Lib Theo Flashcards
Orthopraxy
focuses on action first (Orthopraxy – right practice) rather than belief (Orthodoxy – right belief)
*It requires Christians to reflect critically on their experiences in life- Began in Latin America in 1964
*It focuses on the experiences of the poor and sees Christianity as an opportunity to respond to poverty and other examples of exploitation and alienation in the world.
*It is a theory linked to Karl Marx’s (19th century German economic theorist) analysis of capitalism.
*Capitalism, according to Marx, creates a world in which wealth and power are concentrated in the hands of the few at the expense of the many.
contextual theology
type of theology by which theologians reflect on a specific situation considering experience and within the christian tradition.
- responding to the plight of the poor politically and spiritually, liberation theology is self-consciously a contextual theology.
Miranda
use Marx’s suspicion of private ownership or property for the basis of his lib theo
Root cause of injustice, owner can treat workers like objects
Causes alienation and repression
Root cause is private ownership of land – believes he can treat poeple who work on land as though own them also
This is important and brings insight into a biblical idea which has been recovered by marx. but once it is recovered, Miranda argues it is even more radical than Marx:
human nature: Marxism has underestimated the insight of biblical writers that capitalism is due to human sin. This gives a fuller reason why humans oppress and exploit each other.
idolatry: Marx fails to give an adequate explanation for the causes because he rejects God. the answer is in the command against idolatry, which warns against treating god as an object. The abandonment of this command is why the world has been treated badly and capitalism has been worshipped instead.
The church and the people’s church
the meeting of latin american bishops in puebla in 1979 marked a significant moment in lib theo. one of the key terms was integral liberation, showing it was a part of all aspects of church life. puebla reinforced the view that it is the duty of the church to deal with economic conditions which create unjust structures as well as personal sin.
Faus
Social sin and alienation
‘when humans sin they create structures of sin’
-Structal sin form of social alienation, in which we are dehumanized
-based on capitalisms dialect that ‘ a human being is not worth anything’
-collective alienation contained in doctrine of original sinL
Must apply a hermenutic of suspicion
Luke 18 – the rich mans wealth, challenge Christian idea its acceptable to have this wealth
Gutierrez
Supports liberation theology : liberation happens in two ways:
1st – there must be social and economic liberation – poverty and oppression are caused by humans and can be alleviated by them = people must take responsibility and act!
2nd – people must be liberated from sin, reconciled with God and all of God’s brothers and sisters in Christ.
Look to Marx’s:
1.Understanding of the development of capitalism (means of production in the hands of the wealthy and powerful)
2.Belief that humans could change the world they live in
= This is arguably Marx’s most important impact on Liberation theology
Guittierrez - Praxis
For Gutierrez being Christian requires a person to be political
*Church must be a voice against alienation and exploitation, requiring orthopraxis before orthodoxy.
*Thus working to change people’s lives for the better should come before concerns about the official doctrines and teachings of the church.
*The Marxist analysis of structural inequality (which we embrace) informs Liberation theology’s concept of structural sin (accepting the injustice suffered by the poor and oppressed masses).
Praxis
Gutierrez used the terms first step praxis and second step praxis to show what it meant to do theology from the perspective of the poor.
First step praxis is to become genuinely committed to the poor.
Second step praxis is using the bible to critically reflect upon the commitment to the poor and use the gospel message as a starting point for liberation.
Warns against overly engaging in marxism
- cautions against endorsing every aspect of Marxism (Marx did not support religion in society)
- but believed that the people of Latin America had a deep-rooted desire for liberation from the burdens of capitalism.
However marxist ideology cannot be combined with Christianity
Supports Vatican 11 – dangerous to apply overly atheistic theories
Boff
Supports how the socialist is better than the capitalist ideal
“Liberation theology freely borrows from Marxism certain ‘methodical pointers’ that have proved fruitful in understanding the role of the oppressed.” (Boff and Boff ‘Introducing Liberation Theology’)
Liberation theology concluded that capitalism failed to satisfy the basic needs of the poor and although socialism may not be a perfect solution,
Fitszgerald
Supports hypocrisy of the state
“According to liberation theology, capitalism has clearly been incapable of satisfying basic needs in Latin America, despite the fact that government and business leaders are professed Christians.”
