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Theology of Liberation and its gift to Exegesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Christopher Rowland
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The future of the theology of liberation is hidden in a cloud of controversy. Nevertheless, I have a shrewd suspicion that, whatever the aspirations of the religious authorities might be, we are dealing with an approach to the Bible and a way of Christian discipleship which is so deep-rooted that it will be difficult to dislodge, at least in some areas of Latin America. This is not to suggest that the way ahead for the liberation theologians is going to be an easy one. But the fact is that in a country like Brazil there is an intimate link between this theological approach and the life of the church. The importance of the basic Christian communities in the lives of ordinary Christians and in the work of the theologians of liberation themselves cannot be overestimated. They have provided the framework and the foundation on which its edifice has been built. There may be moves against practitioners of the theology of liberation, but there will still be the setting for that theological reflection. What is more, there are signs that the theological method has been appropriated in certain quarters of North American and European theology. But what most concerns us here is the fact that the theology of liberation is producing distinctive approaches to biblical interpretation which in my view demand a hearing from us.

Type
Research Article
Information
New Blackfriars , Volume 66 , Issue 778 , April 1985 , pp. 157 - 172
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers

Footnotes

*

This is a slightly revised version of the paper 'New Directions in New Testament Study: The Theology of Liberation and its contribution to Biblical Exegesis', delivered to the Lightfoot Society of the University of Durham in May 1984.

References

Citations

1 Cf. notably the Vatican document “Instruction on certain aspects of the 'Theology of Liberation'” issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Rome, September 1984.

2 See e.g. Sobrino, J., Christology at the Cross RoadsGoogle Scholar; L. Boff, Jesus Christ, Liberator.

3 See further Segundo, Juan L., The Liberation of TheologyGoogle Scholar.

4 Miranda, Jose P., Marx and the BibleGoogle Scholar.

5 E.g. New Light on the Ancient Near East.

6 When Prophecy Failed.

7 Kingdom and Community.

8 The Bible and Liberation.

9 London, 1983.

10 London.

11 E.g. The First Followers of Jesus; The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity.

12 New Haven, 1983.

13 A Marxist Looks at Jesus.

14 London, 1981.

15 Lecture Matéwrialiste de l'Evangile de Marc, Paris , Cerf, 1974 (see review by F. Kerr in New Blackfriars Vol 57 (1976) pp. 234‐‐6); ET A Materialist Reading of the Gospel of Mark, New York, Maryknoll, 1981.

16 Cf. a similar thesis to that of Belo in G.Pixley, God's Kingdom.

17 Op. cit. pp. 44, 56.

18 pp. 55ff.

19 p. 247.

20 p. 259.

21 p. 280.

22 p. 127.

23 p. 253.

24 See Croix, De Ste., The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World pp. 157ff.Google Scholar

25 Cf. Lash, N., Matter of Hope, p. 120.Google Scholar

26 JBL 91.

27 This issue is explored by Radcliffe, T. in ‘“My Lord and my God”: the locus of confession’, New Blackfriars Vol 65 (1984) pp. 52–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

28 Theocracy and Eschatotogy, Oxford.

29 The Dawn of Apocalyptic, Philadelphia.