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Liberation Theology

David Cowles

Oct 29, 2024

“Freedom is a precondition for all Theology (the study of God) and so, all Theology must be Liberation Theology.”

Today, AT celebrates the life of Father Gustavo Gutiérrez, called the Father of Liberation Theology, who passed away on October 22. German Cardinal Gerhard Müller called him "one of the great theologians of our time." His 1971 book, A Theology of Liberation, remains a core text for Roman Catholics seeking to fuse Christian spirituality with Bible mandated social justice. 


The idea of a Liberation Theology proved to be remarkably controversial…so controversial in fact that wars were fought over it. Ground Zero was in Central America: Nicaragua, Contras vs. Sandinistas, with significant interference from El Norte. The outcome? Well, you be the judge.


All theology is Liberation Theology; it has to be! Like young men and women world over, Abraham emancipated himself, left his parents’ home in Ur, and headed for the Promised Land. Moses freed the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. Joshua liberated the marginalized of Jericho; Gideon rescued Israel from the Midianites…and, temporarily at least, from the self-imposed disaster of a monarchy. 


Later, David liberated Israel from the Philistines, Cyrus repatriated the Judean hostages from Babylon, and first century (CE) Jews keenly awaited their liberation from Roman rule. Jesus of Nazareth was an expression of Israel’s liberation tradition, but he had a somewhat different sort of liberation in mind; as a result, many declined to recognize him as the Messiah for whom they had been waiting. 


But make no mistake about it – Jesus was a revolutionary, passionately committed to liberation… but a liberation that went beyond simple ‘regime change’. Jesus understood that liberation was humanity’s existential project, both individually and collectively.


Political subjugation, even slavery, robs us of only a portion of our humanity. No matter how tight the reins, there is always space, albeit infinitesimal, for us to reclaim ourselves – space in which we can create beauty, discover truth, work for justice, space in which we can serve others and honor God, space in which even ‘the caged bird sings’.


Slavery is rigidity! It is highly structured and inflexible; it is intolerant of change or challenge. But fortunately, the universe we live in is intolerant of rigidity. As Heraclitus told us 2500 years ago, “Everything flows.” 

Freedom is the irrepressible trickle of water that undermines the foundation of every ‘Bastille’… and ultimately brings it down: “There goes another rubber tree plant.” (Frank Sinatra) Freedom is the realm of the ‘hyperreal’, separating ossified structure from organic process, the dead from the living. Indeed, the dead are redeemed in the lives of the living! 


We can stare down the most fearsome engine of oppression, knowing in our hearts that ‘this too shall pass’. We can even taunt our captors: “Your name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; look upon your works, ye mighty, and despair!” (Nothing remains…according to Shelley at least.) 


Of course, one form of slavery often follows closely on the heels of another: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!” (The Who) But that is our fault! Every collapse creates an opening for the Kingdom of Heaven to break through. Sadly, we don’t always make the most of such opportunities.


But I digress. Why must all theology be ‘liberation theology’? When we say, “God is Good”, we are not characterizing God. We cannot characterize God. God is ineffable, exceeding all categories of human reason and language. 


Good and God are synonymous. Although the two words have distinct roots, those roots ultimately trace back to a common (Germanic) origin. We use Good whenever we wish to refer to ‘the Ineffable’ in relation to our world; we use God when we refer to  ‘the ineffable’ in relation to itself (e.g. Trinity).


When we say ‘Good’, we’re pointing at Value, not any one specific value (e.g. Beauty, Truth, Justice)  but Value per se. But between Value per se and the set of all specific applications of values, there lies a dimensionless but infinite hyperreal world we call Freedom


Values are only operative in a world to the extent that entities are free to pursue them. Thankfully, we live in such a world! The existence (or not) of God is irrelevant unless entities are free to know, love and serve him, or not). Knowing, loving, and serving are activities of free agents. Therefore, Freedom is a precondition for all Theology (the study of God) and so, all Theology must be Liberation Theology.


 

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