(Fitzgerald ‘The Economics of Liberation Theology’)
Romero
Weaknesses of marxism
liberation in Christianity is about the liberation from sin, not economic conditions
there are many kind of freedom other than political freedom
lib Theo places too much emphasis on the temporal or political liberation, not enough on human sin
it is reductionists because it equates salvation with praxis and revolution, not god’s grace
it makes truth exclusive to those who practice a certain kind of praxis
– or him liberation must be spiritual and then practical, and too much of marxist materialism undermines christianity.
Ratzinger
Criticism of liberation theology – Danger of marxim
*Potential dnager to adopt a Marxist analysis without changing
The Catholic Church will continue to struggle for the poor but using its own means and its own ways.
*Christianity cannot uphold a Marxist world view because Marxism is inherently unchristian.
Marxism is inherently unchristian.
- the lessons we should learn from the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century are that they come to power by violent and revolutionary means “precisely in the name of the liberation of the people”. The result is that those who employ revolutionary politics “betray the poor they mean to help”. Ratzinger said the Catholic Church should help the poor, but in its own way, not in a Marxist way.
Kee
The church has too little engagement with marxism
the problem is that even those who used marx critically have done so without tackling marx’s fundamental premise that criticism of religion is equally a criticism of all ideologies
-Cannot pick and choose what they find helpful
Response- Contradictory? What about faith?
Answer: however do not have to be totally atheist
kee argues that despite marxs atheism, marx’s historical materialism relies on a strongly spiritual sense in which each age gives way to the next for sake of progress and betterment
- christianity is to survive as a radical force in the next stage, its task is to consider how to tackle the present mindset of secular capitalism
-lib theo is too conservative
Camara
Opposes the Catholic Church labelling liberation theologians as communists and Marxists:
“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist”.
Camara doesn’t regard himself as a communist and questions the logical consistency of the Church’s view that it’s saintly to give food to the poor but somehow communist to ask why they have no food. Camara is arguing that liberation theology is not connected to the atheistic anti-religious core of Marxist theory. Camara’s point here could even be taken to show that the traditional Church is fulfilling Marx’s critique of religion as serving the interests of the powerful, by refusing to deal with the economic structural causes of poverty.
Mc Govern
Liberation theologoians are not marxist
claims that liberation theologians are not Marxist because they are not atheists nor even materialists. They avoid starting their analysis with class struggle, which is where Marx starts.
The Biblical basis for Liberation Theology
Jesus said “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God’ – Matthew 19:24.
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also”. Matthew 6:25-34.
If Jesus is saying give up all your possessions and that there shouldn’t be rich people – that sounds quite anti-capitalist.
Kloppenburg
Counter interpretation – argues against liberation theology
- arguably this at most shows that Jesus thought rich people should give to charity, it doesn’t suggest he wanted to overturn or address the causes of economic oppression/inequality
- argued that fusing theology and political action diminishes the spiritual message of Christianity.
-Liberation theology focuses on the injustice and sin in the structure of society, but Jesus spoke about the sin and forgiveness of individual people, he didn’t speak about society in general.
‘Temptations for the Theology of Liberation’ argues that by equating theology with political action, side-lines the spiritual messages of Christianity.
*It emphasises structural sin over personal sin, despite the fact that Jesus spoke of individual forgiveness and reconciliation with God.
*Anthroprecentric - It places too much emphasis on people being able to deliver liberation and salvation, whereas salvation is a gift from God.
Exodus story shows Kloppenberg is wrong: Exodus involved the liberation of Jews from the oppression of the Pharaoh and arguably shows that God is not only concerned about liberation at the individual level.
Biblical evidence against Liberation theology
Jesus claimed ‘My kingdom is not of this world’, which seems to suggest that the kingdom of God is unrelated to the politics of kingdoms in this world.
- Pope John Paul II draws on this verse, arguing that overly focusing on earthly socio-economic progress is “anthropocentric”, meaning human-focused. This leads to secularization and a lack of genuine spirituality.
Azlan
Reza Azlan argues that this quote is from the gospel of John written 90 years after Jesus’s death, after Christianity had divorced itself from Judaism and became a roman religion. The earlier Gospels present Jesus’s Kingdom as something he was bringing about on earth. Azlan is suggesting this verse was added to de-politicise Jesus so Christianity could better fit into Roman society. The verse thus does not represent who Jesus actually was.
