Whatever happened to liberation theology? New directions for theological reflection in latin America

Anglican Theological Review, Fall 2001 by Kater, John L Jr

Furthermore, he writes, Christians' preferential option for the poor is not to be identified "with an ideology or a determined political program; these options may be among the legitimate options for a layperson but they by no means exhaust the experiences of the Gospel."32

If liberation theology has been transformed in such dramatic ways, it is fair to ask: What, if anything, remains of this challenging enterprise that had such an impact on the theological world of the last generation? What new elements and perspectives mark its current development?

There is nearly universal consensus among theologians who have been part of this movement that the misery and oppression which provided the impetus for its development not only remain; in fact, they have worsened.

Modernity goes on towards its end, sowing on the earth, in the majority of humanity, fear, hunger, disease and death... among those excluded from the benefits of the World-system which is being globalized.... It is raised as a criterion of truth, validity and possibility and destroys human life, treads on the dignity of millions of human beings, fails to recognize equality and much less affirms itself as re-sponsible [sic] for the otherness of the excluded and accepts only the hypocritical juridical demand with regard to complying with the duty of paying a (fictitious) international debt of the poor nations on the periphery, although the debtor people perish.... It is a massive assassination; it is the beginning of a collective suicide.33

At the same time, the basic ethical-theological stance which engaged the reality of poverty and exclusion continues to motivate both reflection and action. Mindful of the awareness that poverty stretches beyond economic deprivation to include "non-persons, "the left-over population," "the excluded," Gutierrez considers the option for the poor as "the most important contribution of the life and reflection of the Latin American church," and "beyond the region as the fundamental Christian message." That option has the effect of "taking the poor out of anonymity," giving them a face and a name.34 Jorge Pixley argues that liberation theology in fact "rediscovers the central themes of the Gospel, of the Bible." The cross emphasizes commitment with the expectation of being defeated; the resurrection means "for those who direct themselves to the cross the confidence that God will rescue from their defeat life for the poor for whom [Christ] dies."35 Nor has the mandate for solidarity with the struggle of the victims changed. Gutierrez notes that Deuteronomy 15 demands that there be no poor in the land; but since there are, "we already know what must be done. ... There is no commitment to the poor if we don't struggle against the causes of poverty."36 Commenting on the need for fidelity, he observes, "blessed are the stubborn," and adds, "every saint is stubborn."37 Solidarity, says Pablo Richard, is rooted in

our faith in the God of life: the God of the Exodus, the God of Abraham, the God who demands the sabbath, the sabbatical year and the Year of Jubilee; the God of the prophets, the God of the wisdom and the prayer of Israel; the God of Jesus, the God of the Reign of God, the God of Paul of Tarsus who proclaims salvation by faith and not by the law, the God of John, who has loved us first and who is revealed as the God of Love, the God of Revelation who orients history towards a new heaven and a new earth.38