Liberation

Question 1

Conscientisation

Answer 1

Process by which someone becomes conscious of the power structures in society

Question 2

Structural sin

Answer 2

Idea that sin isn’t just a personal action, but something that can be brought about through unjust organisations and social structures

Question 3

Preferential option for the poor

Answer 3

The idea that Jesus Christ stood with the poor and oppressed and stood in solidarity with them

Question 4

Basic Christian communities

Answer 4

Christian groups that gather together to try to directly resolve difficulties in their lives

Question 5

Marx argued capitalism …

Answer 5

Created a world in which wealth and power are concentrated in the hands of the few at the expense of the many

Question 6

Where does liberation theology start (contrary to typically theology starting in universities and seminars)

Answer 6

Theology should not be exclusively academic. It should start with people’s lives

Question 7

When and how did liberation theology start

Answer 7

1964
Young Catholic theologians met in Brazil and pledged themselves to finding the truth of the Christian message in the poverty of Latin America.
Therefore began as both intellectual movement and a practical movement, among those who worked with the poor.
The group included two people who became leading liberation theologians : Jon Sobrino and Guatavo Gutiérrez

Question 8

Whose work did liberation theology draw on and what was it

Answer 8

Paulo Freire
Invented the term conscientisation
Freire thought that education should liberate people by raising their consciousness, teaching them how to read not only words but also the power structures in society.
Opposed the idea that education was simply about moving information from one generation to the next ; he wanted to transform society

Question 9

What does liberation theology think comes first action or explanation

Answer 9

Action comes first then explanation
Orthopraxy (right practice) should come before Orthodoxy (right belief)
Liberation theology is therefore a theology of doing, and everyone can do it.
It requires Christian’s to reflect critically on their experience of life.

Question 10

Concept of Kingdom Of God

Answer 10

Is central to liberation theology
It is the world made anew, not where we go after death
The coming of the Kingdom Of God is something that must be hoped for, and worked for, in this world
Christians must destroy the roots of exploitation and oppression by living a Christian life and working for peace and justice in the hope of creating the Kingdom of God on earth.
In this way,liberation theology offers hope to the poor and the oppressed that things might change for them
This implies real revolution, not just a revolution in word and thought.

Question 11

For Gutiérrez how does liberation happen

Answer 11

In two distinct ways.
First, there must be social and economic liberation.
Poverty and oppression are caused by humans and can be redeemed by them. Therefore, people must take responsibility for liberation and act to bring it about.
Secondly, people must be liberated from sin, reconciled with God and all of God’s brothers and sisters in Christ.
Both methods are essential, it is not enough to focus on liberation from sin without liberation from socio economic injustices, and vice versa.
Sin is not just personal, it is historical and collective because it is found in the social structures and institutions that harm people.