Father Pedro Arrupe
Outline term; the ‘preferential option for the poor’
It refers to:
1.The trend in the Bible that shows a preference for individuals who are on the margins of society and who are powerless
2.The way in which Jesus associated himself more closely with the poor and dispossessed.
Boff - Pofp
theological motivations for a preferential option
the boff brothers outline five theological motivations that justify this:
theological motivation: focuses on the god of the bible as a living god who is immanent and involved in human history. god hears the cry of his people in exodus and seeks justice. the church must imitate this.
christological: jesus sided with the poor and acted in solidarity with those who were marginalised by society.
eschatological: the moment when god judges the world will be based on if a person has sided with the poor, according to the parable of sheep and goats in matthew.
apolostolic: after jesus’ death the first apostles organised christian groups to raise money for the poor. they did not distinguish based on faith.
ecclesiological: all members of the church should as a matter of faith seek the transformation of society.
Restrepo
revolution is necessary because there will always be reactionary forces who impede change. in marxism,
revolution does not begin with the oppressed but with the philosophers who interpret the world and act in solidarity to organise change
– the preferential option for the poor is inde bted to marx as it awakens the conscience of those in power to for the church into a class struggle against injustice.
– Argues we also need action/violence, words without action are empty and if this meant revolution or violence then it was a sign of faith to be involved.
Juan Segundo- John Paul 11
Theological understanding- need liberation from sin first
*Christians should not maintain an attitude of neutrality in the face of tragic and pressing problems of human misery and injustice.
*He writes that the Church “intends to struggle, by her own means, for the defence and advancement of the rights of mankind, especially of the poor.” (‘Theology and the Church’)
– *Segundo differed from Gutierrez, for while Gutierrez held that social and economic liberation must precede liberation from sin, Segundo believed that liberation from sin should come first because it might not be possible to change the world’s social and political structures.
Uses perefential option for the poor in his encyclical Centesimus Annus, (which was written to celebrate 100 year anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical) saying “I defined as a ‘special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity.’”
- *However he made it clear that the preferential option for the poor includes a concern for spiritual poverty, and does not focus exclusively on material or economic poverty.
*Spiritual poverty is something that can be caused by an over emphasis on material goods and consumerism writing
“drugs, as well a pornography and other forms of consumerism which exploit the frailty of the weak, tend to fill their resulting spiritual void.”
Gusiterriezz
‘A theology of liberation (19710
Recognises 3 main criteria to lead lib theo
1)Must be close to the poor – must be in proximity to the death ans suffering to which they face, to enable us to understand struggle/class oppression
2)Must affirm the right of the poor – both economically and spiriutality, we must ‘think faith’ and recognise how theyre spirutality is hinered by structures of sin
4)Must commit ourselves to a life of transformation – we should bring change from grass roots level, looking to praxis
Boff
‘Christ the liberator ‘ (1974)
Defends agaisnt catholic crticsism
‘marx is not treated as a subject by itself’
-recognise how marx does not venerate as the bible does
-But look critically to areas of marxsim that has proved frutiful in helping the poor
-recognise need for ricouers ‘hermentuic of spuspcitosn’. Looking crtically to context/accuracy of marxist texts
Cardinal Ratzinger
‘liberatus nunitus’ 1964
Recognise how liberation theology diverges too far from traditional christanity
`1) is reductionist, Marx is an ‘epistemoloigcally unique complex’ , inchorent to pick and choose certain areas
2) it is inherently unchristian – see how ‘atheism and denial of the human person are at the core of Marxist theory ‘- see how not fair as inerenlty denys people therye own faith/spiritual salvation
3) it promotes violence – to believe violence is the answer is to ‘fall victim to a fatal illusion’ , recognize how to othetrhow upper class ideal insinuates violence, contrary to chrisian idea of agape
4) it is reductionist – recognize how it reduces complex phenomena of salvation to human action – social preogress doesnt equate to salvation
Marx - Das capital - 1872
Devlops idea of a dialectal view of humanity
-Hegels idea one is in a constant sate of progression towards a more complete state
-thus old ideas replace new
Mirrors how by heping more praxis replaces orthodoxy
-forms a historical materialist view – of how economics underlies all
Thesis + antitheisis = synthesis, new state
