuhr, Simone Weil, and Gustavo Gutierrez). The chapter begins with an examination of the religious significance of talk about the “book of nature” and concludes with the observation of a certain natural affinity between a theosemiotic inspired by Peirce’s pragmatism and Latin American liberation theology.



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