Liberation Theology is Alive and Well
Good stuff my a fellow Lutheran. Liberation Theology is one resource amongst many I’ve grown to appreciate critically and creatively.
“. Liberation theology is spiritually grounded on – and gets its motivation from – the life changing encounter with Christ as liberator and with our neighbours in need. Their suffering is not a result of fate but of systemic injustices and oppression, which can be overcome by transformative action.
If we look at our reality today, we are reminded that poverty has by no means been overcome in the world yet. On the contrary, the recent international financial crisis, produced by unrestrained capitalist forces governed by greed and private and corporate interests, has increased the number of the poor – or rather, the impoverished – in the world by hundreds of millions.
. As a contextual approach, aimed at critically reflecting on the praxis of God’s people, liberation theology was never intended to become a static, dogmatic theoretical construction. Its intention was not to highlight a neglected theological theme, but rather to propose a newway of doing theology. It naturally underwent changes over the decades. At the outset it focused on the living conditions of the poor, later on it incorporated other issues, like indigenous peoples, racism, gender inequalities and ecology.
Nowadays liberation theology deals as well with the interpretation of cultures and with anthropological questions, for example the temptation of power. The goal of striving towards a more just society where there is "room for all" persists, yet the way of achieving it has shifted towards civil society action.”
THE EMERGENCE OF CANONICAL THEISM
Reading William Abraham’s spiritual and theological journey is extremely helpful to understand the motivation and vision of “Canonical Theism”.
“The value of such testimony lies in this: canonical theism is not one more speculative effort in systematic theology; it is an attempt to find an expression of the faith that nourishes the soul and that provides shape and motivation for lively involvement in the life and ministry of the church. There is merit, then, in providing a more personal take on the issues at stake. While every element within canonical theism is subject to appropriate intellectual analysis, reflection, and rigorous criticism, these intellectual practices are intimately joined to a robust commitment to the kingdom of God in the church and the world. So speaking openly and personally about such matters may help illuminate what is at stake.”
WISDOM FROM THE MARGINS: SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AND THE MISSIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
In recent years, I’ve grown to appreciate the voices from the margins. Hopefully, I’ve grown wiser in the process.
“A theology that is attentive to the church’s mission will be one that attentive not just to the “usual” sources–Scripture, obviously, the patristic witness, Aquinas, Barth, church teaching, contemporary European and American theologians, etc.–but to sources “beyond the boundaries” as well.
Since a sensitivity to mission includes a sensitivity to the church’s catholicity (the mark of the church that Robert Schreiter argues is the particular mark for our times)[54] systematic theology will pay particular attention to the voices of Christians from other local churches around the world.”
Okay . looks like Three is enough for today, Five would be fantastic and was the standard previously. 🙂