Content provided in partnership with

Whatever happened to liberation theology?

Christian Century, Oct 20, 1999 by Nancy E. Bedford

<< Page 1 Continued from page 3. Previous | Next

The impact of such groups should be understood as a significant sign of the times for the new generation of Latin American liberation theologians. The desire of so many people to "stop suffering" now, not in some utopian future, needs to be integrated into theology. Neo-Pentecostal practices point out the importance of the body and of an embodied theology.

Most Popular Articles in Reference: The importance of understanding organizational culture; Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students; What factors attract foreign direct investment?; Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...; How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques; More »

One might also ask what a liberating theology has to say about the practices of expulsing demons and miraculous healing that are central to many practicing Christians today in Latin America. It is significant that the word liberacion as now used in many circles means "exorcism" rather than the overcoming of political and economic oppression. It would seem that such a wider liberation appears so remote to many people as to be meaningless, whereas the struggle against concrete evil spirits is extremely familiar to many persons with roots in traditional Latin American (including Afro-Latin American) religiosity. One task of theology in Latin America is to retrieve and refigure the rich symbols evoked by the clouds of powers and principalities dear to popular imagination and religion. But an equally important task is to point out both that they have a structural dimension and that Jesus Christ, in his humble way, made a mockery of those powers.

LATIN AMERICA has such a wealth of symbols in part because it is made up of hybrid cultures; it contains a huge patchwork of ethnic and cultural influences and traditions. This implies a richness of perspectives that is now recognized. Whereas the first generation of Latin American liberation theologians was made up primarily of Roman Catholic priests and other male religious leaders, today there are many voices speaking from the perspective of gender or incorporating the rich symbols inherited from a pre-Columbian or an African heritage. There are also many theologians more at home with Luther and Calvin than with Thomas Aquinas. And there are others well versed in "postmodern" insights.

To speak of "postmodernity" in Latin America is admittedly rather polemical. One can certainly detect, for instance, a growing skepticism toward "modernity" in the form of master narratives and instrumental reason, possibly because Latin America has so often had a painful experience of these narratives and the exercise of such reason--experiencing them from the "reverse side of history," to use Gutierrez's apt phrase. What one actually sees is premodern, modern and postmodern elements in one hybrid culture, in one city, in one person.

This complexity strikes me every night when I walk home after teaching. Amid the hum of the motors on the street, I also hear the clackety-clack of hooves hitting the cobblestones, the sound of a legion of cartoneros, people who scavenge in the streets each night trying to fill their horse-drawn carts with old newspapers, packing cartons, aluminum cans or edible scraps. Their carts are premodern; the newspapers they search for are typically modern; and the recyclers to whom they sell their tattered wares cater to largely postmodern concerns about preserving resources. The cartoneros point out, with dignity, that they prefer to be called recicladores, recyclers.

Whatever happened to liberation theology?

Christian Century, Oct 20, 1999 by Nancy E. Bedford

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Reference

Most Popular Articles in Reference

Most Popular Publications in Reference